An Inside View of An Outside World

By Sumant Barooah

A chance meeting with a young Australian beauty Myra, enchants Mylan to throw caution to the wind and elope to the island of Batu Firingee, en route to a life with his love in the land down under. Three weeks of absolute love is all that is decreed. The journey culminates in Singapore when he is refused a Visa.
Thwarted, he walks the streets of the island, striving to find a reason to live on. Perchance, one evening imbibing the sunset near the Lion monument leaning on the steel banister, he observes a tiny crab’s efforts against the Sea to climb the perpendicular retaining wall. Every time he climbs a few inches, the mighty ocean swipes him down. He equates the crab’s efforts with his own life and is lost in a reverie. In a while he notices movement around his feet and discovers it is the same crab who has surmounted the ocean to seek new pastures.
Considering it an omen, he resolves to consolidate and renew his quest to live a life given him.
The rewards of his fresh outlook fall in place as he returns to resuscitate his profession. Once in the driving seat, he travels the world.
Love, he discovers, is a celebration of Life encountered at bewildering places, country and occasions.
Mylan travels across the world reminiscing about his exciting encounters and escapades in this narration.
The love for Myra and the life at Batu Firingee enliven his journey..

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sumant Barooah
• Release date: Jun 26, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463103920

Sumant Barooah

Sumant Barooah33 Fairview StreetVictoria 3122Australia.Mail: [e-mail]: 0415466008GCE. Univ. of CambridgeB. Sc (Honours)Associate, Clothing Institute, U.K.Diploma in Creative Writing. U.K.Photography Faculty.I have worked across the Globe in a different profession.Last I lived in China for 8 years.I was the Regional Director for a British company for all the Countries in the Pacific Rim.Written for Magazines in India and China.Have two Photo Books in Print1.Among, The Temples of China2.Assam. ‘Xunor Xophura’ The Golden ValleyA travel book on a National Expedition. I was part of an expedition driving all across the Himalayas, from Karakoram to China, across the countries on-route, a journey of 74 days.3.‘A journey of a lifetime-Riding the Himalayas’4.‘China A Chequered Life.At the moment doing two other books,5.Sexual Happenstances, A Guide to Sexual Adulthood6.An Inside View of An Outside World7. Sri Lankan Surfing Serendipity-Another one on Life in ChinaAll writings are fiction with a memoir background.

Book preview

An

Inside Story

Of

An outside world

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

For Paul Mooney

Reminiscing, Batu Firengee

Gold Coast

The sun was setting over the crest breaking waves of the Gold Coast. I sat by the window emotionally ruminating of the times spent with Mylan at adolescence. I was still holding the towel I had used for my late evening swim and the recollection caused a tear to roll down. The windowpane fogged and I was transported to Batu Firangi on the Pearl Island of Malaysia, Penang.

Batu Firengee, Malaysia

We had arrived in the morning from Bangkok on the Train Silver Arrow, which connects Bangkok to Singapore, travelling down the Elephant Peninsula of South East Asia. Penang was yet, an exclusive newly discovered mysterious and romantic Asian getaway. We sauntered down to the pier at Butterworth to take the ferry to the island, very tropical and enjoyably hot. Milan and I scaled to the deck with the other travelers, the Yuppies of the day; Floral colorful shirts and dresses, sunhats and smiles all around. Everybody was relaxed and relieved to get away from the fast- growing Metropolis of Bangkok.

There was the usual banter of Coolies, tourists and Merchants carrying the daily necessities to the mysterious Bangkok. In the midst of all this clutter our passports were examined, in fact some touts even circulated around selling Malaysian passports for a princely sum of 25 Dollars. In all the examinations were friendly, congenial as being a part of the Commonwealth, visas were unheard of in those golden days. The ships did two trips per day to transport the arriving passengers from all across the world to the island of Penang.

Across the gentle waves of the Malacca Strait lay the Pearl of the East, Penang.  The steamer hooted our departure to start our Malaysian adventure. A short crossing of 40 minutes and we were in Penang Port. The usual banter of disgorging passengers and welcoming crowds of friends, relations and the crowds of Hotel Agents, touts, money changers, Taxi drivers. The excitement was feverish and the smiles all around welcoming.

Colonial buildings, the Chinese Rickshaws and the Pith helmets, today are thing of the past, but those days a sign of the growing city or should I call it a town. Some Western hotels were already in place and their booking agents with colorful umbrellas were enticing guests to their luxury of swimming pools, air conditioning, running hot and cold water and bay-front Bar-B-Que.

From our Lonely Planet guide and conversations with travelers, we had to choose between the two yippie settlements, Telok Behan and Batu Fringe. The later had a better beach and lesser weed smokers, which we picked. We drove in an old Chevrolet with a Chinese Taxi driver to the beach settlement with various Bed and Breakfast offers. It took a while, but we finally settled on a clean bayfront room with Japanese Bed. It was romantic after the bustle of Bangkok and the Malaysia Hotel just off the Rama IV avenue, the constant noise of street busses and the modified motorbikes, the chattering women awaiting escorts at the hotel bar.

It was not soon enough for us to drop our luggage, a quick wash and we made love; slow romantic strokes, sensational touch and deep feelings. A statement of Love. We were on our own.

Lying down for a while, the cresting sea was an invite so we casually unpacked, changed to our swimwear and strolled down the 50 yards to the water. The February sun was starting to shimmer and after the initial pleasure of the bathe we scrounged for an umbrella on offer along with lounging chairs by the beach drink vendors for a princely sum of One Dollar for the whole day… and night, till she got back for the next day’s business.

Calcutta, The Beginning

India

Sipping the cool coconut, Mylan preferred the Soya bean drink with black jelly chunks, I reflected upon the past ten or so days. Our travel contractor of the Oriental Shipping company in Calcutta, per chance came across his acquaintance at dinner and introduced me to Mylan. Was it a chance or a fated meeting? I was too young to fathom, but it was a very strong mutual magnetism, I suppose, when you are young, commitments happen without an iota of the consequential appraisal. All shackles of propriety were broken and a deep bond developed.

Mylan was married and the initial days were spent in the back streets, decrepit cafes, desolate walks by the river in Calcutta. In the process, one evening we encountered a group of Indian soldiers who seeing me, a western girl with Mylan, at first started passing lewd comments and as Mylan was alone got very aggressive and wrested him. I did not know what to do. The first thought was to run to safety, but then I could not leave him at their mercy. It was bloody insulting to find such vulgar men in uniform in the middle of one of the leading cities of India. I was flummoxed! Mylan held his nerves and appealed to a turbaned member of the group as to the insensibility of attacking a foreigner and that to being men in uniform, whose whole commitment was to protect. The lust mellowed away from his eyes and he appealed to his colleagues to the sensibility of the appeal and they retreated into the dusk much to my relief. I was terrified and shocked beyond belief coming from the safe protected environ of Brisbane. Tears rolled down my eyes as to the frustration of embarking into this adventure with Mylan. Was it meant not to be?

Mylan wanted to take up the issue with the authorities in his anger and the insult. I was not inclined to get into a scandal on my holiday trip and especially the prospect of the danger to Mylan. We both reflected into the frustration of this relationship and depressed, walked back to the security of the city moving into a decent hotel on Park Street.

Hardly had we a peaceful night when I was shocked to see Mylan come late at night the next day with a bandaged head. I burst into tears. I was too young to face the realities. He was pale, lost and doddering. The most I could do was hold and comfort him. The night was stressful but he was calm and quiet. With all this complication on hand, we decided to fly out of Calcutta and leave behind the impediments to come to its normal end.

Escape

Next morning when Mylan went to his Bank, he discovered his account was locked, and he overheard that there was a lookout notice for him. We decided to slip town the same day and took the most menial means of transport to the Airport in order to skip detection. Time dragged on. I checked in for both of us skeptically looking over my shoulder. I was absolutely new to this cloak and dagger stuff and peed frequently. A sure sign of anguish. Eventually the flight was announced, and we boarded to safety.

Although a short flight the morning sun welcomed us to the Suvarnabhumi Airport of Bangkok. Scouring the hotel prices and accommodation we landed up at the Malaysia hotel by bus. A back-packers paradise, it was teeming with people of all color size and shapes, an atmosphere of camaraderie with sprinkling of beautiful Thai girls.

Bangkok

Thailand

It was hot and we decided to have a swim to start our vacation. The pool was full of girls frolicking with the guests. There seemed to be girls all around. It was the early 70’s Bangkok was just budding as the tourist destination of the South East Asia.

Eating in Bangkok was eclectic with Hawkers everywhere offering Starters, Soups and preparations of choice. It was our first experience of the budding food-courts where one could choose food of their choice at incredible prices. A sumptuous meal and we hit the bed early, as Mylan’s injury was just about recovering. It was the first night of freedom from all the tensions of the previous weeks and we slept in each other’s arms ever-so-peacefully.

Early morning sounds of people arriving or leaving the popular hotel with aroma of fresh buffet breakfast tickled our appetite, so we rushed down to get some victuals; Fresh fruit galore, exotic dishes and seafood preparation unending.

Well tucked we decided to lie down for a while before discovering the city It was the early days of the Back-Packers and the fashion or necessity was to consult the Lonely Planet guides so after wresting a Bus Guide of Bangkok, we were on our way.

Over the next couple of days, it was visits to the Floating Market, the Jade Buddha, The Wat Po and other Wats in the day time and the Sex shows in hidden alleyways at night topping off with a sporty love making, as we were still discovering each other. It was a dream sequence.

We conceived a plan to sort of hitch hike or rather travel overland along the Elephant peninsula through Thailand, Malaysia and get to Singapore to acquire a Visa for Mylan to get to Australia.

We boarded the Silver Arrow, a train which travelled from Bangkok to Singapore and we had the option to drop off and board as per convenience. It chugged through the Elephant Peninsula to Kuala Lumpur and Finally to Johor Bahru from where we would have to take the bus to Singapore. The whole journey for a cost of $ 30.00 per head.

Keeping our fingers crossed, we started our journey the following day from Silom Road station. Second Class sleepers was adequate for us with meals being served on the trains dining car at 1Bhat which was equivalent to $0.50. It consisted of a sumptuous rice meal with curry, a fried egg, salad and a tapioca pudding for dessert.

It was cooler months and we clung to each other through the night and arrived at Butterworth, the port for Penang next late morning.

So here we were soaking in the sunshine on the golden beach, free from encumbrances, at least for the following days. Daylight spent basking on the beach, eating whenever hunger struck from the beach vendors and drinking tons of Soya milk and coconut water. Evenings were exciting as someone or the others organized a beach bon-fire and people zeroed on to it with their own thirst-quenchers and munchies. Some of Yuppies had their Guitars and community singing followed. As the moon rose the couples drifted back to their nests for an evening of languid lovemaking.

Days passed by and eventually people moved on to newer pastures. Next on the journey was the metropolitan town of Kuala Lumpur for which we had to board the train again from Butterworth, after the crossing. On the crossing we met many acquaintances from our beach parties, all in their city garbs, the yippie colors were shed. One was a Count from Italy, One a police Commissioner from Naples, some professors from the U.S of A, from England a politician among others. At first it was difficult to recognize some but then, the time comes for everyone to revert to our everyday vocations. Is that life?

I fleetingly recall one morning Mylan and I had strolled down to a secluded part of the beach. While we enjoyed the early morning calm there was a movement in the bush with alacrity we were about to run, when a middle-aged woman strolled out with her raised Sarong and walked into the pristine waters to automatically cleanse herself with the waves. Mylan burst out laughing at the travesty of human degradation of nature. The Grumpy woman stared at him and walked out on to her village. Within minutes there was a crowd, brandishing knives aggressively at Mylan. I thought not again and missed a heartbeat. Mylan apologized profusely fortunately in English and the tension calmed out once they realized he was also a foreigner. It was a Muslim village and they thought one of their locals was fraternizing with a foreign woman and to add insult to injury he had ridiculed an elder of their village.

Oh God! I thought. This harmless soul was continuously targeted as a villain, possibly since he had a western woman for a consort. Mylan had that little bit of the old generation about him, swashbuckling at times but very old-fashioned conservative about his mannerism. It was this trait which probably attracted me to him, as I found in his outlook of life traces of my own father.

Once the outrage calmed down the villagers left us alone and we spent a calm day on the lonely beach. My enthusiasm to get sun tanned, although encouraging on hand turned out to be sunburn of a severe kind and I had to suffer the infirmity for days with Mylan attending to the burn three to four times a day with salves. Something I will never forget in my whole life; the slightest touch would send pain shooting down my affected skin. Lovemaking was a torture and hence abstinence prevailed.

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

We made the crossing to Butterworth early as we had to connect to the Silver Arrow. Not encumbered with much luggage we found ourselves enough room on the train and chugged on our journey to the Malaysian capital.

The usual banter of all Asian stations greeted us. The cavernous arrival halls the greetings of fruit and trinkets sellers and the usual hotel touts, the station was historical with a long line of rulers, as Malaysia was an important source of Silver and rubber. The town was predominantly shrouded by the presence of the great Mosque and adjacent bazar streets offering mementoes and food for the pilgrims.

It was early evening and we took a taxi to the Petaling Hotel nearby. Being a fairly conservative town, our main distraction was food of the interesting Malaysian cuisine. The following day we took a day trip visiting Tin mines and silk producing factories. We were running low on finance and decided to move on the Singapore the following day. The same Silver Arrow delivered us to Johor Bahru, where we had to do the Customs and immigration clearance. It was quite simple as both of us were from Commonwealth countries and all the commonwealth countries were obliged to grant us visa for a minimum of six months.

Singapore

From Johor Bahru we had to take a bus to Singapore as the train connection was not yet in place. It was midafternoon when we arrived. Singapore the city of Somerset Maugham was a welcome destination after the confusion of the last three weeks. It was far head of the South East Asian countries both in infrastructure and conveniences. I felt at home again.

Broad avenues and disciplined traffic, there was even dress restriction those days in Singapore. Yet the mystery of the East was prevalent to add romance to this new Country. We chose a cozy Hotel in Chinatown called the Pin Sing Hotel guided by the Lonely Planet Guide, I was carrying.

Clean sheets Potable water and the piped, although Chinese, music was a luxury. Despite our ebbing finances, it was a must to do the Circuit in Singapore not knowing when we would come by that way again.

Even though it is an island there was no beach of significance, but a small shore was all where people would come down on weekends to enjoy the sea, so did we, in fact we even made love underwater just to reminisce it. There was a day spent at the Sentosa Island to which we took the cable car as it was something new, to watch the museum of the second World War surrender. It had a fabulous under water park with multi species of fish in the aquariums followed by a feast at the hawkers. I loved the oyster omelets, I wondered if it would enhance our libido, in fact a Chinese Doctor encouraged us to eat ground pearls to heighten love making, one would believe almost anything just to enhance sensuality.

The day was spent browsing shops in China town and drinking Soya milk, very thirst quenching. In the evening we were told to visit Bugis’ Street. Normally it is an everyday street market but in the night at the strike of 10 the street would clear out and tables are laid out on the street and a flurry of some of the most beautiful women in Singapore use the tables as a ramp to walk about. But then they are as you call them in the East Lady Boys. One would have to see this spectacle. The beers cost double, I am sure to sponsor the parade but the streets are full and everybody has a great laugh I am not aware what happens thereafter but I would not let Mylan go