It amazes me how an inanimate object can sometimes take on a life of its own. As you are probably aware of by now, I have been touring Europe and Thailand for the last two months along with a contingent of students of Sri Chinmoy. In the evenings we often get together and perform skits about inspiring topics. While we were in Bulgaria, in order to add a little humor to one of the performances, someone purchased a large, bright yellow, stuffed toy duck and included it in a skit. The duck got a big laugh, and afterwards, the fuzzy aquatic bird ended up on the table at the back of the function hall where the audio guys monitor the microphones and speakers. Over the next few weeks the duck became more and more a part of the sound crew! Day by day it just got funnier and funnier. One day some headphones appeared on the duck, a couple of days later he was sporting a scarf, and several days later he was showing off a cool new hat!
When it came time for the group to move from Bulgaria to Thailand, it was clear that the most popular member of the audio crew would have to be left behind. Since we are on the road for such an extended period of time and we’re involved in so many different activities, we were already overloaded without having to worry about paying excess baggage fees for a stuffed animal. In addition to our own personal luggage, we had more than 50 boxes of paraphernalia including sound equipment, computer equipment and supplies, gear for our world harmony run, and medical supplies.
Surely the duck would make some local kid very happy, but just to give you an idea of how far the duck joke had gone, on the last night of our stay in Bulgaria, my friends Projjwal and Rupantar, put together a short slide show about the yellow fellow! The presentation was met with waves of laughter. It showed the celebrated plush toy checking in at the front desk, ordering from the juice bar and getting into a taxi. It was obvious that even the normally reserved staff at the hotel were into the duck gag!
Anyway, after surviving the 14-hour journey to Bangkok, we were eager to get through customs and board the buses to our hotel. Although we were a little worse for the wear, to an outside observer we probably still appeared to be quite distinguished looking. As we explained to the customs agent at the airport, our tour group was comprised of citizens from more than 20 different countries, many of whom were doctors, professors, computer experts and leaders of organizations. We made it clear that much of our mountain of boxes was material necessary for our various humanitarian aid and cultural projects. The somewhat grim official seemed satisfied and let everything through without question until the very end.
With only a few boxes left to clear, the agent decided to make a spot check. He pointed to one of the larger cartons and asked my friend to open it. The box was marked "sound equipment". My friend complied and, instead of the cables and microphones he expected to find, yes- like a jack in the box, out popped our famous giant yellow duck! Apparently, one of the audio guys had crammed the mascot in on top of the sound stuff.
Following a second of shocked silence, both my friend and the serious customs agent broke out into roaring laughter. And that was how we began our visit to Thailand, also known as "The Land of Smiles".
