They said, ‘Singapore is a better version of Gurgaon, the
millennium city bordering the Metropolis of Delhi. Nothing could be farther from
the truth and I realized it the moment I landed at the Changi Airport. The city
state resembles a post card destination with its meticulously created
boulevards and perfect urban development model using scarce resources and
almost everything imported from the rest of world. Well I will not waste any
further lines on writing about the wonder that Singapore is as most of you have
heard the proverbial Singapore Story. What I will share is its unique
historical role during the British Raj and also to offer a peek
into its cultural mosaic and the tourist paradise it is!
The city state is a microcosm of the erstwhile British
Empire, who essentially built Singapore and used it as a sinecure posting for
the babus of the Raj besmirched by the heat and dust of the subcontinent and
also as a Sarai (Halt) for the
officers and officials of the British queen on the arduous and often fraught
with danger journey to Oz, the land down under. The omnipresent historian in me
was trying to discern the designs of the British colonialists, who were able to
dominate and rule vast swathes of territory on the either sides of the Strait
of Malacca with such ease for so long has astonished me no ends. How a handful
of Britishers could rule almost all races and countries over a sustained period
of time all over the globe is a source of much astonishment!
Singapore too fell prey to colonialist’s designs and
suffered the same fate as did so many across Asia, Africa, Far East, and
Americas. One of the positive outcomes as a result of colonial rule was the emergence of Singapore
as a financial and transit hub for all the trade and commerce that used to take
place between Europe, China & South East Asia, Australasia, and the Far
East. Owing to its strategic location, it became an important commercial hub.
Even today, it continues to enjoy the hallowed status as it is located approximately
midway between the west and the east and most of the commercial shipping and
aviation industry uses Singapore as its transit hub. The Strait of the Malacca is today the busiest
navigation corridor for both shipping and aviation.
The British Raj
was instrumental in bringing together people of different religion, ethnicities
under one direct umbrella and this went a long way in making Singapore a unique
melting pot truly multi-ethnic and multi-lingual and in conjunction with its
indomitable spirit an inspiration to the rest of the world on what human spirit
and industry can achieve if it set its sight on greatness. You will be surprised
to know that it was not always so in the near past and the city too was scourged,
blighted and scorched by ethnic violence, racism, and poverty. However, under
the stewardship of the legendary Lee Kuan Yew, the city state evolved from a
third world developing nation into a modern wonder; a financial hub and a
popular destination for revellers around the world. The Singaporean mosaic primarily consists of
Malays, Singaporean Chinese, Tamil Indians, British Expats, and other disparate
ethnicities.
I guess you have had enough of the pedantic and would like
to know what a tourist like me is doing in Singapore. I paid visit to all the
tourist havens and paid obeisance to all the modern deities such as Marina Sands
Bay Hotel, a unique design, the modern avatar to the Noah’s Ark. And yes, you must be a nerd, if you don’t
visit One Altitude, the club at an altitude above many, located at tropospheric
heights almost in a heavenly abode for people who want to shake their legs and
party hard. You can’t find a more spectacular view of the ocean as it makes you
feel as if you are in the middle of the ocean and the citylights. And of
course, you must touch the feet of the Merlion, the flagship symbol of
Singapore Tourism. The spectacular waterfront at Marina Sands Bay is full of
eateries and pubs teeming with revellers late in the night and early morning.
The impressive boulevard houses European style cafe’s and
bars offering a sumptuous spread of delectable cuisine and is crowded by mostly
young people making merry and having fun. But I must warn you the city will
burn a hole in your pocket as everything is exorbitantly priced. Make sure you
have deep pockets when you visit Singapore! For all of us bred in the Macaulayian
tradition, an urge to tickle the sophisticated bone is never far away. Well
that’s exactly what I did and went to Dempsey Hill, a fine dining arena
ostensibly for the high and mighty, the nouveau rich and the upwardly mobile of
the Singaporean society. No prizes for guessing! Indian diaspora scores once
again and you could scores of Indians swarming the place. They were all strutting
around confidently as if they belonged.
No sojourn to the exotic oriental is complete without a
customary visit to the China Town and Little India. Everywhere my gaze went, the red Chinese
dragon spitted fire from every corner and mandarin was the lingua franca of the
streets. I could not understand one bit but then understood the essence of what
they were saying. Well, let me share a secret! There is no better place to pick
up merchandise and souvenir for the folks back home without burning a hole in
your pocket. The delightful trek was followed by a meal of traditional Chinese
dumpling and sticky fried rice mixed with egg and a Heidinger beer to wash away
my gastronomic sin. Well, it was time to move across the Himalaya aka the
little stations named after British officers and head to Little India. With
pride on my face and patriotism on my sleeve, I ventured into Little India. And
Lo Behold, I missed the Indo- Gangetic Plains and walked across the Vindhyas
beyond the land of Krishna & Godavari and walked onto the land of the Great
“Sangam” culture, the pride of Dravidians and us Indians.
It was Déjà vu! I
felt like I was walking a non-decrepit street of Chennai. You sense you are
seeing known faces, the unmistakable ogle and stares, (an alleged Indian trait
as told to me by an English Traveler), the hustle & bustle, and the chaos
of an Indian Bazaar. They have an
India in the middle of the oriental Singapore! On the streets, I saw the flower
men were unshackling the knots of their large brown sacks and out came tumbling
flowers of all hues and shapes. We were dazzled by the heady concoction of
fragrance and color so vivid and sprightly. The fragrance of rajnigandhas, the scent of gulab petals, the bucolic effervescence
of chameli, and the fruity scent of genda. Ah! it was a veritable riot of color
and fragrance so Indian in essence.
The fragrance of Dasa
pushpam’s (The flowers that adorn the hair of a woman in South India) was
all pervasive as was the waft of Indian spices and the aroma of Indian food.
This was irresistible and we walked towards an eatery as if in a trance much
like the gullible children who followed the pied piper of Hamlin, the legendary
story all of us read in our school.
I turned around and looked at my better half with a sense of
disbelief. She expected that expression
of bewilderment and gave me a smile and without exchanging any words and the
sentiments were conveyed and understood. Being
here made me realize why people of Indian origin come to Little India. No
matter how far and how long you have lived away from the motherland, authentic food is the last chord that connects
the sons and daughters with their motherland and reminds them of their roots.
As always, the gastronomic delight of an Indian meal trumps over any other
cuisine (Forgive me for being a culinary jingoist!). And for a tourist like me who was already
homesick, the sumptuous meal was a great solace, comfort and a source of huge
contentment. On the way back, at the
swanky Changi airport I can’t resist another Indian trait, (this is not alleged
but true!), picking up scotch bottles of Black Label and chocolates for people
back home who earnestly expect this as entitlement. You are expected to pay
this tax if you have committed the cardinal pleasure of traveling abroad! Till the next time ciao and adios!
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