DOT ON FOREHEAD

Many women in India are seen with a dot on their forehead. The dot has some religious significance but today it has become more of a fashion statement. Sticker type dots are available in fancy designs. They stick it on in the morning and remove it at night. There is also a practical reason for putting a dot on the forehead. Women in India are shy and do not want men looking directly into their eyes. The dot distracts men. They tend to focus on the dot instead of looking into their eyes.

Men in India do not usually put a dot on their forehead. Sometimes they put a mark on their forehead after visiting a temple. It is part of a religious ritual. Those who are seen with it every day are religious people who are involved with temple activities or people who visit the temple every day. Some shady characters can also be seen with it.

FLOWERS

Some flowers seen near my house.

Compared to the red hibiscus this one has very few flowers.

This flower is found on a tree called the ashoka tree.

I see these flowers almost everyday.

This one is seasonal. They flower only once or twice a year and then lasts only for a few days. It is worth the wait though.

STRANGE DREAM

I had a strange dream once. In the dream I saw a human eye. There was a small blister in the white part of the eye. When I woke up in the morning I was worried that there may be something wrong with my eyes. I looked into a mirror and checked both my eyes. I was relieved to find that there was nothing wrong with my eyes.

That morning, after having my breakfast I was reading the newspaper when my friend came to see me. He said he had a problem with his eye and wanted to see a doctor. He asked me whether I would accompany him. I said I would and I looked into his eye. It looked like what I saw in my dream.

The doctor asked my friend about his occupation. My friend was teaching then. The doctor said that it could be due to an allergy caused by chalk dust entering his eye. He prescribed an eye ointment. After using the ointment for a few days his eye was back to normal again.

SHASTRI JUNCTION

Shastri Junction, Kollam

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH

The movie that scared me the most is ‘The last man on Earth’. I saw it on TV in the late sixties. I was about ten then, old enough to understand and young enough to be frightened. I did not know the name of the actor then. Later on, I checked the net and found that it was Vincent Price. I also noticed that there was a slight difference in the way I understood the story.

It is about a man who finds people around him dying. They are affected by a Plague. He is immune to the plague because he had been bitten by a vampire bat earlier. Soon he loses his family, friends and everyone he knows. He is the only man alive. He goes into a supermarket and takes whatever he wants. He does not have to pay for it. There is nobody around. He gets fuel for his car at a petrol station. There is no cashier to receive payment.

At night, the dead bodies get up and start walking around. They are in various stages of decay. His dead friends and relatives come looking for him. They knock on his door and windows and try to get in. They call out his name. He gets home before dark to avoid them. One night he is late and they crowd around him. They don’t seem to hurt him. He uses a small crucifix to repel them. He hangs garlic on his door which also helps to keep them away.

Later on he learns that the dead bodies can be prevented from getting up at night by driving a stake through their chest. He starts making stakes using a lathe at home during the night. During the day he goes around looking for dead bodies and drives the stakes into their chest.

He listens to the radio to see if there are people living in some other city or country. One day he meets a woman. Since she is walking around during the day, he is convinced that she is not one of the dead bodies. She tells him that her friends will be arriving soon. Her friends see him in the evening and mistake him for one of the dead bodies. He tells them that he is a real man. They don’t believe him and attack him. He runs into a church. They follow him and stab him to death near the altar.

After watching this movie, I was afraid to go out alone at night for several days.

HOTEL SEA BEE

Hotel Sea Bee, Kollam

JAPANESE ENGINEER IN INDIA

In the mid eighties I was working for an Agency that represented a Japanese Company in India. One day my Manager told me that a Japanese Engineer would be visiting India on a Sales promotion tour and that I would have to make the arrangements for his visit to some large organisations and also accompany him. Before his arrival I visited the organisations and fixed an appointment for him, since foreign nationals are not allowed entry without appointment.

On his arrival, I met him at the airport and we travelled together by car to my office. He looked out the window and said ‘Scenery good, many tree.’ Maybe they don’t have trees in Japanese cities.

We visited various cities and his accommodation was booked in five star hotels. One morning when I met him, he told me about the problems he faced in the Hotel. He said he hit the mattress with his hand and noticed dust flying up. He asked for the room to be cleaned and it took one hour to get it cleaned. He also noticed a crack in a window pane and complained about it. In the morning he ordered full breakfast which according to the menu had corn flakes, toast, bacon, coffee etc but when it arrived there was no bacon. He called the Food and Beverages Manager and asked him about it. The Manager told him that they will not charge him for the breakfast. On the next day, while vacating the room he noticed that he had been charged for it. He called up the Manager again and got it cancelled.

In another Hotel, we were having lunch. It was a buffet. I noticed he ate a lot and after which he had a plate of fruits including an apple, an orange, a bunch of grapes and a piece of pineapple. I could eat only one fruit. I thought he was enjoying the food. I asked him ‘How do you like the food in India?’ He said ‘Food in India is a big problem for me.’

On the way to a meeting we were held up at a railway crossing. He asked me why we had stopped. I told him a train is expected to pass by. Only after that, will they open the gate and we can continue our journey. After a few minutes we heard the train’s whistle. As soon as the train appeared he started laughing, he could not contain himself. I asked him why he was laughing. He said ‘So slow, the train is so slow. When will it reach its destination?’ I thought the man is used to seeing Bullet trains in Japan, he must find our trains funny. Along the way, he asked me to tell the driver to drive carefully. He said in Japan, if there is an accident, the driver has to take care of the victim’s family.

When we reached the Company, we met the concerned Engineers and had a fruitful meeting. After the meeting we walked to the car and noticed our driver was sleeping in the car. He said, how can man sleep while at work. In India it is normal for a driver to take a nap when he is not driving. I asked him if he thinks our people are lazy. He said ‘lazy’ is not the word, the word is ‘inefficient’. He went on to explain that we had an appointment for the meeting and we had reached on time, yet it took almost one hour for all the concerned Engineers to assemble and for us to start the meeting. He told me that in Japan even if we go to a Company without an appointment and if they agree to hold a meeting, the concerned Engineers would assemble within five minutes and we can start the meeting in five minutes.

In the evening we arrived at another city. When we reached the hotel, he asked the receptionist ‘Do you have a swimming pool?’ The receptionist said ‘Of course we have a swimming pool.’ He then asked ‘How big is the swimming pool?’ She said it is big. He wanted to see it and she arranged for a person to take us to the swimming pool. Along the way he told me ‘Tomorrow is a Sunday, I have no work. I want a big swimming pool so that I can get some good exercise.’

Next day we were free. He told me he could not sleep last night. When he visited the Indian Embassy in Tokyo to get his visa, an Indian working there had given him some children’s books to be delivered to an address in an Indian city. He had forgotten about it and we had already visited that city. He said he could not keep his word and felt bad about it. My office agreed to deliver the books and he was relieved. He then said he would like to see an Indian style cabaret. He mentioned that when he visits Korea they provide him with girls.

Before leaving, he asked my Manager to ensure that I remain with the Company. He said Companies where employees leave for other jobs do not prosper and that in Japan most people work for one Company all their life. When I shook hands with him to say goodbye, I noticed he bowed his head slightly. I was tempted to follow suit.