I travel to Kolkata frequently and it is such a backward city, none of the bigger airlines service it, only low cost airlines like Indigo, Thai Air Asia, Thai Lion and Spicejet. What’s worse, all these flights are red-eye flights which I hate. So I was pleasantly surprised to see that Bhutan Airlines runs regular flights between Bangkok & Kolkata, and they are daytime flights! Bhutan Airlines is a small airline company and Bhutan’s first private airline. In fact it is so small, they just operate 2 aircraft on 2 routes.
What I like
So what’s to like about them? As I said, the main factor is, they run the only direct daytimeflights between Bangkok and Kolkata.
They are also the only airline on this route which doesn’t charge you extra for every little thing. In fact, proper hot meals are included in the fare. They also serve alcohol, but I have never had it.
Lunch aboard Bhutan Airlines flight from Kolkata to BangkokTomato Juice aboard Bhutan Airlines flight from Kolkata to Bangkok
Anyone who has travelled from India to Bangkok would know what kind of people travel on this route. 90% are sexually-frustrated men who have lied at their homes and are heading to Thailand for some Snu-Snu. But since this flight uses Kolkata just as a middle stop between Paro and Bangkok, the amount of such people on-board is comparatively few.
They don’t have seat-back entertainment, but they have a system called Tashi Skynet where you can use your own device to connect to the on-board Wi-Fi and play access their entertainment content and their flightmap.
Flight map on Tashi Skynet
They also have an in–flightmagazine Kuzu Zangpo La, reading which surprised me with the fact that their chairman is a doppelgänger of Jason Alexander.
Kuzu Zangpo La In-Flight MagazineWangchuk Dorji or Jason Alexander?
The flights are always early, if not on-time.
The aircraft’s, although not brand new, seem to be well-maintained and clean.
They have great customer care. During a recent trip, I accidentally cancelled my flight by mistake, but I was able to contact their customer care and reverse the cancellation without any penalties.
What I don’t like
Their pricing fluctuates a lot. Within days, their prices can become half or go double. My observation is that their pricing is lowest 2 weeks be for a trip. However, I am too anxious to wait till there’s only 2 weeks left to book a ticket.
Probably because of their agreement at Suvarnabhumi airport, they don’t have jet bridge access and rely on buses to take passengers to and from the terminal, which adds time, especially when returning to Bangkok.
That’s it, not too many negatives. Overall, I am thankful to have this fight
Credit Card transactions at PoS machines require a PIN.
Credit Card transactions at online merchants are not seamless, making recurring un-attended transactions impossible in most cases (Eg you cannot associate a credit card with your Apple account and buy things with 1 tap).
Cannot enter Airport without showing a valid ticket.
X-Ray machines, metal detectors at shopping malls. They even check below your car to see if you have a bomb strapped to it.
Some merchants allow very limited quantities of some items. Eg, I wanted to replace the bulbs in my room and Blinkit won’t let me order 2 of any one type of bulb. Eventually I had to select 2 different makes.
Hospitals make you pay before you even see a doctor.
People are paranoid about security, even in gated societies, even with the above authentication. See example below
Personal gate in a gated society
Why has it come to this?
Now, I am not arguing that the above steps are not required (they most certainly are), but why are they specifically required for us?
Barring security issues which are courtesy terrorism, most of the above comes down to how un-trustworthy we Indians are. Surely, we have been stealing others’ Uber rides, package deliveries, credit cards long enough that they had to come up with all this.
Recently, I participated in a 10k running event called 12th August Half Marathon 2025, also called “Run for mom“. It is organised on the Thai mother’s day every year on the birth day of Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother of Thailand. The event is held at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center also bearing her name.
The run was quite fun because we had to go over 2 flyovers and the last one had a view of the river, although it was a bit too dark to see it.
Here’s a comparison with the same run last year.
12th August Half Marathon 10k 2024 vs 2025
I was able to shave 9 mins off the overall time, same date, same route a year apart.
12 August Half Marathon 2025 10k HR Zones12 August Half Marathon 2025 10k splits
As you can see the splits, I had a slow start because I was stuck behind slow runners, but was able to pick up the pace in the 2nd and 3rd km. After that, I healed a steady pace, but slowed down for kms 7-9. I was able to push through on km 10 and finish the race.
My heart rate was in Zone 5 most of the time.
12 August Half Marathon 2025 10k finisher medal12 August Half Marathon 2025 10k finisher medal
Depiction of farang as a stone guard at Wat Pho in Bangkok; circa 1824–1851
As per Wikipedia, the word Farang loosely translates to someone of caucasian descent. In practical use in Southeast Asia, it is more widely used to refer to white men; less frequently women.
In this article, I cover a specific class of Farang living in Southeast Asia – The ones who consider themselves authentic (travellers, not tourists kind) and come to Asia to (re) discover themselves. Most of them are jobless, mooching off social security in their developed countries or have remote jobs and stay here on tourist Visas. In my experience, they constitute less than 10% of total white people living here.
For most of them, the bubble bursts real soon and they end up leaving, but some of them survive for years.
Now, my problem is not with how they themselves are, but with how judgemental they are about others and how they think that anyone who is not like them is a fool. Not to forget, their colonial mentality.
Using my guide below, you too can become one such insufferable Farang.
Exclusive Guide to be an Insufferable Farang
Eat tasteless, flavourless bland food and judge others for eating different. Lecture them on how asians don’t have evolved taste buds that can appreciate finer tastes only they can.
Hainanese Chicken & Rice, the staple dish of Insufferable Farangs
Ride around on extremely busy roads on e-scooters or monowheels and if a crack on the road or a gentle sideswipe sends you sprawling on the streets with broken teeth, go cry on Reddit.
A group of Farangs with e-Scooters in Bangkok
Show great enthusiasm for learning the local language and/or Muay Thai and judge others (who have actual jobs to do) if they can’t. The hypocrisy is that after the initial phase, most of them maintain the same 20 word vocabulary for years. Occasionally, pretend to enjoy Thai-dub movies.
Eat in street side stalls & judge others who prefer going to nice places. Then, when you eventually get diarrhoea, go beg on Reddit for free local medication recommendations because you can’t/won’t afford to go to a doctor. Also, drink shitty bottled beer in windowless joints.
Judge people for going to shopping malls, because shopping malls are huge symbols of corporate greed and hanging out on the side-streets is what authentic people do.
Get beaten up by prostitutes frequently. Bonus points if the prostitute is a ladyboy.
Educate others on how they should live their lives at any chance you get. But be considerate by prepending your sentence with “I am not showing a colonial mentality but….”
Live in cheap shitty hovels and hostels. Judge others if they do/want to live in nice places.
Bad mouth Indians all the time, but if you need help with work, feel free to ask them.
If married, dump your white wife and share (unknowingly) a Thai girlfriend with 10 other insufferable Farangs. When you find out, cry on reddit.
Hail taxis off the streets. Judge others for using ride-hailing apps. Then complain on Reddit when you get ripped off. For bonus points, pick a fight with the taxi driver and cry on reddit when your teeth get knocked out.
Use the cheapest phone possible (if possible, with a cracked screen and a battery pack permanently taped to the back) and judge others if they prefer nicer phones.
Judge people who don’t participate in adventure sports.
Bash Nestle whenever you see one of their brands anywhere. While not knowing why you’re bashing it, in the first place.
Get restless if you haven’t been in a swimming pool for more than 48 hours.
Recently, my Saucony Triumph 22 running shoes crossed 600kms & I started looking out for shoes to replace them. I always wanted to go back to Hokas, but I wanted something more responsive than the Clifton. After briefly considering the Rincon 4s, I decided to buy the Hoka Mach 6.
I generally prefer colourful shoes, but the Hoka Mach 6 Oat Milk variant were 50% off and the others were not.
Hoka Mach 6 just unboxed
The first impression is how light and bare they are, compared to what I am normally used to.
Hoka Mach 6 with Saucony Triumph 22
Comparing to my previous Saucony, I see that they are also thinner and a bit smaller (For the same size). I didn’t think of it much then, because my Saucony always felt a bit too big. As you will see later, this will come back to bite me in the ass hard.
But how do they feel while running?
Of course, they are not as plush and feel lower to the ground. However, I could feel I was running faster with the same effort. But let the numbers do the talking.
Saucony Triumph 22 vs Hoka Mach 6 4.8k comparison
As you can see, the Hoka Mach 6 helped me shave more than a minute off my standard 4.8k run. And I did it with the same amount of effort I did with the Triumph 22, as is evident from the total calories burnt and the average heart rate.
Not so fast…
After running in them a week, I started to notice the toenails of my big toes on both feet peeling off on the outer edge. I could only attribute them to the narrower toe box and smaller size, so I had to bin the brand new Mach 6 and get the Mach 6 wide in a higher size. This time I tried them on at the store before buying. The colour was even worse.
Hoka Mach 6 wide with Hoka Mach 6 with Saucony Triumph 22
As you can see, the “wide” Mach 6 from Hoka are still narrower than the Saucony. However, my nails have been fine since then, so not complaining much. Thankfully, my pace didn’t drop with the bigger and wider shoes.
First Run with the Hoka Mach 6 (Wide)
My only concern : While running, I could feel the shock of the steps reverberating through my joints, especially my hips. In the last couple of weeks, I haven’t had any joint pain, but only time will tell how this works out.
What makes Fantastic Four: First Steps different is that it is set in Earth 828, which is in a different universe than the previous MCU movies. Earth 828 is a retro-futuristic version of Earth & most of the movie is set in 1960s New York City which reminds you of Mad Men. However, even though the clothes, aesthetics are 60s, the technology is futuristic.
Example, the screens are all oval shaped CRTs, video is recorded on huge tapes and audio is recorded on gramophone records.
However, there’s faster-than-light travel spaceships, flying cars & even teleportation.
Earth 828 also has a planet-wide government & no militaries. There’s a mandatory superhero tower and spaceship launches happen just off the coast of New York.
All of these things give the movie a very comic book feel, rather than sci-fi.
Galactus, devourer of worlds is an interesting character, too. Not inherently evil, he is just cursed with an eternal hunger of planets, which he is tired of. All he wants to do is bestow this hunger on someone else and rest in peace.
The movie features several fun scenes, like the neutron star-spaceship scene & the light-speed travel childbirth scene. The Mole man is also a funny character.
If Marvel produces more movies like this, I won’t mind engrossing myself in this universe once again.
My first comment on this movie is that David Corenswet has the most generic face of all the actors who have played Superman till now. His face is so generic, if I saw him in the street right now, I may not recognise him. Kind of like bollywood actresses from the 70s and 80s. So I don’t understand why the movie even bothered to make up the eye-hypnotise thing to explain why no one recognises Superman is Clark Kent.
Otherwise the movie is a departure from the last Superman series, bright, funny and cheerful, instead of dark and broody. There’s no long-winded origin story and one gets dropped straight into the first action sequence, of which there are many.
The antagonist is Lex Luthor, who is not a Kryptonian but a very smart (as per him) weapons manufacturer, something on the lines of Tony Stark who has his employees fly around in Iron Man like suits.
The Justice Gang add a funny side to the story. The portals are really cool and the scenes are quite stylistic. There’s a part-Stitch, part-Gojira creature and the typical Eastern European despot trying to invade a moslem Central Asian country. Krypto was the most adorable part of the movie.
One thing that is common with the previous DCEU movies is that entire cities get destroyed like nothing.
I went to watch this movie only because my daughter wanted to see dinosaurs. This was a sequel of a reboot, so I had very low expectations going on. Overall, the movie slightly exceeded my expectations.
The movie starts at InGen‘s (Another company trying to play god with dinosaurs) laboratories and the most ridiculous thing happens. Just because 1 door in their lab malfunctions, their entire security system reboots and releases all the mutant dinosaurs everywhere. Which designer can design such software and how can such a design go through the design review & approval chain? In contrast, the drainage system they built at a remote tropical island can put most Indian cities to shame.
The movie has typical action movie scenes – A group going to a watering hole in a tropical location to find an indispensable guy & convincing him to join the mission, crew members dying one by one while the others shout their names in vain, a selfless sacrifice by a crew member at the end to give others a chance to escape etc.
There are new dinosaurs, too. The main mutant antagonist looks like a T Rex-Xenomorph hybrid. There’s also a customary cute dinosaur who looks like Stitch and even one that looks like Jar Jar Binks.
There’s also prominent product placement by Altoids. Considering how most of them spent most of their time submerged in water or wet, they could have inserted an anti-fungal cream, too.
Overall, a decent watch if you have nothing better to do.
Continuing my series, this post is about the Costus Woodsonii, commonly known as the Red Button Ginger.
Costus woodsonii, commonly known as Red Button Ginger or Dwarf Cone Ginger, is a tropical perennial. It is native to Central and SouthAmerica. It is prized for its vibrant red cone-shaped bracts that resemble buttons, which often hold small yellow flowers. The plant has lush, spiraling green foliage and is popular in ornamental gardens for its compact size and striking appearance.
I first saw this plant when I came to Bangkok many years ago and since then, have always wanted to grow it. Recently, I asked our plant seller to get one for me and here we are.
I keep this plant in direct sunlight, in the rear balcony in the summers and front balcony in the winters, where it gets 3-4 hours of sunlight everyday.
I water it four times a week and make sure that the soil dries out between waterings.
Additionally, I fertilise it every 2 months or when it shows signs of growth, helping to promote healthy foliage and overall vitality.
With most of my family away for a few weekends, I decided to catch up on movies. After queuing up a few, I realised that Farhan Akhtar was a common element in all of them; hence decided to continue the theme.
Farhan’s Role : Actor, Writer, Producer, Playback Singer My Rating : 7/10
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (You only live once), is a road comedy drama film. The film stars an ensemble cast of Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif, and Kalki Koechlin. The film’s story follows three childhood friends, Arjun, Kabir, and Imran, who reunite for a three-week road trip before one of them gets married.
I had seen this movie before but didn’t remember much of it except the central theme. Second time round, I found the movie quite entertaining and well made; especially enjoying Hrithik’s acting and his character Arjun’s transformation over the course of the movie. I also enjoyed Farhan’s background recitation of poetry at pivotal points.
That being said, I didn’t like a few things, like how desperate the women were, for the men. And how they wanted us to believe that average people from India look anything close to the three lead actors and the 2 actresses.
02-Dil Chahta Hai (2001)
Dil Chahta Hai Theatrical Poster
Farhan’s Role : Writer, Director My Rating : 7/10
Dil Chahta Hai (The Heart Desires) is a coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Farhan Akhtar in his directorial debut. The film stars Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, and Akshaye Khanna as three inseparable college friends navigating adulthood, relationships, and diverging life paths. It also features Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni, and Dimple Kapadia in pivotal supporting roles. Set in contemporary urban India, the film explores themes of friendship, love, and self-discovery among upper-class youth.
Of course I had seen it before, but I had no idea back then who Farhan Akhtar was. The movie is extremely well made and feel-good in nature and I enjoyed the acting of all 3 lead men, especially Akshaye Khanna’s.
However, the overwhelmingly 90s feel of this movie is a bit of a turn-off for me now, for personal reasons. Also, even though it was considered ground-breaking back then, it still carries some elements of bollywood of yore, especially silly jokes, unrealistic way people talk, characters suddenly breaking into dance sequences etc.
03-Dil Dhadakne Do (2015)
Dil Dhadakne Do Theatrical Poster
Farhan’s Role : Actor, Writer, Producer, Playback Singer My Rating : 7/10
I saw this one for the first time after a recommendation from Chatur; in fact I had never even heard of its name before. It was a nice feel-good movie with a (mostly) happy-ending for everyone. I especially liked the fact that the movie was narrated by a dog and is from his point-of-view.
04-Lakshya (2004)
Farhan’s Role : Director My Rating : 4/10
Lakshya (Aim) is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age war drama film directed by Farhan Akhtar. I think I had seen this movie long ago, but can’t remember for sure. Even if I did, I didn’t like it much this time.
It was annoying the way they kept repeating the word “Lakshya” in daily conversation among the characters. What normal person even uses this word in real life?
Many scenes in the move are cringe, especially the flashbacks where Hrithik tries so hard to be awkward. Even an actor like Boman Irani doesn’t shine, because his character is inconsistent/not fleshed out. Preity’s reaction at Karan running away from the academy is un-realistic.
Also, no Indian war movie is complete without a customary moslem Indian soldier who puts country above religion. I also had to skip 10 minutes when the soldiers all broke into an impromptu song sequence.
I liked the scenes shot at familiar locations in Delhi – Lodhi Garden, India Habitat Center but not much else.
05-Luck by Chance (2009)
Farhan’s Role : Producer, Actor My Rating : 6/10
Luck by Chance is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language drama film written and directed by Zoya Akhtar in her directorial debut, and produced by Farhan Akhtar. It is about Vikram, a talented actor, but a selfish human being.
It was neither great nor bad, just average. I liked it because it showed the dark underbelly of Bollywood. Everyone acted well, but it was just a one time watch. This movie also has dance numbers, but in this case they are acceptable because the are part of the movies being shot inside this movie. I skipped them nonetheless.
06-Rock On (2008)
Farhan’s Role : Writer, Producer, Actor, Singer My Rating : 9/10
Rock On!! is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film written and directed by Abhishek Kapoor & produced by Farhan Akhtar. It is also my favourite Farhan Akhtar movie and one of my favourite movies overall.
I remember watching this movie with my friend Bhupesh at PVR at Ambience Mall in the late night show. While on the way back, we talked about how much we had enjoyed the movie.
The songs are kick-ass and capture the rock essence. I appreciate that both Arjun Rampal and Purab Kohli spent some effort to learn the basics of the instruments their characters play. Farhan was already an accomplished singer, but he did the rock numbers well.
Javed Akhtar’s lyrics, at that point considered ground-breaking for Bollywood, feel a bit wannabe now. Aditya’s reaction to the squabble is a bit overboard. Ditch the girlfriend and leave town?
Overall, top movie.
Common Farhan Akhtar Themes
Overall, I found the below common themes from all the movies
Even though the movies are not strictly bollywood-type movies, they do retain common bollywood elements like song-and-dance sequences, which I always skipped.
All the male actors are unbelievably (for real life) ripped. For some characters, it makes sense, but for many, it doesn’t.
Most of the major characters, with some exceptions belong to filthy-rich (by Indian standards) families.
Most of these movies have feel-good themes, with no real villains. The less-good characters more-or-less redeem themselves by the end of the movies.
All of these movies are quite long, even by Bollywood standards, most exceeding 3 hours.
Farhan seems to like working with the same actors
Hrithik Roshan in Zindagi na Milegi Dobara, Lakshya & Luck by Chance
Preity Zinta in Dil Chahta hai and Lakshya
Dimple Kapadia in Dil Chahta Hai, Luck by Chance
Aamir Khan in Dil Chahta Hai, Luck by Chance
Himself in Zindagi na milegi dobara, Dil Dhadakne Do, Luck by chance and Rock On!!
