culture – SKETCHMAN BORIS

cartoon blog day 40: SPLIT

I believe there is an unexpressed frustration or suffering people in minority groups go through. Let’s take the example of European expats in Asia. I know this is true in India, I have discovered it’s similar in Thailand too when it comes to the way Caucasian people are perceived. To put it simply almost everybody thinks Caucasian people are rich.

Food panda is a delivery service in Thailand. When I was talking to someone in a meetup event from Japan. He expressed his surprise to see a Caucasian person riding a food panda scooter.

Of course, there are reasons for this, we see images of privilege, the higher quality lifestyle from Europe, the United States and so on, not to mention the exchange rate of currencies.

No matter where you are from, travelling to a country which is not even aware of your mother tongue can throw you off, however, it’s an experience I recommend to everyone.

No matter how different the experiences are just remember to not be afraid, by putting yourself out of your comfort zone you have taken to road to wisdom and humility.

If you can’t afford to travel, how do you travel without travelling? READ BOOKS.

Bonne journée.

cartoon blog day 37: You didn’t expect that 1/2

I don’t believe we are all equal yet, because we are different. You might say “I love everyone or at least I accept everyone”. You can say that when you have actually met everyone in the world.

I am glad you are open to suggestions when you say you accept people despite their differences, I applaud that but your tolerance level is limited, limited to what you know to be differences. What if you encounter something or someone outside of the realm you call different?

I said all that so you can be aware of it. Because not knowing all that is different is not the problem. The problem is most people not being objectively aware of their disposition towards those who are different.

But we are happy to discover similarities with strangers despite all the cultural differences thrown at us as if having the same biological features is not enough (two eyes, one mouth, two ears, etc).

Grant Morrison (my hero) said that since we began as a single cell organism, that cell split and that cell is within all of us. Just think about that for a moment.

To be continued…

Cartoon blog day 35: English teacher

20181122 CBD35 English class

i sometimes think back on how arrogant I was. My plan seemed simple then: Quit my corporate job, find a teaching job (to teach English/French) to make money and pay the bills while I try to make a name for myself as a cartoonist, comic book artist.

Why teaching? I figured it would be a job which would give me enough free time to work on my art.

I said I was arrogant because I was so sure that I would find a teaching job easily. As achievable as it was I forgot that I chose to do it in Bangkok, Thailand. I love it here but there are still a lot of people who think only native speakers, meaning people from the U.S, UK, Australia and so on who can teach proper English.

I am proud of myself for finding the teaching job and spending the free time creating cartoons, webcomics, podcasts, videos about movies and blogging. I am also proud of the company which hired me as teacher.

When I see my friends on WhatsApp group complain about MONDAYS and waiting the test of the week for FRIDAY. I see the time fly as I enjoy teaching and creating. So I consider myself lucky.

I am a strong believer in learning by doing because I don’t have a choice and I hope I will get better and give better content here and the other platforms on which I create. I am only getting started, If you are an artist talk to people and keep yourself informed.

Always have a plan even if the plan only makes sense to you.

Bonne journée.

Cartoon blog day 34: Indian names

Let me tell you a story which might resemble that of Gulliver’s travels. I was born and raised in India. I did my higher studies in Europe and now I am living in Thailand. I remember how people found my Indian last name difficult to pronounce. They could do it if they tried but they were worried they would say it wrong and offend me in a way.

When I came to Thailand their names were even longer than the Indian names I knew.

I don’t know to what extent but there are many similarities between Indian and Thai cultures. Their language seem to come from Sanskrit which if I have to simplify, is for south Asian languages what Latin is for French, English, Spanish (to name the the ones I know).

Thanks to the book Bridging the gap by Kriengsak Niratpattanasai, I understood the reason behind the long last names in Thailand. According to the book, Thai people submit their first name and last name to the government officials. “The office then searched the records for identical last names. The name had to be unique and different from those already in use […] As time went by, unique names became harder to come by. More and more syllables were tacked on, resulting in the long names we see today.” (Bridging the gap, Niratpattanasai)

I also found another thing, I don’t know if everybody in Thailand will agree though. In Europe, Indians are usually seen as the shy ones, in Thailand however they are seen as highly competitive, in certain cases aggressive.

Interesting isn’t it?

Cartoon blog day 33: Moustache

Do you remember the movie FIGHT CLUB from 1999?

Like most young men I was obsessed with this movie. After The Matrix (the first movie) this was the movie which made me understand that there is more to a movie than what you see on the screen.

When I watched it then I understood it as a calling against the capitalist system which we need to fight against, I didn’t do anything about it because I was too busy studying for my Bachelor in International Management.

I am not that old, the movie came out in 1999, I watched it in 2008 for the first time.

When I watch it again now, I see it as a movie which questions the place of Men in society.

In India, moustache was and is a sign of masculinity, I remember being jealous of my friends who had thick facial hair. Slowly that jealousy faded away. Even now I have a light and most of the time no facial hair, because I understood that there is more to a man than having facial hair.

You are maybe waiting for an answer about Men’s place in society. I believe it’s not a written and done snapshot, it’s a work in progress.

Our place is at the table same as women’s to figure out the future of this experiment we call civilization.

Bonne journée.