A Moment Out Of Time.
Hi,
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Lying in bed this morning, feeling deliciously warm and not yet wanting to face the chill of getting up, I began thinking about outstanding moments in a life.
The ones that stay clear and meaningful even decades later on.
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One of mine took place in Thailand.
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Bangkok is a strange place, with a particular smell to it at times, strangely sweet, but shitty.
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One day, when I was there, a friend and I had planned to spend the day shopping, so we were up nice and early on a beautiful morning.
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After breakfast we went outside to catch a tuk-tuk to take us to our agreed upon starting point, which was a jewellery merchant’s emporium.
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When we got into a gaily painted machine we told the young man who was driving where we wanted to go to.
He replied that it was too early in the day for that particular shop to be opened, and then proceeded to make a suggestion that we should go to a temple, as we had enough spare time.
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The main temple that tourists went to see, was the famous one that has a huge golden statue in it, along with millions of the aforementioned tourists and their cameras etc.
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The driver said that, he would take us to a smaller temple which was conveniently near to the shop we wanted to visit.
And off we went.
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It seemed to take a long time to get there and we were passing through some very run-down alleys.
I did worry a bit as to our naivety in trusting the young fellow so easily as no-one knew where we were.
You can suddenly realize, in a moment like that, how much of a stranger you are in such places!
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Then suddenly the vehicle stopped and the driver leaped out, pointing enthusiastically at a small building surrounded by a little bare courtyard with a very low wall around it, saying that he would wait for us.
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We tentatively went into the courtyard and walked through towards the building.
There were lots of tiny little towers built onto the well hardened ground, which one lone man was sweeping with a twig broom.
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We suddenly noticed a little cat go up to him only to be smiled at benignly and then ignored totally.
I was horrified to see that the poor animal was covered in patches of mange,with sharply outlined ribs.
Then, upon looking around more closely, it became obvious that there were many such cats all over the place.
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Like typical foreigners, we rushed inside the building in case a cat rubbed against us, and found ourselves in a surprising space.
It was a square room with a raised platform covered in red velvet.
There were a few plates on it at the front, covered with with flowers.
Placed at the back of the dais was a golden chair, which was empty.
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There was a monk sitting on the floor near us, dressed in a robe, his head shaved.
A very young boy sat before him with his head down.
It was perfectly quiet and no-one took any notice of us at all.
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I sat down on the floor in front of the low platform and my friend down sat on the edge of it, only to be quickly dissuaded by the shocked eyes and suddenly waving hand of the monk.
Shamefaced, she quickly sat down on the floor near to me.
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The atmosphere was somehow serene and peaceful in the extreme, and I closed my eyes and tried to absorb it internally.
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Time passed.
I was totally empty inside, just listening and incredibly aware somehow, without a single thought intruding.
There was a warm draught from somewhere which made me so sensitive to the movement of my longish hair as it stirred so gently.
There also seemed to be a sudden rich scent of flowers.
It may sound mad but I felt something like bliss in those moments.
I did not want it to stop.
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Unfortunately, far too soon, I felt my friend get very restive, and I was not sure how long I had kept her waiting there while I just sat with my eyes shut.
It certainly felt, to me. like it could have been a period of hours.
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As I sat for a moment, reorienting myself, a tiny old woman crept close by us and placed yet another offering on the side of the platform, made her obeisance and silently withdrew again.
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We then scurried back through the poor cats and the still sweeping monk, to find our transport still awaiting us.
Our whole day’s shopping then began as had been originally planned.
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That was more than a decade ago but the moment of bliss in the tiny temple still stays clear in my mind, like a perfect jewel.
If I sit and concentrate I can still feel the warm breeze and smell the sudden flowers.
For me, a gift of a moment out of time.
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J.
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A Taste Of Bangkok….and the Tuk Tuk’s.
