Kuchkuchstan or Shahrukhstan??

My recent interactions with people in Malaysia and Indonesia made me realize how strongly the Bollywoodmania virus had managed to infect the masses in these countries as well .

Invariably, the first comment that everyone made upon discovering my nationality was ... Shahrukh Khan, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. While back in India my friend really had to jog her memory for the movie (KKHH), the movie is very much alive in the hearts and minds of these Malaysians and Indonesians. Young Indonesian boys would start singing the song "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' when I passed by and with bright, sparkling eyes ask me if my name was Kajol. I would be questioned on whether I had ever met Shahrukh or Kajol. Then they would try to beat each other on the number of times they had watched the movie. I was infact repeatedly tortured with the narration of dialogues from the movie. In excited tones, I would be informed of the local theatre in their city that screened Indian movies


A young Indian owner of a restuarant in Bali while expressing deep gratitude towards the movie and the actor shared how the movie had changed lives for thousands of Indians settled in these parts. Prior to the movie, Indians were looked down upon with condecension. However, the movie had single-handedly transformed the image of the average Indian from that of an intruder or an illegal immigrant to that of a romantic, charming hero personified by Shahrukh Khan in the movie. Indeed, many young girls confided in me that they wished to be wooed by a romantic Indian boy.

I have never ever been a fan of Shahrukh Khan or of movies like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. But I guess the experience changed my entire perspective and I am now hungry for more of this kind. . I confided in my fellow traveler, "maybe its time for our country to be rechristened as Shahrukstan or Kuchkuchstan.What diplomacy cannot acheive , Bollywood surely can."

It is Possible to Holiday and have a Great Time with your Mom

Wow!!! I can't believe it. I actually did it!!! I managed having a ball of a time travelling with my mother across 6 different countries for over a period of two months. This is despite the fact that mom and I have rarely been able to see eye to eye or spend long periods of time with each other.

Sounds impossible even to me... Ask me how I did it and I have no right magical potions to share with you. What I can tell you though is that it has been the most memorable and delightful trip of my life.

When I decided to take off from work and go backpacking to South-East Asia, my mother promptly suggested that she wanted to trod along. I immediately panicked. My mother and I had enjoyed a beautiful long distance relationship but had not spent much time together in years. We are two completely different individuals with different ideologies, perceptions, lifestyle and worldviews.

We landed in Bangkok. I had made no prior plans and solely depended on my Lonely Planet for guidance and direction, which faithfully took us from Bangkok to Phuket to Krabi to Phi Phi islands in Thailand, from Cameron Highlands to Penang to Langkawi to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, from Jakarta to Yogyakarta to Mt. Bromo to Bali in Indonesia, to Singapore, to Saigon and Mekong Delta in Vietnam and to Phnom Penh and Angok Wat in Cambodia. We planned things on a daily basis – booked tickets at the last minute, checked hotel and tourist area names as we would be about to get into a new town, went banging the doors of hotels at 4.00 am in the morning, and researched online forums for visa procedure details.

And we did indeed form an odd couple in these white-skin infested tourist areas - she fully dressed with her headscarf, and I in my hot pants - both of us bent upon making the most of the trip. People would tell us that we looked cute with our backpacks – me with the bigger one and her obviously with the smaller one.

I engaged in all kind of activities from learning surfing in Bali to climbing the perilous and world-famous rocks at Railey Beach in Krabi, to paragliding over Phi-Phi islands and enjoying the splendid views from the gondola ride in Langkawi. I even took mom (who is terribly scared of water) for a kayaking trip through dense mangrove forests which frightened me as well but my mother kept braving the roots of the mangrove trees as she steered our kayak.

We went shopping too since it is unthinkable to stop my mother from indulging in her favourite pastime. We bought lamps in Bali, paintings in Yogyakarta, clothes in Bangkok, bags in Kuala Lumpur, footwear in Saigon and souvenirs from everywhere. We bought a travelling iron since my mother refused to go out without her clothes being neatly ironed.  We bought lots of different varieties of detergents to wash our clothes with. We bought different kinds of Tiger balm products to apply on our sore limbs after a hard day’s sojourn.
We tried all kinds of massages - Thai, Balinese, Vietnamese, Chinese and Cambodian. I preferred the Vietnamese one though - it was a combination of Thai and Chinese massage. We tried all the exotic foods including the Thai sticky rice with mangoes, Malaysian Nasi Goreng, and the bitter concoction known as coffee in Vietnam.

We took a cruise for Phi Phi and Khai islands, had a rendezvous with Mt. Bromo’s active volcano, discovered the islands of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, explored history in Angkor Wat and visited the Butterfly Farms in Cameron Highlands.

I guess mom and I emerged as winners - we realized we were an unbeatable team - me with my planning and R&D skills, and she with her negotiating and people handling skills. We both discovered the other side of each other and the fact that we could blissfully co-exist.

We discovered that there was a hidden bond between the two of us that was much stronger and potent than the individual differences that had kept us at an arm’s length from each other so far. An action packed holiday away from the stresses of the daily life was all that was required to bring that bond to life once again.

I learnt to develop tolerance for her religious beliefs, she accepted me in my swimming costumes, I surrendered to the fact that she would not venture out on her own, she gave me the space to check out things she considered blasphemous (like nightclubs). She even abstained from convincing me to get married. She kept the monies and did the accounting, I did the spending. Oh, it was an amazing experience. Looking back, I don’t think I could have had so much fun with any friend. We washed our clothes together, shared the single laptop, pulled each other leg, sang songs, bitched about people around us, and took each others pictures. She was ready for any challenge - carrying the backpack for first time, climbing mountains, walking for hours, rough rides on buses, pillion riding on scooter behind me, talking to strangers. It was a fantasy come true.

I and mom became best friends on this trip!!!