Friendships and relationships don’t come with an announcement! They just arrive suddenly and when least expected — have you noticed this too?
When asked how many days I’d like to spend in Thailand, I had said to my partner – least possible days. What would I possibly find to engage me there. What followed was a slew of happy coincidences and discoveries that made for a memorable journey through Thailand.
Evocative beaches, cuisine, warmth and hospitality yes, but what eluded me for years was the gilded architecture of the 2,18,000 square metres Grand Palace where the Emerald Buddha is enshrined. Majestically golden tiered roofs topped by corncob spires surmount roofs reaching for the skies in gilded splendour. But first, let me tell you how I landed there.
In all my years of visiting Bangkok, I had not explored the rich architecture, having seen it as a Mecca of shopping and art. I had just scratched the surface. This time, I visited Bangkok purely to dine with two friends I hadn’t seen in a bit. And so close friends Meena and her daughter Tanya Hingorani hosted an intimate delectable dinner at their artsy home for me.
Here I had the joy of meeting their friend – author of ‘Living A Life’ and veteran UN official Ravi Sawhney and his lovely wife Madhu Sawhney. In life you meet and come across many people, but those that make a special connect are not in a plentiful numerosity. And so the instant chemistry that floated around midst us sent a note of exhilaration around, and the evening had an electric feel to it.
Ravi is in the midst of planning his next book on all the anecdotes surrounding his memorable art collection dedicated to his daughters, so that they will know and cherish the stories of how he went about acquiring his art!
Keen to not let the magic stop, we resolved to meet once again at the sprawling museum-like home of Ravi and Madhu the very next day.
In life, people either get you or they don’t. In this gathering, I was with kindred spirits who instantly gave the feeling of joie de vivre and bonhomie! It was there that Madhu insisted we visit the Grand Palace to view the famed Emerald Buddha. And that is how it transpired!
I urge everyone to go there to see the palace and the Emerald Buddha, yes, but the magic of this visit lies in the never-ending, stupendous, and mesmerizing murals of the Ramayana. On the walls of the palace cloisters there lie these treasures, depicting the Hindu epic tale of the heroic Hindu prince Lord Rama, and the magical emergence of an entire loyalist ‘vanar sena’ creating a mesmerising drama play in color of a war twixt good conquering evil.
The seamless series of intricate gilded paintings depict this story of this magical historic tale of the Hindus in 178 intricate kaleidoscopic visuals of Gods, humans, the vanar sena, demons, majestic palaces painted in detail, and cities and forests imbued with flora and fauna l, blue skies, rivulets and warriors in enormous chariots.
Everything was magical about this trip, including moving in a celebratory ambience of bonhomie reuniting with my friend of some twenty-five years – he is the Consul General from Canada to Bangkok, Sanjeev Chaudhary. We dined at the informal Italian restaurant ‘Mozza by Cocotte’ at Siam Paragon, which runs by the philosophy ‘La Cucina De Mamma’ which means literally- my mother’s cuisine.
Conceptualised by Chef Samuele Alvisi and run by the charming Natalia Bai, Mozza is always buzzing and full and we left only when it was time to shut down! Natalia was gracious and kept it going until we finished chatting about our Bombay folk and our never ending dinner parties!
And also not least because of the magnificent Siam Kempinski hotel we stayed at, which had art in every corner—even the handles to doors—and staff that embodied the Thai silk hospitality and warmth. It’s a hotel that would make me visit Bangkok just to stay at its beautiful interiors and enjoy this unmatched hospitality & artistic interiors. And of course because it’s situated in the heart of Singapore!
I find this happens very often with me. When you seek something assiduously, it eludes you—be it a great holiday or great bonds. Happiness happens when you approach anything with mitigated expectations, was my thought as I left Bangkok.
But Bangkok had been my pit stop post a big fat Indian wedding at Pataya – that of my cousin Tejaswi —with relatives flying in from all over the world: from Seattle to India, Japan to Melbourne. The bride Tejasvi Abrol was from Melbourne, and so were more than fifty percent of the guests so that I began to feel I was actually in Melbourne.
It was the big fat Indian wedding with a twist! No professional wedding planners with their preconceived formats The feisty bride Tejaswi Abril and her mother Seema Jamwal did it all, to every last bit of the arrangements, their way, and to good effect- down to every detail. It turned out to be a magnificent pageantry without the frills of an event manager. For me, it was special because I got to meet relatives I didn’t even know I had.
The marriage was different also because of the involvement of the bride and groom in all the events and goings on! The bride was not at all too preoccupied with her ‘shringaar’
Not the coy Indian bride either. Enthusiastically she thumped into and joined the verve and fray of the lively Bollywood and bhangra music with “thumkas” of the hip, and
twirls and swirls. The live-wire Bollywood numbers enchanting all , especially the Australian contingent who found the whole thing great fun and joint in with great gusto ! Memorable it was! And yes Kaali Daal Makhani & Butter Chicken buffets all the way , on twilight Pataya Beaches!
Life is full of beautiful serendipity.
(Write to Nisha at [email protected])
