PURVARANG – Japan! by Pu La Deshpande

In deep darkness, our Boeing was leaping towards Tokyo. And suddenly, thousands of feet below the void caught fire. The air hostess said her chant... “tighten your seat belts, put off your cigarettes, Tokyo is arriving”. I obeyed and looked down the window. Tokyo was just glittering. I had never witnessed such riot of red, green, blue, yellow & orange lights. I have however, had the fortune of peeping down upon many big cities of the world. But what I saw now was a blast of light and color. It was later, only when landing at the New York airport that I again saw such celebration. These million lights were like a hymn of prosperity written on the canvas of darkness. In the very first sight, the lights gave us such a salute that, if not for the seat belt, I would have bowed in respect a 100 times in typical Japanese style. The infinite rows of lights were saying: ‘Hey Traveler, from the ashes of war and from the hard work of man, we have built this Eden. You are welcome”. With glimmer in our eyes, and at the stroke of midnight we landed in this land of rising sun!

Some countries inculcate a curiosity about themselves. In that list, Japan would come on the top. It’s a different affair all together. Stronger than steel in war, softer than a flower otherwise. Women, like dolls sprung with feet, and men who bow a 100 times. I have been saying to myself since childhood that I wish to visit 2 countries in my life. England in the west and Japan in the east. I was fortunate to have done both!

From my travels around the world, I have made certain observations and one of them is that there is a strong relation between the culture of a nation and the behavior of its customs officers. The stay is usually pleasant if the officer smiles. The Japanese officer not only smiled but also bowed and welcomed us! My Indian heart chokes with emotion when I see such behavior from people in uniform. We don’t anticipate this in our country. Not just the police, but even a band-wala in uniform shows an attitude. Our luggage check was waived off. Looking at the Japanese camera around my neck the customs officer congratulated me for buying the best camera in the world and asked me to take many photos while in Japan. All this was quite unexpected. the smile of an unknown man in an unknown country has special value.

However, the sight we saw on-road to Tokyo city, was a contrast. We saw small, thatched houses and dug up roads. I remembered my bachelor friend always saying a ‘second sight’ is the only cure for the ‘love at first sight’. We had heard of the Japanese cherry blossom and arrived here at that exact time. But in that cold weather, when it started to rain, I got a bit concerned. Our host only asked us not to worry and have patience. As our car entered Tokyo city, we crossed a tower just like the Paris’ Eiffel Tower (but a foot higher) and approached the world-famous Ginza area of Tokyo. There's Piccadilly of London, Pigalle of Paris, Times Square of New York and …Ginza of Tokyo. These places make your heart skip a beat.

Ginza was glittering in neon. The lights had created an explosion. Theatres, pubs and bars were strewing out people and the roads were abuzz! We reached Hotel Dai-ichi where we had our booking. Seeing the grand hotel with around 1500 rooms, I realized that my geography lesson was long outdated because we were taught that Japanese live in small wooden makeshift houses. Our hotel room was on the 8th floor. It was a small room, but ‘wah!’ was the instant emotion when we entered. It had westernized décor. In the corner there was a vase with careful flower arrangement. On the wall was a tapestry of Japanese nature painting. Everything in the room was spic and span and perfectly ordered. It was already past midnight and we had to leave for Nikko the next morning. It was a Sunday, so our host had planned to take us in his car. They say, ‘See Naples and then die’. Similarly, there’s a Japanese proverb that goes: ‘Don’t say kekko, before seeing Nikko’. Kekko means beautiful, in Japanese. Our plan was to leave early morning and return by night.

We were awakened by a morning call. In extremely sweet voice a Japanese lady was saying 'moshi moshi'. I was unable to comprehend this moshi moshi matter. Finally I also did a 'moshi moshi'. This is Japanese for Hello! Of course, a Japanese lady saying moshi moshi is so sweet and urging that it is impossible for a Marathi throat to even attempt its match. Just like the Parisian girls 'merci bukoo' is difficult to emulate, so is the Japanese girl’s moshi moshi. The lady on the phone said ‘Mista Palureka wan tu tok’ meaning 'Mr.Parulekar (our host) wants to talk'. Have breakfast and be ready, I will be there to pick you up, he said. We went down in search of our breakfast. The hostesses of the hotel were at their job hopping around beaming with activity and helping customers. The girl who was operating the lift bowed and wished us good morning. And a delightful thought brushed my mind that my elephant gait may well turn into a horse's walk due the incessant bowing I will do in Japan in the next one month.

The ladies, in their floral kimonos, and the short men were smiling and greeting us. We tried to ask where the breakfast was served. Japanese men were all decked up in western attire but were totally unable to converse in English. What we got instead was a smile. The ladies also smiled but their smile usually was followed by a shy glance. All this was fine, but in this large space we were unable to find the place for breakfast. Finally, we went to the enquiry counter. There too was the alluring kingdom of ladies. Then we got hold of an English knowing pretty lassie. She did some chatter with another lady and we finally followed her to the cafeteria. The Japanese call tea ‘cha’. ‘With milk tea’ and ‘without milk tea’ is called ocha and kocha. In spite of a month long stay in Japan, the right word for 'milk tea' never struck me at the right time. When I asked for tea, I used to get a cup of green tea, which the Japanese drink like water.

But there was one great pleasure. There is no tipping in Japan. Hotels have boards that say our ‘waiters are paid well, please do not tip’. Waiters too feel it an insult to get a tip. The taxi drivers also don’t take tip and voluntarily get the luggage out for. All other countries have the hassle of tipping. It is impossible, for first time travellers, to know what the right amount of tip is. Less tip would be disrespectful and more tip feels like getting robbed. The cunning hostesses at the Paris public toilets keep 100 francs in the box to create an impression that it is the norm. It is tough to predict how people can take benefit of a situation and cheat. A disgusting example of such behaviour is in seen in our hospitals. Ward boys, who never even turned up during the stay, promptly appear asking for a tip when leaving. In Japan however we truly experienced, the saying ‘Atithi devo bhava’ many times. The stature of a country doesn’t grow by the bloating speeches of the delegation, but from the behaviour of the ordinary people.

The breakfast was very costly, but all details were written on the receipt and there were no hidden charges. Moreover, the hostesses were so fresh and pleasing that one would feel they got their yearly bonuses just this morning. The waitresses were serving as if it was the hotel owner's birthday and the customers were devouring as if they never had such delicious food ever. Back in India, the owner, sitting on his throne, shouts at the boy and says ‘go ask the corner table what he wants…do you come here for loafing around or waiting tables?’. Then the ‘boy’ asks what you want with an expression of ‘out of all the hotels in the world, why did you have to come to ours?’. The Japanese here were moving around with a smile. Like fresh garden flowers in a vase, the ladies in kimono had such joyful faces. I wondered, when did they find time to get dressed that morning with all the make-up, as if they were all set to attend a marriage. There was not a single miffed, frustrated face. Not just that morning, but till we left Japan, we never saw an angry face. It is a country of smiling people.

Translated by Amrut Kunte

8th May 2021