« First Hours of Songkran | TheOtherSide | CRU »
April 24, 2005
Wet & Dry, Day & Night, Eternal Smiles
It's the end of a hot summer in Northern Thailand and a little five year old boy is unleashing a huge amount of water my direction from a bigger squirt gun than I ever had even when I was twelve. The look on his face is terrifying but melt-your-heart cute at the same time as a battle cry escapes from his gritted teeth framed by such a wonderful smile. Laughing, while struggling with the huge weapon of water, he charges. I turn to run but it's too late-- I'm nailed in the square of my neck and then down my back with icy water; so cold it feels as if it's piercing my very skin with millions of little needles. He stops shooting and I stop running. I turn to surrender all the while planning his drenching, but as I do, the stabbing ice is back-- this time in my ear and face. So cold! Where did he get that ice?! All I have is warm canal water, but it'll have to do. My 10-liter bucket leads me towards him, helpfully shielding my eyes from his chilling spear of water. Finally, he runs out of water and I have plenty. He sees what I plan to do and tries to run, but it's too late. He stops when he knows he's been had as well. Ten liters of wonderful water pour over his black hair and down his Batman tee-shirt. As the last of it drips off those lengthly lashes, he glances back up at me with a compassionate, almost thankful smile, and darts off into the crowd to refill his super-soaker with ice water.
Hours later, shivering cold and covered in goose-bumps, I'm trying to make my way back to my room through the 101˚F heat. Just when I think I've made it, a diesel pickup truck rolls by me with about a dozen smiling faces in the back and the same number of full buckets. I might as well go down with a spray, I figure, so with my one-shot, pump-action, ram-rod shooter filled with ice water I scored a few blocks back, I open fire on the truck. Screams and water are quickly returned and I'm more drenched than I ever thought possible without being actually submerged underwater. "Happy New Year!" they shout in Thai. Finally, I'm standing in a dripping puddle at my door as I dig out the key from the plastic bag also containing my cash, my cell (still dry!), and my daily Thai vocab list that is already a couple of days late. I'll run a shower, which, at the end of the whole day in town, is almost too much water to handle, and then put on some completely dry clothes over my saturated and wrinkled body. The sun is disappearing over the not-so-distant mountain, painting a beautiful picture of Doi Sutep, the magnificent temple on the summit, looking over the dry valley of Chiang Mai.
Songkran is a celebration of water, a welcoming to the return of the monsoon weather, and a time of new beginnings for a new year. At first impression, it might appear to be a ridiculous and foolish waste of water, but when huge downpours and thunderstorms roll in for the first time in many weeks on the first day of the celebration and for a few hours each day thereafter, it makes one believe this festival is something truely more than just a nationwide waterfight. A spiritual celebration of life, water, rain, and good agriculture, or just a silly drunken holiday that boosts cheap super-soaker sales a hundred-fold, Songkran is an unforgettable event that could only proceed so smoothly in such a loving and friendly Buddhist culture that exists here in Thailand.
Posted by Tom Bodhi at April 24, 2005 08:12 AM
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)