Traveller’s Tales: 2

Kiran Prakash narrates his experience on cruise to Japan

A week to the day after Yusuf Rassiwala’s briefing on his Iraq tour (ref post of March 25), it was Kiran Prakash’s turn to give us a lowdown on his recent trip to Japan.

At Shanghai War Memorial

He returned to Mumbai in the wee hours of March 29 (Friday).
“The holiday was my son’s gift to me on my 70th birthday,” he began. “Together with my wife, I left Mumbai on March 15 late night for Hong Kong, stayed there for three days, then moved to Shanghai on March 19

Shitennoji Temple, Osaka

and after two days, took a cruise liner to Japan. We docked at three ports between March 23 and 25 – Osaka, Kobe and Tokyo – before returning to Shanghai on March 28.”
Quite clearly the cruise was the highlight of the two-week long odyssey and sure enough, it evoked a good deal of curiosity among his audience today. From Nahid Siddiqui’s concern about sea sickness to Bijoy Gupta’s interest in the breakfast menu to Yusuf Rassiwala’s query on their daily timetable at sea, everyone had a question

Osaka Castle: with fellow tourists

on what Kiran Prakash described as an “unbelievable” experience.
“The ship was about the length of our Garden, 16 storeys tall and housing almost 5,000 passengers,” he elaborated. “We were lodged on the seventh floor. It was a mini township with you-name-it – shopping arcade, 18 restaurants, three swimming pools,

Kiran Prakash: speaking
from experience

a sprawling state-of-the-art gym, music rooms and theatre halls hosting live entertainment almost round the clock… It was like one big non-stop mela in motion – absolutely out of this world.”
While urging us all to try going for this once-in-a-lifetime experience, Kiran Prakash had a sobering

APRIL FOOL JOKE: Banoo Apa threatens to resign from BIG LAAF!

thought to share: “It is on an occasion like this, we become conscious of our income disparity, how poor we actually are as compared to the developed world. A majority of the passengers were of course, Chinese who did not understand English. There were very few English-speaking people. I befriended two Australian couples, both senior citizens enjoying their post-retirement years. One of the men held the job of a bus driver and the other used to mow lawns -- no great shakes. But spending on the cruise was of no issue to either of them whereas when I was asked to pay 350 bucks for the cheapest beer can, I had to do a rethink.”
“In that case, I will never go,” Shekhawat blurted out. "What is the point of going on a cruise if you cannot drink freely?”

Karun Sharma:
The Traveller's Tales series is indeed an excellent initiative. I missed the learning experience first-hand. Let these sessions continue and get repeated as learning has no limits. If we do not keep moving out of our houses and comfort zones inertia will set in. And inertia is extremely difficult to break.