Good Samaritans of La Spezia

The Smiles from My Shelf [11]

Today is world kindness day, they say! And we have been asked to share our own stories of incredible kindness- of our holiday being saved by a stranger's help in a distant land.

We were on a cruise to the five islands, Cinque Terre, on the Italian Riviera this past July. Soaked up in the Mediterranean sun, we arrived at the La Spezia port, late in the evening. The lone family man in the group had a long shopping list mailed in from his wife, so we got down near the big shopping mall on the way back to hotel, located a bit far, at Lerici. As it happens, so often, the shopping went on and on, till the mall downed the shutters. The bright lights within gave no clues whatsoever on the impending darkness outside the mall. And soon we were out in the darkness carrying giant carry bags in either hands.

There were no sign of taxis nor of any other means of public transport and we stood staring at each other and the speeding cars here and there. We were stuck there in a strange and distant land, not a single pedestrian anywhere to be found! 

Out of nowhere, a small car appeared and stopped near us. The young man at the wheel smiled at us and asked us, "hello, where do you want to go?" Being the elder in the group, the younger guys looked at me inquisitively. With the readings on the Italian mafia pushed back to the corner of my mind, I nodded to the group to get in to the car. 

Once inside, we didn't even know the direction to go or the place we should get down. The young men were discussing among themselves in the native tongue and finally stopped near a bus stop. They got down from the car and gave clear instructions on the bus we had to board and where to purchase the tickets. 

 Alexio (left with thumb up) and his friend posing with us

The Bus Stop

The wait

we were shaken, off our prejudices, as they sped away:)

We do not know, if stopping one's car in the middle of the night, for total strangers from distant lands, counts as an incredible act of kindness on the part of Alexio and his friend. But on that midnight at La Spezia, for the two Chinese and two Indians stranded in the streets in a strange land, the two young men had virtually descended from the heavens, guided us to safety and sped away smiling!!

A Note from Nagasaki

Arriving at Nagasaki one night, our first destination next morning was of course the Peace Park. After the atomic bomb exploded, it was said that grass and trees would not grow on this spot for decades. However, this park is currently full of trees, flowers and art works donated by countries all over the world in support of the city’s prayer for peace. Not far from the peace park was the atomic bomb hypocenter. The original ground level is preserved and displayed there as an important evidence of the disaster.

After the peace park and hypocenter we entered the Atomic Bomb Museum. The museum covers the history in the form of a story. It begins with the disastrous scene of the attack and includes the events leading up to the dropping of the atomic bomb, the reconstruction of Nagasaki up to the present day, the history of nuclear weapons development, and the hope for a peaceful world free of nuclear weapons. There was a special section dedicated to Dr. Takashi Nagai, whose heart wrenching rendering of his experiences in the Nagasaki Medical College at the time of the bombing, read and reread, at first by my parents and later all by myself, one childhood memory I was carrying to Nagasaki. And the one gift I bought for myself at Nagasaki was Dr. Nagai's farewell book, "Leaving My Beloved Children Behind".

However it was not Dr. Nagai who refused to leave us as we were carrying ourselves out of Nagasaki. It was one boy captured by the American war photographer Joe O'Donnell. We passed by him again and again and read the passage by the photographer. It went something like this:

 "When I arrived at Nagasaki from Sasebo, I looked down at the city from the top of a low hill. I saw some men wearing a white mask. They were working near a ditch full of burning coal. 

I noticed a boy about ten years old walking by. He was carrying a baby slung on his back. In those days, in Japan, it was common to see children playing in vacant lots with their little brothers or sisters on their backs, but this boy was clearly different. He was barefoot. The infant's head was tipped back as if the baby were fast asleep. 

The boy stood there with a fixed expression for about ten minutes. The men in white masks walked over to him and gently began undoing the cords that were holding the baby. Then I realized that the baby was already dead. The men held the baby by the hands and feet and placed it gently on the hot coals.

The infant's body made a hissing sound as it was placed on the fire. Then it lit up in brilliant flames like a deep red of the setting sun. The boy stood there erect and motionless with his innocent cheeks shining scarlet. I noticed that the lips of the boy were also streaked with red as he watched the flames. He was biting his lower lip so hard that it shone with blood. The flames burned low like the sun going down, and the boy turned around and walked silently away from the burning pit."

We looked again and again at the photograph for some trace of tears beneath his eyes, we found none, probably blinded by our own moist eyes!

"May peace prevail forever"

from the atomic bomb hypocenter, Nagasaki, Japan

Glimpses from a Dinner in Paradise: Matsue Vogel Park

Earlier this month I had been to exotic Japan again; to Matsue, the capital of Shimane Prefecture, this time to attend the 3rd Asian Joint Workshop on Thermophysics and Fluid Science. It is an international workshop held once in two years, related to engineering thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, heat and mass transfer and combustion. The work shop is sponsored by the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics (IET), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing Society of Thermophysics and Energy Engineering, Turbomachinery Society of Japan (TSJ) and the Korean Fluid Machinery Association (KFMA). This time the workshop was jointly organized by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Saga University, Japan and the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Matsue College of Technology, Japan. The welcome dinner for the delegates was arranged at the Matsue Vogel Park. We arrived at the Vogel park in the evening in three chartered buses.

At the door we were received by .......

.....special security guards ......

the delegates are dumbstruck....

so am I...

are we in paradise?!

and we moved in...

through the walkways...

into the flowerbeds....

and the flower walls...

and the floating flowers....

and the flower garlands.....

and the myriads of colors....

to the dinner tables....

to have the delicious....

and sumptuous....

Japanese delicacies....

we didn't feel like leaving....

A flower that fell on 'Little Panda's hand :)

Hope you liked it.....

so see you soon with more :)

I have two videos of the park. But unfortunately the videos can not be uploaded to you-tube from Korea because of the Korean real-name verification law. Hope to upload the videos at a later date :)

A Ride on the Ropes over the Rain Forests in Langkawi

Even as the '3 Idiots' was arriving in Malaysia,

I went on a ride on the ropeway over the rain forests in Langkawi with "3 Wise men".

Posting the videos here:

The best way to beat fear while hanging from a rope over the thick rain forests is to bury yourselves in arguments and discussions; at least that's what they seem to suggest

J

Have you ever had a chit-chat with a talking bird?

I have had J

Last autumn we had been to Pyeongchang, the city famous for its ski-resorts, to attend the KSME- Autumn Conference. On our way back we stopped by a roadside eatery to have dinner. After dinner I was hanging around the place waiting for my colleagues, when I heard someone calling out "안녕하세요" (Anyang Haseyo) to me! I looked around in eagerness to find out who wanted to pick up a conversation with me in that strange place. But there were no one to be seen in the vicinity. A girl in a counter at a distance was spotting a naughty smile without looking at me. I heard the Korean equivalent of ‘Namasteji’ again and this time I was sure that it wasn’t the girl who was offering the salutation!

I had already noticed a bird, in a cage nearby but never believed that the birds could talk as fluently as humans. But I turned curious, as there were signs to suspect that the bird itself was attempting to start a conversation with me. I went near the cage and there was a photograph of the bird on display before the cage with some description about it in Hangukmal. As I was trying to decipher what it meant with my elementary knowledge of the Korean language, the bird repeated ‘Anyang Haseyo’ to me right in front of my eyes!!

I shouted for my friends in astonishment even as I was returning the salutation. They were not impressed and suspected me of trying to play a trick on them. But then the bird called out ‘Anyang’ to them. They came rushing towards the cage and read the information on the board and they told me that it was indeed a talking bird. But when we tried to make it talk again on the camera, it turned its back on us as it appeared to have got irritated with the actions of my colleagues who got a bit carried away by the excitement.

We succeeded in capturing it saying ‘Anyang’ on the cam though…

Take a look at the videos J

A Japanese Saga [4]

The Wonder Clock at the Kyushu Ceramic Museum

Camera Courtesy: Lijo Vincent

A Japanese Saga [3]

The Beach & The Ceramic Museum

The next expedition in Japan involved a trip to the calm and clean Ouga beach and the famous Ceramics Muesum at Kyushu.

We set out from the University on the morning of Saturday, 9th August

in three small cars...

through the majestic countryside...

of the wonderland.....

that is Japan.....

welcoming us

and treating us....

with a display....

of the ancient....

architecture.....

the natural beauty....

and the modern technology.....

We arrived......

at the Ouga Beach.....

one of the cleanest...

and most beautiful.....

that I had seen.....

the business was as usual at the beach :-)

Then we proceeded to have lunch

.....the three cars......

and again I had the rice and the Karaage :-)

We continued our journey....

our next destination being.....

Japan's most famous......

Ceramic museum....

The Magic Clock

and the watchful dog....

and the man....

and the lady.....

and the wonderful art...

enjoy yourself...

but remember.....

The wrestlers....

The Process....

the toil....

and we came out....

A country home.....how romantic!!

And the 100 YEN shop, how economical :-)

Then we saw the train.....

and.....

chased it down :-)

and continued our journey.....

to reach home before the rains....