One of the interesting sites that attracted my attention in the city was the communal outdoor eating spread out over miles on the sidewalk. Small folding tables were set up and a few light chairs served as the furniture. One or two families could be served at any moment. There was no filth or food smell. The outdoor picnicking of thousands everyday was a cultural phenomenon. The eateries were tucked along with other merchandise stores and were a part of the regular market scene. The plumbing, water and stove were all hidden in the store. The glass cases covered some food, but most food was made to order. I thought it was a powerful adaptation of the old village culture.
Interest is one thing and to accomplish it is another thing. Everything was written in Thai script, nobody seemed to know anything besides Thai. By selecting a couple of young men, we tried to break the ice by communicating our desire to get some vegetarian food. Some indecipherable words were communicated to the girls waiting as the servers and we were asked to take our seats at a table. After ten minutes or so, each of us was served a large bowl of watery soup with some sprouts immersed in it. The soup was freshly cooked. It was hot and had a raw freshness to it; it had a subtle herbal flavor. A side dish of rice showed up with chop sticks. We asked for some forks by gesturing. Though there were various sauces on a tray, we did not venture to go for one. Our goal was an experience, not an experiment! After paying off the bill and tipping the girls and the cook, we were on our way to the train ride to return to the hotel. Unfortunately we got down at the wrong station and had to trek a mile because of a phonetic error. Somewhat satisfied but exhausted we took a good night's rest. The hotel lobby had a shrine with a shiva parvati statue decorated on a pedestal. While it appeared as a decoration piece, I saw the shrine being redecorated with fresh flowers early next morning. One of the hotel employees did a small meditative worship and I joined in. I went on noticing shrines to Hindu deities in many street corners. There was equal proliferation of Buddhist shrines in different areas. Many pedestrians would stop by and offer their ovation before proceeding on their daily chores. White jasmine was the preferred flower. There was a delicate aroma of incense and flowers near each shrine. Wednesday in the Conference was more to meet people and making connections. I saw various groups flocking together and possibly creating plans for future collaboration. I attended sessions on Linguistics and Philosophy and learned of new student research in various universities. At the lunch table, I met Dr Jayendra Soni, the Secretary General of the International Association of Sanskrit Studies, the organizers of the Conference. Born in South Africa of Gujarati parents, he lived in Austria and taught philosophy. Also at lunch I met a Norwegian couple who said their "research" interest was to discover why the modern Indian youth gets disinterested from the traditional Hindu religious worship. Probing further I learned that they check groups that get interested in building their own temples. They think it is a weakness in the practice of religion and they wish to know the cause of the "conflict" as they saw. When I remarked that the data may not be sufficient to get a generalized result, they argued that they were more interested in the trends. They seemed to be confident in their work and appeared well funded. I did not know how many such groups of arbitrary interest were a part of the Conference. We had a meeting of the scholars from the Orissa origin and then we went to witness the special production of Bhasa's "Karnabharam", about which I would write tomorrow.
