non sequitur

A Return Date with America

The Statue of Liberty - It is going to probably be the most memorable travel experience ever. Even ahead of the Taj Mahal, Mona Lisa and the Neuschwanstein Castle, to name just three unforgettable travel experiences.

'An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral'. So says Henry Drummond (Spencer Tracy) in 'Inherit the Wind'. No monument better represents the idea of America better than the Statue of Liberty. As the boat cruised from Battery Park to Liberty Island, the image of immigrants coming to America with the dreams of a future of 'Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' over the centuries sprang in front of my eyes and from time to time my eyes welled up with tears as these lines in the Declaration of Independence ran again and again in my head.

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Now, that's my Post Card from New York City.

The what-the-fuck moment of the entire trip came while I was returning from back from the lady with the lamp. There were two trash cans - on one was written 'Waste' and on another 'Plastic'. I saw an American teenage girl carrying a plastic bottle, something close to the one shown in the picture to the right. She approached the trash cans and shouted out pointing at the bottle 'mom, is this plastic?'

I said 'Hooah!' a la Al Pacino and 'The Scent of a Woman' and I of course blurted sotto voce 'what-the-fuck!'. All those videos on youtube like this one are not without some truth in them. 

Now for a few more pictures from the trip...

Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theater - the longest running play at Broadway

Now a couple of pictures taken at the Times Square. I have never taken better pictures at night. The lights and energy at the Times Square surpasses that of the the Las Vegas Strip.

Times Square, New York City

more Times Square

The New York Skyline, as you approach nearer to it, feels like a huge artificial movie set or a set of cardboard boxes arranged neatly.

The New York Skyline

Boardwalk, Atlantic City

Atlantic City - is'nt it called Poor Man's Vegas? It indeed is.

Independence Hall, Philadelphia

Oh, by the way, NYC has taken over from Paris. It is officially my favorite city in the World. On a cold winter evening as we stepped out of the Penn Station, my friend and I were taken with excitement at diametrically different things - she, a fashion freak, had her eyes to the earth, sizing up the shoes on the feet of other girls and I, ever the small town fella captivated by city lights, was gazing skywards at those endless multitude of skyscrapers.

My previous post on America is here.

Oregonized

'POSTSCRIPT.--In the second chapter I allude to Stout Cortez staring at the Pacific. Shortly after the appearance of this narrative in serial form in America, I received an anonymous letter containing the words, "You big stiff, it wasn't Cortez, it was Balboa." This, I believe, is historically accurate. On the other hand, if Cortez was good enough for Keats, he is good enough for me. Besides, even if it was Balboa, the Pacific was open for being stared at about that time, and I see no reason why Cortez should not have had a look at it as well.'

- Foreword of 'The Clicking of Cuthbert', PG Wodehouse

The Pacific as stared at from Muir Beach Overlook, California Highway 1.

The Pacific is anything but. In truth, it looks pretty threatening. Calling it calm and peaceful would be tantamount to calling King Kong cute. Long years ago a friend of mine had painted a wonderful picture of the drive on the California Highway 1 - a winding road hugging the Pacific. I vividly remember the way he described the drive to me. In the movie 'The Shawshank Redemption' the Morgan Freeman character says in the last line 'I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams'. To paraphrase that memorable movie quote, for me it always has been 'I hope the Pacific is as wonderful as Prashant described it'. And it was. The drive was very exciting though on the way back I started feeling slightly sick in my tummy because of the winding route. But then they say that you can’t make omelets without breaking some eggs.

I will always love America  for giving me this beautiful surprise. This picture was taken near Lake Trillium in Oregon. I went to this place with the intention of seeing Mount Hood and the supposedly picturesque lake - and came back with this. Another memorable first.

By the way, I was also at San Francisco; was there during the Memorial Day weekend. How about some introductions? These things are not well known for people outside United States - the last Monday in May is called the Memorial Day and is a national holiday. A surge of happiness ran through me when I was entering San Francisco over the Bay Bridge and even as I type this I feel happy again. You are of course aware of the Golden Gate Bridge and the works. I wont run through the regular tourist attractions. You would check wikitravel if you want that. Allow me instead to introduce you to the most fascinating aspect of 'The City' - as it is casually referred to in the bay area -  its long undulating streets. The roads in San Francisco are the most unique thing that the visitor would see, leaving him gaping in wonderment.

I also got to visit the world famous - world, to Americans, as we all know, is America alone - Yosemite National Park. The weather did not permit me to take a look at its stand-out attraction, the Half Dome as they call it, but the place is definitely one of the most scenic places of natural beauty that one would ever see. The crystal clear waters, the huge naturally-formed-due-to-glacial-thingummybob granite rocks, the green surroundings - they all make the place a trekker's paradise and offer a memorable experience to the casual tourist. I of course was the casual tourist.

A few random observations:

If you want a desi-free flight, fly Portland to Sacramento. I wonder if the word Desi has entered the OED. If it has not, it must. Oh, the editor has not suggested a word replacement when I type the word in capitals.

In United States of America, the Ground Floor is called First Floor.

National Pastime - camping and hiking.

Southwest Airlines Rocks. The captain and the crew are all probably certified stand-up comics.

Pizzas Suck.

If you are in Portland and happen to be a book lover, don't miss Powell's City of Books. It is like a pilgrim centre for book lovers.

The tastiest burgers on the planet can be eaten at Red Robin.

I shall sign off with a picture of the Columbia River I took at the 'Crown Point' view during my drive on the 'Historic Columbia River Highway' - another All-American Road like the California Highway 1 - over the weekend.

Destination Next: Las Vegas

Political Chess

Spotted in Frankfurt. It's called Political Chess. As the tag line of the film 'American Beauty' recommends, Look Closer.

For convenience of identification, I have taken the picture from both the sides. This is how the other side of the chessboard looks like.

How many pieces could you identify? Feel free to leave the names in the comments section.

Just in case you are curious to know the price of this chessboard, it costs you only a cool 490 euros.

Notes-to-self: I just discovered that there is no euro symbol on the keyboard.

Neuschwanstein

I have just returned from a weekend trip. I planned to go to Salzburg but I ended up going to this place in Germany called the Neuschwanstein. On the face of it, it looks like one hell of a tongue twister. Just separate the syllables and understand the meaning NEW SWAN STEIN, stein means stone and it becomes easy. The swan was the favorite bird of King Ludwig the Second of Bavaria and he was obsessed with building castles, among other things. This is the most beautiful castle he built and arguably the most beautiful castle on Earth. There are a couple of other castles around but this castle, surrounded by beautiful lakes and the Alps, remains a symbol of fairy tales and the legends of the knights of yore.

                                        Neuschwanstein Castle
If the picture of the castle looks familiar to you, it would mean that you have been to Disneyland in California and have seen the Sleeping Beauty Castle there. The castle in Disneyland is built on the lines of Neuschwanstein castle. Personally the experience of watching this castle as you see in the picture stands shoulder to shoulder with the experience I felt when I watched the Taj Mahal, the snow-clad Kanchenjunga range and to a lesser extent, the Eiffel Tower. I wondered why Germany does not advertise this place aggressively as a symbol of their country's tourism. First they ought to call it by a simpler name and then make it a tourism symbol and I can imagine this place becoming one of the most sought after destinations in the world.

Caution: If you don’t like toilet humour and find it too crude and vulgar to your sensibilities, you can skip the following paragraph and proceed to the next.
On the face of it how would the idea of being taken to a castle along the hill side in a horse-drawn carriage sound? For me the idea seemed very exotic and taking this highly interesting and unforgettable ride made me reflect on the truth in that adage 'all that glitters is not gold'. Let me introduce you to the Farting Horses of Fussen. God knows what the bloody horses ate for breakfast but not less than a few minutes into the ride the horse behind whose ass I was posted started farting, to the thrill of the fellow sitting on the other corner of the seat and my consternation and horror. The stench was unbearable and adding to the misery was the embarrassment of the fellow sitting at the other end doubling up in cachinnations. Something to the effect of divine providence intervened to prove that that mills of the Gods grind slowly but they grind exceedingly fine and taking inspiration from its colleague the second horse started off a series of flatulences and shat all over the place to the annoyance of the aforementioned thrilled-chap for he was seated behind the second horse. Revenge, I would like to say, smells like shit.

On the way I passed this place called Frankenstein which if folklore is to be believed was the place that gave Marry Shelly the inspiration for the atmosphere and the name of her book.

When I was near the Alps, I learnt from a friend that Alpenliebe means 'love for the Alps' and so I wondered when I was in Heidelberg if one could call the love for the Neckar River, Necrophilia.

Over the weekend, I experience for the first time in my life the marvels of the invention called the GPS. Just feed in the destination and keep driving.

I also saw that the face of a young girl parting with her lover is just the same all over the world. The sorrow in the eyes and the tragic smile on the face is same everywhere on earth. I shall never forget that face of the young girl standing on the platform bidding goodbye to her love.

Kolkata - Lens View - Choodalani Vundi

Yamaha nagari Calcutta puri
namaho hugli howrah varadhi

I mention 'Airport' and get into the back seat of the taxi. The driver starts to zoom off and tunes his radio wading through the Crazy-Kiya-res and I-am-the-Neals and stops at a melodious Amol Palekar song from the early 80s. Kolkata is like Anirban (a colleague of mine from the city). Friendly, Talented, Down-to-Earth.

The roads are just wonderful and well-laid without potholes and the entire life in Kolkata, as you will see from a few of the pictures below, revolves around the footpath. Places like New Market, which is a very crowded market area that is very old like Kalaspalyam for Bangalorians - It is inevitable that staying in Bangalore for so many years would make me draw parallels to Bangalore on every possible subject - are patronized by both the affluent and the poor.

I am confident that Kolkata single handedly allows the Ambassador car to remain in production in India. There are no autos and the taxis are affordable and honest. Just to give a comparison, the ride from the centre to Dum-Dum airport lasting many kilometers costed me Rs. 250 while the taxi-driver in Bangalore asks me Rs.250 from airport to my house, which is less than 7 kilometers. Two wheelers on the roads are a rare sight.

It is a wonderful city constantly buzzing with activity. Street food seems to be extremely popular here and at any time of the day one can see people gorging on the puchkas, bhel puris, puri-alu and everything else that is available to eat. Wiki travel specially recommended tasting puchkas on the road-side and this was one thing that came as an anti-climax. The Puchka of Kolkata is just the Pani-Puri of Bangalore and Golgappa as it is called in some other places. The discovery of this was particularly comical in the way I indulged in an animated conversation with the pani-puri fellow on the nomenclature of the dish in various parts of the country.

All in all, I fell in love with Kolkata. I walked great distances in the city on foot and when inevitable I took the metro rail, buses et al. The metro rail of Kolkata is definitely of international standards and super punctual. The TVs fixed on the platforms constantly show either Mithun or Charlie Chaplin stuff. Don't know what they have in common. Wink Wink.

I shall share a few pictures I have taken and add comment whenever possible.

The Howrah Bridge. It is called Ravindra Setu and no where around the bridge was the name Howrah Bridge written. I had to call up a local friend and ask if the Ravindra Setu is popularly known as the Howrah Bridge. Smiles.

The Victoria Memorial. A beautiful marble monument that stands as a symbol of the city in travel guides
The Hand-pulled Rickshaw - now seen only in the college street and new market kind of areas. The name New Market is a misnomer of sorts - it actually is one of the oldest commercial areas in the city.

College Street.The street is full of book stalls where you can bargain and buy. I got two out-of-print Wodehouses for a collective price of Rs. 70. It's a steal. Not a deal.

Rickshaw-Puller resting in the hot afternoon sun.

Writers Building. Where all the wrong decisions are taken (The State Assembly)

Food Joints on the street

Boot Polish

Ready for a close-shave

One of the many art galleries

Nandan a cinema complex and art centre where I heard movie tickets are priced at Rs. 40.

Food Food Food

More Food

The St. Paul's Cathedral. The oldest catholic church in Kolkata. View: Walk from Ravindra Sadan Metro towards Shakespeare Sarani (the erstwhile Theatre Road) on the Chowrangee Road.

The Birla Planetarium

Getting ready for a hard day's work

setting up shop

Vegetable Market

May I wash my hands?

Morning ablutions on the road side, a common sight in Kolkata (this is MG Road)

Market area near Howrah Bridge

View of a bathing ghat from the Howrah Bridge

The Howrah Bridge in action. One of the busiest bridges in the world.

Good Snap, eh?

The Old vs. The New

we want water

Goats Goats Goats

Hungry Kya?

I think I will always be a small town fellow fascinated by the sights of a great city.

Oh!! By the way, all the pictures are taken from my mobile phone. The Sony Ericsson K750i

And finally I have added the DVD of Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali with English subtitles into my DVD collection. We Happy.

Arabian Evenings

Sunset in Goa

"Amazing sun, isnt it? Looks like God has put a shiny copper penny into the slot to buy us a skyful of stars."
-from Doctors by Erich Segal

Of Brasseries, Brassieres and Social Blunders

    I don’t know how I ignored it all these months. Today morning I looked back at the incident and burst out laughing at the innocence of my friend, a more pristine chap I have to yet come across.

    Anyway, I guess you would like me to get down directly to brass tacks (pun intended – you will know it soon), for you don’t have the entire time in the world to just listen to my preambles, what?

    Three of us, Vikas, his friend Savita and myself were strolling ildy in the streets of Paris. There are these small restaurants strewn all over Paris and the headings of these something in the lines of Éliose Brasserie, Fabienne Brasserie, Juliette Brasserie and so on and so forth - you get the drift.

    So our Vikas confuses a Brasserie to a more popular word in these parts of the world, the Brassiere. I mean, there is a good reason for anyone to get confused - for the bane of the English language being its spellings and some words pronounced almost similarly. The doubt was gnawing Vikas for a longtime about the promiscuousness of the French and also the confusion as to why an eatery has the name of probably an exclusive woman store. Frankly, the thing baffled me also initially for my spellings are not too great but the discerning part of me arrived at the conclusion that perhaps the Brasserie was long for a Bar just like how the other word is long for a woman's undergarment.

    The indefatigable Vikas would not heed to commonsense - his curiosity, encouraged even more by the confession from the girl that she was learning French, getting better of him,  in all innocence put the question across to the girl, "Savita, any idea why they call these restaurants Brassieres..." his voice trailing away, for just as he began to pop the question, I ran for cover for I never have been one of those to handle an embarrassing moment with sound presence of mind.

    Now, that I say needs lot of purity of mind and a singleness of purpose. For Vikas, it was not the awkwardness of the thing that ever came his way; it was always pursuit of knowledge that took the front seat.

    I ran means, I real ran for cover... no amount of chaining Vikas could have made him hold his horses. I would give anything to-day to have a fleeting glimpse of the immediate expression on the girl’s face.

Endless Night

    It was an Endless Night. The train from Florence to Venice was at 1.45AM and we had to go from the main station in Florence to another station named Campo Di Marte roundabouts 10.30PM. I didn’t like leaving the relatively safer environs of the railway station because the idea that thieves infest Italy like how rats infest godows was firmly set in my mind. Outside the station we hung around for a long while for some public transport to arrive, but in vain. Finally mustering courage we hailed a taxi hoping that he, the taxi driver, would take us to the required destination and not to some other place to rob us. Thankfully, he did (not rob but take) and I spent the time until the train arrived by sitting in the waiting lounge of the station.

    What followed after we boarded the train was even more tiring and quite scary. The train authority led me and Vikas to this compartment and it was loaded to profusion with suspicious looking people (three actually). I held dear to my life and luggage in the closed train compartment for the whole journey. It could seat six people in all and I was sitting in the center seat on the left side of the compartment with Vikas, my companion in the trip, to my right and one of the three fellows at window seat to my left. The fellow sitting in the opposite seat to mine was stretching his feet - socks clad feet which later would become, if there is any truth in my guess, chloroform soaked socks clad feet - and acting as though he was asleep. Ditto the two other guys. As in, they were not stretching their feet but were acting as though they were asleep. For completion sake, the third suspect looking guy was sitting beside the guy sitting opposite to me, i.e. opposite to Vikas. (Hope you have neatly visualised the arrangement in the compartment. It was an attempt to describe a scene-of-crime in detail.) They were basically waiting for me to fall of asleep and then wanted to get into action, rob me of my belongings, passport and things to that effect. I being luckily forewarned by friends that Italy is dangerous when you travel by night in trains and the thieves are hand in glove with the railway authorities, was awake for almost the whole journey and the period when I got a few winks was the time when these rouges used to move a bit and gesticulate or mumble something incomprehensible (it was incomprehensible to me, not to one another). With all these things playing in my mind, I started feeling suffocated and giddy. They say ignorance is bliss. Vikas, on the other hand, not privy with what could happen was oblivious of the surroundings and was all the while sleeping like a baby - to my chagrin.

    Anyway, after a couple of hours or what actually felt like a life time, I got up unable to bear any longer the cat and mouse chase or hide and seek or whatever you choose to call it, shook Vikas and moved to the next compartment which by then was luckily having room for the two of us. It was kind of funny - the next compartment had an elderly couple I don’t know what she saw in us but it was clearly evident that the lady was extremely hassled at the thought of sharing the compartment with us. Smiles. It made me remember that everything in this world is relative. In fact, all the while it could have been my imagination and paranoia playing tricks - probably the three fellows in the other compartment were just some regular travelers. Anyway, what with it being better to be safe than sorry and all that sort of thing, I didn’t want to take any chances and I finally reached Venice safe and unsoundly slept.

A parting word: Italy could actually be quite safe to travel by night since nothing actually happened. As I mentioned before, it was probably just my mind playing tricks.

Louvre Lite

A glimpse of the three most famous objects in the Louvre Museum in Paris is referred to as the "Louvre Lite". Here I present the Louvre Lite through my lens:

Mona Lisa

Venus De Milo

Winged Victory

Bonjour Paris

When in France, ask for fries, not French fries.

    Paris is wonderful. I find it so much like Bangalore. I say that because I think Paris like Bangalore, invites your relative stranger, and also the stranger who is not your relative, with open arms and makes him feel at home instantly. Another thing is the weather with its bright sunlight now and cloudy the next minute and then rainy a while later and again sunny in a short while which is a trademark of Bangalore. Well... I am not referring to the weather since the last 4 days over there in Bangalore. I heard the place is marooned with heavy rains. Two weeks I am not around and see what happens!! Coming back to Paris, the metro rail of Paris is something to be experienced to be believed. I also walked a great deal in Paris. Saw all that I always wanted to see. In fact I was surprised at my own comfort level with the city. Wherever I wanted to go, I instinctively found my way there. I was at the Louvre for 7 hours and at the end of it was still asking for more. The Denon wing of the Louvre is just mind blowing. Another section of the museum that houses the Apartments of Napoleon III has a grand banquet hall which is a great sight and the chandlers in the rooms dazzle the eyes. In yet another section, there is this huge diamond and a crown, the crown of Louis XV which is studded with Rubies, Diamonds, Sapphires and what not on earth looking at which the jaws refuse to come together.

    I stealthily managed to click a picture of Mona Lisa. A lady who observed it smiled and said "I have one from 1985. Back then there was no glass protection. I am going to try and take a picture again now". I could only imagine Mona Lisa bound in iron chains with an army of gun trotting security personnel guarding it, the year 2025, and I a 54 year old bald headed man telling a young man starting out in life trying desperately to take a snap of the lady with the enigmatic smile "I have one from 2005. Back then..." The long and short of it is that it was an amazing experience for me, standing in front of Mona Lisa. I stood there awe stuck, looking at the picture and in utter disbelief that I am really standing in from of Mona Lisa. I was so overwhelmed with joy that without my knowledge and permission tears started rolling down my cheeks and the next thing I knew I was sobbing inconsolably. A middle aged Indian couple who were passing by asked me "what happened?" or something to that effect and I assured them that everything is under control. In fact, the Denon wing of Louvre has so many wonderful paintings and I really spent a lot of time trying to understand appreciate the masterpieces. (I had taken an audio guide along and it was a good thing I did - it was Ajit, Nisha and LN who suggested this to me - thanks guys.) I was happy to recognize so many paintings and sculptures. It was as though they were all waiting for me all the while to come and pay a visit to them.

    I guess I should not delve on the Louvre for so long and take my reader to the edge. Smiles. The Eiffel tower is another experience in itself. In three days, I went it see it thrice. I was at the top of Eiffel tower at night and the city looks really beautiful from there too. I was so enamored by the sight of Eiffel tower that my camera refused to stop clicking. I hope that at least a few of the pictures have come out well. On the top of the Eiffel tower, a common sight to see is couples kissing, or to use the right word, smooching. On closer inspection, there is also a loo on the top. The guy who was with me and I agreed that it was a very thoughtful thing to do on the part of the authorities, to forward the noble thought "those who cannot kiss, please feel free to piss". I pissed. The cruse of the river Seine in a ferry is another happy experience. Vikas - the guy who joined me for the trip - had a friend of his, a girl, who joined us on the cruse in the river. I couldn't stop myself from observing that the nearest one can get to 'three men in a boat' is 'two men and a woman in a boat' and the nearest one can get geographically to Thames is the Seine.

    I am surprised at the amount of shopping I did in Paris. I have so many souvenirs now. I happened to visit a flea market on one of the days. This flea market is open on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. Get down at the Clignancourt station and take a stroll on the road away from the Mac Donald's and there you have the flea market. I walked so much in Paris and I roamed around so much in Paris metro and I think I can give directions from any place to any place in the city. But then, right from the minute I set my foot in the city I felt so much at home. It was like Rishi Kapoor in Karz. In the hostel I stayed, I shared a room with two other girls from Holland. Do not ask me what I saw over there. Anyway, you have to take my word for it when I say that I maintained a this-and-all-is-common-to-me sort of composure. Okay, moving on, the palace of Versailles is another sight to behold. Specially the gardens behind the palace, they extend as far as eye can see and make a breath-taking sight. I have taken a picture of it and can share it.

    All in all, to summarize the places I visited, we have in the list the Arc De Triomphe, Champs Elysses, Concorde, Eglise de la Madeleine(it is a chapel), Norte Dame, Shakespeare and Company(that is one of the oldest and most famous bookstalls in Paris), Palace of Versailles and its gardens, Moulin Rouge, took a stroll at night in the famous red light area near Moulin Rouge, Louvre, Eiffel Tower, took a long walk besides the river from Louvre to Tour Eiffel, a ferry ride on the river Seine in the night, Luxemburg Gardens, Assembly Nationale, the flea market. I miss not seeing 'the Thinker' at the museum of Rodin and the Picasso museum. May be next time. All in all I had one of the most yearned and pleasurable trips of my life. Calling it the finest three days of my life would really be an exaggeration, for I know that there have been many memorable days and moments in these 29 long years, but for the present it definitely feels like that. I love Paris. It is my favorite city in the world. Smiles. Err… London. And the finish to the Paris trip was what these writer chappies would call a cliffhanger finish. We had to make it to the bus station by train and negotiate 15 stations on the way and we had 20 minutes. The bus was supposed to start from Paris at 9pm and we were there at the bus station at 9.01pm. Anyway, to everyone's relief, we did finally make it. Even when we went to Goa in 2004 January, the finish was something in these lines. That is another great trip and it needs to be addressed in a different mail digging out memories from the folds of the mind.

    If you have successfully reached here, let me thank you for reading this rant with patience and interest.

Merci, Au revoir.

-Arvind

PS: Next week I am going to Italy. I plan to cover Rome, Florence, Pisa and Venice. I hope to enjoy myself there too. I am specially looking forward to taking a trip in the Gondolas in Venice, looking at the ceiling painted by Michelangelo at the Sistine chapel and the statue of David by Michelangelo at Florence.