A to Z of Hong Kong

I had written a similar experience about Mumbai which can be seen here. And now when I am a proud Hong Konger, I wish to show this beautiful country from my eyes. And if you were doubting my grammar, pl feel to check it here.

A for Air Con dripping- Just like we have birds’ droppings everywhere else in the world, we have Air Conditioner drippings in Hong Kong. Walk like a king on Queen’s Road flaunting your Gucci shirt and Jimmy Choo shoes but you can’t stop grinning when suddenly something drops on your head without notice!

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 B for Black. So when Bruce Wayne (in Batman) asked Morgan Freeman: “Does it come in black”, he was being Hong Kong at heart. Black - a Hong Konger feels the most comfortable in it. All you in the stores and on the road is Black!

C for Chung King Mansion- Need Indian spices/ Nigerian curry/ Portugese pudding, cheapest guest houses/ weed? At any point of time, you’ll find a minimum of 120 nationalities staying together in this building. A ‘Can do lah!” answer to all your troubles.

D for Dragon.  Throughout Hong Kong dragons are pampered because they are thought to be super-intelligent and benevolent creatures.  Any festival/ ritual (even calendar) is incomplete without a Dragon. Wherever visitors gaze in Hong Kong, they can see a "dragon.  Kowloon itself means Nine Dragons.

E for Elderly. Well, Hong Kong has none!  There is none between the age ranges of 25-60 years. You stop aging after you reach 25 until you reach 60. So all you see is either girls or grannies. Hong Kong is a young city where mothers and daughters are sisters growing young every day.

F for Four. Four in HK is the Thirteen of the West. Say this word to anyone at the new year and relations break. There are no 4th floors in the buildings. Pronounced as “Sei” meaning “die/ death”. Beware!

G for Gwailo- Gwailo is a ‘positively’ racist word. Gwailo means a ‘white’. Though actually translates into being a ‘white ghost’ but all gwailoes enjoy the charisma and happily call themselves so.

H for Hiking. Either you love it, or you are fed up of it or you have planned to do it every weekend or you are the one writing about it. But there is none here who has never tried it. This is the most common activity for an average Hong Konger after surfing Groupon deals and playing Candy Crush.

I for I-Phone. They say that there are two religions in Hong Kong. One, is I-Phone and second is ‘Whatever it is..!!’. Where else in the world will the train stations announce "Don't keep your eyes only on the mobile phone"

J for Jade- The Chinese good-luck charm. For the rest of the world, diamonds may be girls’ best friends, but in HK, jade rules. Depicts beauty and purity. Newborns receive jade bracelet from grandma. And people wear new amulets each year based on their zodiac signs as per ancient Chinese almanac.

K for ‘Kung hei Faat choi’. Everyone learns to say this during Chinese new year. Translated as ‘congratulations on getting rich’ while exchanging ‘Lai C’ the red packet containing money. Customary to give it to the watchmen/ maids. But secretly everyone fancies receiving it as it signifies incoming wealth.

L for LKF. The magnet of the city. The only place where an average Hong Konger never ‘plans’ to go but ends up going. The plans are generally impromptu and strike rate of ideas increases post mid-night after a few heavy drinks. Clocks lose their count and tensions of Life go for a stroll when one enters LKF.

Tip: Post 3 am, you can see the Seven Wonders of the World here.

M for M goi. The most international word of Hong Kong that can be used as a suffix in every situation comfortably. M goi expresses your gratitude, your concern and courtesy.

N for Neon Signs. Only in Hong Kong will you find 'Light Pollution'. HK never sleeps. Its Neon lights famous for being lit 24/7 present a harbour of brightly colored lights. 

O for Octopus! The smart cards of Hong Kong. Keep your credit cards and wallets overflowing cash in your pockets. Octopus can be used in trains/ buses/ shops/ ferries and what not (except cabs). Easily re-chargeable almost everywhere and even can be linked to your Credit card conveniently for auto- recharge.

P for Pork- I don’t know why it has not been crowned as the National animal of the nation yet. Be it Pork bread/ pork burritos/ (I wonder if Porsche design was inspired from this) or the jewelry/ key rings or smileys. Pork rules the world of creativity here.

Q for Queen’s culture. The Hong Kong kings woos and pays to the Hong Kong queens to get married! Queen’s road is costlier and more vibrant than King’s road. Can you believe it?

R for Red. The luckiest color of the land. Red lanterns/ red posters/ calenders on every door. If it is red, it is safe.  Wearing red is auspicious. If you shy away with red, you can pick up red vests/ briefs from street markets.

S for Saloon- You can die of hunger/ thirst/ tsunami but you will never die of messy hair or unshaven cheeks. Move around anywhere and all you see are hair saloons and all of them understand your bad hair days.

T for Typhoon. Interestingly, every Hong Konger instead of being afraid, loves it! You get an early day off, extra sleep and leisure at work waiting for Hong Kong Observatory to hoist Typhon Signal 8.

U for UK. Hong Kong’s foster mother. Some say, Hong Kong is more English than England. You see the shadows of the mother in her daughter’s architecture, street names, judiciary, culture and yes, a number of British Passport holders who have never been to Britain!

V for Victoria Harbour. Even if you see this panoramic view from your desk every morning, it never gets old. A silent ‘wow’ pops up. And at least once in your life time, it is/ was your wall paper.

 W for Wai- One word that scares you to death! “Wai” is how you greet someone on phone in Chinese. Hence if you are Cantonese-less and hear ‘wai’, be prepared to get assaulted!

X for Xcitement. Excitement for an approaching long weekend. Either you have booked your flights for getaways, or you end up making tall plans of shopping, barbeque, camping but end up being a couch potato and download movies.

Y- Yum cha! Yum cha is an invitation to eat out though literally translated as ‘drink tea’. An average Hong Konger eats out everyday. And talking of cha (tea)…the variety shouldn’t surprise you... Black teas, Flavored teas, Herbal Teas, Compressed teas, Flower Teas to name some. Visit a shop/ saloon/ friend. You are handed a cup of tea in hand before you are asked the purpose of your visit.

Z- Zero Crime. Hong Kong is outstandingly safe. Whether moving in trains/buses/trams as a local or clicking pictures posing as tourists. Move with full wallets or null clothes. None bothers. Police officers patrol many areas and are very helpful (and strong…though looks may be deceptive). 

Ask a Question

And each time you ask a question;

It germinates in the Universe, like a Spirit.

It stays connected with you somewhere in the cosmos;

With an unseen umbilical cord.

Incubated inside the shell of your intricacies, it evolves;

And when it has grown enough to get answered, it hatches.

It releases a beam of realisation;

Like a meteor, it disembarks with a shower of enlightenment.

Last Question

The only question that always remains unanswered on the last part of the Battle..

Should I run away from all the impossibilities I may confront...

Or should I await the possibilities I am drawn close to..

The Race

I set out the track, the hurdling, and the score-board

I am in my own race course.

On my knees, with my face up

And with a shot in the air, I begin my race.

A race in which

I run against the Old Me

While I watch Myself run as the audience 

There is blood in my eyes

I am drenched in sweat, out of breathes and noiseless in my ears

I just feel my feet strike the ground and swing back

The Goal gets blurred with every plunge.  

At times I am ahead of her

In the next turn She leaves me behind

The Spectating I claps, anticipating my conquest

Then bites nails enjoying the uncertainty

It is all dusty mist around

And, in the next extended leap, with my eyes closed

I bounce at the Finish Line.

I try to look up with my drained stooping shoulders, the merriment of My Triumph

The race course is echoing with Me clapping around, cheering Myself staggeringly

She stands quiet in the dark, withdrawing from the limelight I am the part of.

We both know that this is the last time we are seeing each other.

Her teary unspeakable eyes declare- “I vacate the chair  I won last season. Enjoy your term”.

While I move forward towards the stage, the Old Me disappears somewhere in the past. 

The Girl my Mother gave birth to

She was a young beautiful young woman in Eighties. She had boys around trying to woo her. She got married before she could complete her studies. She had a baby in her womb before she could learn how to hold a baby in her arms. This brief is her story. 

She lost her fragile girlish body to be a house wife, a hard working daughter in law, a vigilant care taker and a responsible mother.

This girl was my mother…as I imagined of her gazing at the black and white family photo album and the life she had lived in the last three decades.

 She had handled her own share of woes and she had too walked on the patchy paths that she was destined to. 

I was in pain to think of the difficult times she faced probably when she, like all of us, wanted to leave it all and run away. And, like most of us, she didn’t.

But one questioned that kept banging my head…”Did she really give birth to the daughter she wanted to.”

An inner voice grabbed me by my neck and asked me- Was I really the reward of her struggle.… Had I ever thought of what Mom had imagined about me.

The moment when she would have held her baby in her arms, she would have seen of the flash of the little world that she had created. And with every passing day, she'd have pinned hopes from her. 

Probably she wanted that little bundle to grow up as strong as she never had been in her decisions. Probably she wanted her to be a girl who would master her own destiny and fly around the world. Probably she wanted her to have wings of fire and roots of her dreams. Probably she looked upon her as the answer of her all her incapacities. 

Or, may be, she wanted her to be a woman of forbearance, a girl who could create her progenies and from whom her little particles of her own shadows would walk on little steps when her hair would be grey. Probably she wanted her to have a similar extended family as she created and nurtured. May be that would have 'completed' her.

I wasn’t sure. 

I realized how I had befailed her in more than one ways. I had befailed her because I chose my own path of struggle and nomadic life. I had befailed her because I had turned down the only legacy that she had to entrust me- “to Trust Life”. 

Incomplete Poems

On my way back home today
I met some Incomplete poems.

I watched them from afar
Some were headless
Most were identityless.

I observed to find to which lands they belonged to.

Some carried parts of the sky in their Pocket
Some shone like Gold
Some had shoes with a worn out Sole
Some were Languageless

But they all held each other
By Words and Time
Don't know in oblivion or awe or hope.. 

Running away

Running away from problems

Has not solved them

But this distance

Has made them appear smaller

Biased God

Your enemy must win too.

Will you worship a “Biased God”?

My Birthday

Today is my birthday.

I wasn't born on this day, but re-born.

I turn one year old today.

This day, in the last year. This was the only good thing that happened to me in 2013. While my existence had been dragging me for years, Life picked me up at a stroke of a second.

I learnt Vipassana. I learnt to breathe in. And breathe out. And that there was no use retaining the fumes inside.

I learnt that I was strong. And how much. And my fear was just a sham.

I learnt how petty I was. And how majestically. And how proud I should be of the fact.

I learnt that the Truth wasn’t far behind. I just needed to let it reach me.

It showed me how I was caught in the vicious circle of why and what. It helped me cut my doubts of life and place my trust in the Truth. And to appreciate and love it without ever being doubtful of its reality.

I regard this as my birthday. And guess what. I got a birthday gift too.

Someone trusted me and attended Vipassana at my behest. 

My 'Valentine' Poem

Between your lips and mine, there is a promise

Of a word of lifetime that it has

A life of its own, that laughs, awaits, thinks and lives

A life of independent trust with its own little fragrance and touch

When you touch my lips, you play with this trust

And when I kiss you back, it gets manifested into a moment.

Couplets

The moment I look into your eyes
A thousand Couplets start to dance between us.

Shall I capture them all and grant a life term of words
Or, Shall I let them live their promised life times…

KARMA

The Focal point of your Karma

Where all desires meet

Lust runs across

And greed piles up

Thirst hovers over the anger and deficiencies

Either you’ll bounce or be reborn

But it will not let you die… 

Two Roads

The road on my left leads me to the Past..

A time where I was always ditched.

The road towards my right leads me to the Future

A time that I can never trust.

I heard a passer-by chuckling…

“Disbelief darkens the roads...”

The Unfeigned Me

Did I live with you for months
Was I dying for you for years
Or waited for you for decades 

I don’t remember..

All I do is that I have run through all Timelines

And become an unfeigned Me now. 

Shifting years on the Map

Shifting the decades

On the map of Life

Some countries had cold summers

Few had warmer people

Some faces had blurred smiles

Few eyes had vision beyond the sight

Some roads lead to the Carrefour

Some vehicles disappearing in the fog

Cheering up on red wine with laughter

While gulping secret pains deep down the throat

Life never grows old...

Life grows intimate in its relationship with you...

The Ball of Fire

The Ball of Fire

Dripping Darkness

And Solitariness

Chases me

I am weary of running towards mirages 

Is it the time to surrender and be burnt again 

The Search

(Painting by David FeBland)

The Search

Has become so triumphant…

That the discovery

has belittled the victory... 

Shooting Star

You live a life of a shooting star

Invoking prayers and wishes

With a spark of light following you

Flying alone in the thick black skies

Hitting straight on the ground

Plunging into an ocean of permanent darkness for... forever

Not even leaving a trail behind

Dying as if you never lived.

Or, could we live backwards?