ICELAND – Land of Fire and Ice

A Time like no other, in The Land of Fire and Ice, of Vikings and Elves, of Ethereal Beauty and Self...

When you travel, there is always an internal brawl between, exploration and convenience, between the curiosity and the safe haven. The decision to test this boundary has been by far one of my finest travel judgments. A solo travel to Iceland just before the much awaited summer sets in. A very ambitious route resulting in broken dreams and harsh realities was lurking, but nonetheless, something unique which only travel could offer.

Landing into Reykjavik, the northernmost capital in the World, gave a brief glimpse of what was to be expected. As a welcome gesture, my first tryst would be to wait for the bus in the isolate bus stand and braving the chilly and strong wind. My small backpack would surprise all my lovely hosts, as to my not-so-smart survival choices. Reykjavik has a popular nightlife image and it sure does live up to it and more. A Friday night to remember, with smiling faces and incredulous eyes, on meeting someone from a far away land, in a non-touristic time of the year. With around 70% of the population residing in Reykjavik, one can only imagine the nature of the rest 30% of Icelanders, quite brilliant.

After coordinating with two fellow travelers, we hired a car and drove straight to the Blue Lagoon in Grindavik. This was where 80% of all tourists to Iceland visit, and for a good reason too. As touristic as it may seem, it is a worthwhile visit, esp with the water properties and the contrasting mystic surroundings.

The Golden Circle, was one of the most stunning touristic trails I’ve ever been on. This comprises of the Thingvellir National Park, the Geysir and the Gulfoss. The National Park is a great spot to start off and is a good walk, especially when the weather is kind enough. The Geysir or Strokkur is quite an experience with the natural phenomenon which lends its name to other such lesser famous cousins. The highlight of the trail though was the Gulfoss waterfall. Worthy to its name the ‘golden falls’ is simply stunning with the sheer volume and landscape of the waterfall, which left me awestruck. It was out of a fairytale book and the rainbows did confirm that. I have to confess am not much of a waterfall fan, maybe am baptized post this, or maybe not, as the benchmark is set too high for now. I could have stared at the gushing candy-floss laden water movement for as long as possible. Other stops included the Kerid volcano and the Skaholt church.

The next day my German co-traveler and I, set out on a road trip of the Southern Coast of Iceland. The map drawn out on a piece of paper by my local host was one no travel book or any amount of research would have delivered. The weather had been extremely kind to us throughout our time, without which am sure the experience would have been very different. A few things one needs to remember for a road trip in Iceland:

1. Always close the door behind when you get in or out of the car, don’t let the wind take over, or you would be having quite a chilly ride back home and an expensive bill to pay. Just in case you take it as a joke, it’s a stickered in the vehicle by the car hire agencies.
2. You will come across sights, colors, images and landscapes which will leave you spellbound, literally. So don’t get deterred and keep your eyes on the road.
3. Every sight might take you into Westeros or the Nights Watch and you might feel a bit part Thronies. Don’t be too harsh on yourself; the Wall is probably right around the bend. The Mountain is definitely Icelandic.

The Southern Coast is littered with amazingly beautiful waterfalls, terrain and coastlines and I can only imagine what the rest of the country holds in splendor. Though what trumped it all, was a local secret (shared by my host) of a thermal pool somewhere inside the mountains. We decided to take the plunge and find it, and weren’t we delighted. After walking through streams and river beds, we came across a thermal pool on the side of a mountain, not conspicuous and yet the most striking feature around. After finding it, we surely did take the plunge into the warm water surrounded by dominant overbearing mountains all around. An experience like no other, a feeling inexplicable.

The Southern Coast is such that, you can stop every 7 minutes and you’re allowed to just drop your jaw. But weather and time is of essence. Skogafoss, the next waterfall on our map, reignited my recent love for waterfalls. Skogafoss, not only made me believe in fairytale and school drawings, but also in the fact that unicorns and elves exists. We witnessed a mélange of multiple rainbows, playing along with each other while some fortunate humans could just stare. Another sight I couldn’t get enough of, and was pinching my way through.

Our other stops included Eyjafjallajökull (the glacier which everyone knows, but none can pronounce), Dyrholaey, Vik and Reynisfjara. The latter being a heavenly black sand beach from an era long gone by. The comfort relationship between the water, black sand and the beautiful shining volcanic rocks were quite a sight.

The most scenic, ethereal and memorable trip of my Life yet. The Icelandic people and sights are etched in my memory and soul and let’s just say I’m a Fan and I will be Back for more and…

Yes as they say ‘Winter is Coming’…

My Tryst with the US of A

US never featured in my top 5, of places to see, or for that matter, even top 10. It was one of those ‘has to be done in your Lifetime (at least once)’, but no timeline within the timeline.

But I believe every country has its time charted out. US for me was Now (March, 2013). A country which every Indian, especially with our generation mates, already knew well in their head, with its multiple association and touch points which he is constantly fed. The music, the movies, the brands, the bands, the faces, the lifestyles, the media, the farce, the values, and togetherness and so and so and so on…

After spending copious amounts of ‘quality’ time in the continent of Europe, international travel takes upon extremely uncalled for weighty expectations. The history, the architecture, the variation and the splendor of Europe leaves such an indelible part upon your travel quota of mind that subconsciously you would always expect to visualize fascinating landscapes, awe-filled architecture, the beauty and the apparent differences in thought and language every hundred or thousand miles.

This thought followed and haunted me during my initial time in US too. Some said it wasn’t fair on the ‘free land’ to be compared to the beauty of its developed cousin across the Atlantic. I let my mind play the judge and jury.

USA as we see on the map is a massive chunk of land. When you start exploring the place, it seems even more enormous and vast in its expanse. One cannot say US is like this or that, unless one truly covers each significant part in some way or other. Stephen Fry’s 50 States might help. It’s like visiting Delhi and Goa and commenting and distributing views on the entire country of India. I can only speak on what I saw, the routes I took, the people I met and the places I ended up. It is such a mix of various races and tribes, roots and inspirations.

If the World only recognizes the riches, bling and envious lifestyles of the Americans, they’re partly right. There is a great deal of struggle which takes place within every city, within every soul, like every other place. They don’t take things for granted and hard work is something which they live by. They do possess a sense of ignorance, which could prove to be rather arrogant and annoying to foreigners. This could be because of two reasons, the size of their country and the reckless and established media houses they have unknowingly given shelter to. There is too much happening within the country itself to keep some 400 odd million people occupied. For them, travel means New York to Florida and New York to California would be assigned as international travel. Abroad would denote Europe and lately global matters would mean anything to do with China. Lives, cultures, beliefs and struggles of other countries are oblivious to them and to some extent maybe they’re not to blame, the system is. The Americans who have travelled to other parts of the world do realize and recognize this. Their world starts from the East Coast and ends at the West. So when the leader of the Free World (in this case the World is US) cites that the people are under threat, it is only them, as they cannot fathom the troubles elsewhere. They cannot be bothered. Security of its citizens could mean prying into private lives of innocent beings elsewhere. But this security is for the good and that is a prevalent and disturbing belief, unfortunately it ignores the other part and the cost attached to it.

A conspicuous lack of cynicism resides in the people of US. This proves to be highly contagious and hence respectable. This also reflects in their movies, music, sports and to my surprise in every day to day activity and role. A lot of scenes would also seem straight out of Hollywood flicks. Society is a mirror of the arts and art a mirror of society.

Music and Sports form a very significant part of their lifestyle whether it is the Basketball stars and the sold out MSG, Yankee stadium venues or the uber-cool youngsters in Brooklyn and The Bronx feeling the Hip-Hop beats via their Beats headphones possessions.
You cannot exist in US without a car, barring a few cities like NY maybe. It has the pimped up Cadillac and Ford Pick-ups and a country always full of Autos. There exists hence the strongest lobby ever in the Auto Industry. This poses quite a limitation.

I have come to the conclusion (personal nonetheless) that the most naturally aesthetic parts of the country lies in its national parks and mid west pockets. The concrete cities do not offer the visual brilliance and pleasing vibrancy of European cities, except maybe 2 sights. One is the landscapes of the city of San Francisco and the other is the infamous Manhattan Skyline. They do though offer a million eateries and franchise joints laid out across its highways and neon lighted strip bars. Everything in this land is MASSSIVE and EXCESSIVE, whether it be the Detroit cars or the cities or the portion serving size at the diners.

Well, no one said that The American Dream was miniscule in any measure.

BUDAPEST…Road Trip Part III...

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The drive from Bratislava to Budapest was definitely not a boring one. There were sufficient amounts of banter manufactured by us and enough material also delivered to us. The landscape according to us seemed fit for the Jurassic Park live shoot set, even with the constant reminders of going slow as deers could be running along with us. Whoever said deers could run fast, eat this.


Hungarian as they say is one of the toughest languages in the World, and they were not kidding. In a word there could be 3 or 4 consonants in a row and its impossible to pronounce them with the near to perfect grammar classes fed into our young minds. So another topic for some laughs. There were signs which we read as the following: ‘Do not Jbkhjdiahdia’ or likewise.

We left straight for some kebabs and the walk in the city after checking into our hostel. It was really cold and windy and the layers were not helping. But Budapest was looking splendid, am sure as it always does. We walked on one of the bridges and then by the beautiful architectural structures and the river Danube. It was a perfect setting with the sun setting. The city glowed in resplendence against the scatter of colours in the sky. It seemed like the city as made for exactly these colours, the reds and oranges against the eye-pleasing structures of Buda and Pest, and the beautiful flowing Danube. At times the camera just can’t capture the moment and the wonder, no matter how good you’re with the instrument. After making peace with what we could capture on Japanese made memory sticks, we headed to the city centre.

The city centre of Budapest is not as splendid as its other European cousins, it still has a strong and continuous throng of tourists, and hence very lively and vivid. We then tried some local Hungarian cuisine, most notably the ‘Goulash’ and the Hungarian beer. We also met an unforgettable and interesting character on the roads that we badged as one of the best salesman we had encountered. He obviously thinking we were the perfect customers for his wares. He to show his desperation also came into our restaurants to remind us of the offers. Post dinner we just as usual partied all night long, completing our dream of partying in 3 different cities in 3 countries in 3 different nights. Mission Accomplished!!!

BRATISLAVA…Road Trip Part II...

It was target 1 of 3 completed. The minutes of the underground plan/actual agenda is as follows :

‘Party in a different country every single night for 3 days’

Vienna was crazy, but Bratislava was next. For us it was about doing justice to the new country which was going to receive us, with open arms and war

ning highway signs. Hence a previous night of nocturnal activities could not stand for excuse enough to leave late and miss out on time to explore our new territory. Note: even with 2 Brazilians and 2 Indians we managed that. Now that is what I call sheer Achievement!!!

Second Halte :BRATISLAVA | SLOVAKIA

The only picture of Bratislava I had was that of creepy, gory and gothic images from the movie ‘Hostel’. That is not a good reference point to start with, trust me. The drive from Vienna to Bratislava even though was only 1.5 hrs, was anything but boring. The distinct change in landscape and the GPS reminding us of Eastern Europe, kept us well occupied and on the lookout. We had no clue and expectation set for the time and journey from here on. This being the exact reason, for my interest in travelling to the ‘less preferred’ eastern side of this developed continent.

Throughout the time in Bratislava, we did manage one consistency, one storyline. The title being, how and where would our body parts land up at the end of our time there? As funny it may sound, it was not, quite obviously. The city was real small, that being another topic of laughs [there never was any dearth of that]. The city seemed quite deserted throughout the day, a bit owing to the grim weather conditions, but still unusually sparse and silent in a spooky nature. But somehow we were happy consciously as this is what we expected, and of course a bit anxious too, as that is also what we expected. After the lovely expectation setting with the city, we thought of exploring the same, after checking into our ‘Hostel’. There was a nicely situated castle which overlooks the city as most of them do. The view was fantastic from there with the river and the trademark skyline available for appreciation. We also made an excellent decision of satisfying our stomachs at the Castle Restaurant. And what a meal it was!!! Fantastic food and even better ambience. Natan, the quintessential Brazilian could not decide where his focus should be directed at, the 2nd main dish which he had ordered or the lovely dame who got him the 2nd dish. I don’t really blame him though, it’s tough.

Let me dedicate one para to Natan and his penchant for eating. He deserves this honour in my blog space. The guy consistently ate a lot, and even more surprisingly felt hungry quicker than most of us, who managed to eat only half of what he did. Well that doesn’t really add up correctly. Hence jokes of the nature:

1. Natan ate all the people of Bratislava as we hurried him for breakfast at Vienna.
2. Hungary our next destination had been named in his honour for his favourite pastime; so and so forth

After visiting a gothic looking church and its surroundings, we headed for an even more brilliant meal [if it could get any better, it very much did so]. This was a Brazilian restaurant called ‘RIO’, which they stopped claiming once they found out they had amidst them 2 hard core Brazilians. Nonetheless we did many firsts at that place. I tried Cachacha, the local Brazilian sugar cane liquer. Augustine tried the Absenthe ‘Green Fairy’ and well Natan stuck to his heavier 2nd main dish again. Overall time and money very very well spent, in amazing amounts of quality liquor and heavenly food. By this time there were more people out on the streets than we had seen in the entire day in the city. This was unbelievable. It’s like a huge movement of people had taken place post sunset from some unknown corner.

We then headed back to our hostel to quickly gear up for the much anticipated nightlife of Bratislava. But there had to be some amount of drama. So all of us came to the conclusion that in order to fully and solely enjoy and absorb the nightlife we must at least catch up on 30 mins of sleep. Bad Decision!!! The funniest part being, everyone knew that. We did our best to avoid our desire and penchant to sleep, by taking cold showers, etc, but to no avail. A 15 minute power nap turned into 1.5 hrs of deep slumber. I woke up just for a moment and realized that we were missing out on the moment of the nightlife in Bratislava as tomorrow we had to head to Budapest. Tonight was the night. Somehow managed to wake up and made others realize the same.

Once we were out in the streets, everything was back to normal after a few jumps and swigs of beers. All senses restored. Bring it on.

We headed straight to this recommended club called Nu Spirit which was a 5 minute walk. It was in an underground tunnel with a long bar. With a good mix of club and house music blasting from perfectly placed speakers, with a screen showing a live feed of some other party also. It was turning out to be a great night. But we had no clue how crazy it was about to get. After a couple of beers I made my way to the restrooms. And what do I find an adjoining tunnel on the turn of the restrooms. This was a second dance floor with a complete different set playing. A more psychedelic EDM based set. And this was the video feed playing in the first floor. Crazy. This was more of a dark sound and the previous one more morning. The setting very much similar.

When I introduced the other 3 to this new universe, they too went ballistic. The tunnels being so thick, there was no interference of music. The best addition to the night was yet to be made. They had a guest DJ for the night, from Prague, by the name of DJ Trava, which in Czech translates to grass or weed. This ‘old man’ or veteran really belted out some psychedelic tunes, tunes and beats which really teased and played with your mind. The alcohol obviously helping his cause.

The party people too were really the happy kinds and really mingling and ready to enter into a conversation. An unexpected situation did take place though. One of the girls I was talking to was a member of AIESEC in Slovakia who was trained by a guy called Vijay, whom I had trained in AIESEC in Kolkata. This same guy was there in Bratislava 2 weeks back. I mean this really flipped me. We partied till 5 and decided it was time to look ahead to Budapest and hence must call it a night. But Bravo Bratislava!!! We came with no expectations (and a bit scared) and left with real fond memories and an eagerness to visit again.

VIENNA…Road Trip Part I...

Well all my journeys of my last time in Europe had been penned down or rather typed, at least the ones taken on land. All, except one, that being Norway. Many a time I thought about completing the log, but just couldn’t . As the cliché goes, at times you just can’t put experiences and feelings into words. You might put them up as photos. Kodak would still exist if they would have used this Copy.

So I shall today not attempt once more on beloved, gothic Norway. I shall start on my second leg in Europe, that of March 2012 and so on…this time the first substitution is that of Deutschland for France and the second one being that of Munich for Marseille.

After watching ZNMD, almost every boy in India wanted to do an All Boys Road Trip in Spain or anywhere like Spain and call it Spain. The girls included, but with girls of course. But we had to better it and HOW:

1. We add an extra person
2. We make it 2 Indians and 2 Brazilians
3. We make it unknown and mysterious Eastern or Central Europe instead of predictable Spain
4. 4 days, 3 cities, 4 countries
5. Mission statement: Every night party like no tomorrow in a different country for 3 nights…
6. Attend office absolutely sane after this rendezvous

First Halte: VIENNA |AUSTRIA

We reached Vienna amidst a bit late as per schedule as we left Munich late [courtesy: 2 Indians and 2 Brazilians]. We checked in straight into our hostel guided to us perfectly thanks to Emily our best friend in the journey. Post dumping bags and freshening up, we headed out to the Vienna city centre.

First things first – Food. Three of us sat in an outdoor cafe while Augustine set out taking pictures in the rain, excited about visiting his second country in Europe, understandably so. An incident occured where in all the forces of the Universe, or similar, came together. Natan was talking about food, Chinese and jeans. Just then a Chinese waiter with a glass of beer spilled it on Natan’s jeans. His first reaction being – I hope you’re not charging me for that one and second a grave look at me. Flashback : a conversation between us before leaving on whether he should carry one pair of jeans or two. On my persuasion he just carried one. Now he sorely missed his other pair. Post the ‘lovely’ lunch, Natan went to buy a new pair of fresh and dry underwear and jeans. Myself, I went straight to Zara for satisfying my fetish for Kravatte.

We then headed to the infamous Sacher Cafe to try the famous Sacher Torte. Right outside was the Opera theatre and a few salesman dressed as Mozarts and Orchestra players. We got in an interesting conversation with the head salesman and he succeeded in selling us the idea of attending the opera in the Golden Theatre which would start in exactly 15 mins. This was definitely not in our crazy party plans. We bought the tickets and gladly chatted for a few more minutes and then hurried to the Opera theatre.

As expected we were late to enter and had to wait for the first song to finish. The best of it all – we had seats on the stage, right behind the orchestra and next to the choir singers, overlooking the packed house, obviously dressed inappropriately. From the moment we entered to the time we left the theatre we were just enamoured and gripped by the beauty of the venue, the heavenly notes and compositions of Mozart which were beautifully executed and the 3 main people:

1. The constructor;
2. The main male opera singer ;
3. The gorgeous and elegant main female opera singer

They were just simply master of their art and were unbelievable in their own ways. The singers at times were producing vocals of pitches and ranges unimaginable of the human vocal chords, holding the audience to ransom in the mesmerizing magnificence. After all we were in the seat of Western Classical music and Opera in the World, on the stage right next to them. It couldn’t dare be anything else. In the end it became one of the highlight of our trip and a decision we didn’t regret making at all as a deviation.

We then headed out to survey a few nightclubs and grab a bite. We then returned to the hostel, freshened up and headed out to this one street with all different clubs and pubs in a line. Partied till 5 and then looked forward to Bratislava and trying to wonder how it could get any better.

Hero of the Day

Jump to October 28th, 2011

DELHI, WE ARE METALLICAAAAA!!! As James Hetfield in his trademark, ever enchanting scream addresses the thousands of rock fans gathered for a worship well deserved at both ends. The setting couldn’t be more apt. The winter mist looms against the backdrop of lights, show and the ‘four horsemen’.

How big is this? Well if you’re a true rock fan, it’s blasphemy even to make an attempt to answer such a question. Sometimes gravity cannot be explained, it just needs to be experienced. So I’ll obviously keep it at that. There’ll be many though who would be attending because well

1. they have heard of a Metallica song , the ubiquitous Nothing Else Matters at some happening joints in the city
2. an international act is performing in our Sadi Dilli, or,
3. because it’ll be ‘not so cool’ to be left out from the most talked about event of the month, or
4. simply because Sunny and Bunty from the neighbourhood are also going.

Most of the young students and urban professionals of India’s english music following population did start with the likes of Bryan Adams [ Delhi’s missed out on this, ‘Sad but True’ ] and Michael Jackson, and then maybe moved onto bands like Bon jovi, RHCP and Guns and Roses. The next step was vital and defining though.
Metallica is like a band, pun intended, which separates the religious metal and rock listeners from the alternative ones, quite distinctively at that. If it gets into your blood it’s like the perfect launch pad for more great music and opens up into the spectacular world of Iron Maiden, Slayer, Slipknot and the list continues. Metallica seemed like a bridge to me, perfect, a threshold, a brilliant one, for the next level.

After live concerts of Roger Waters and Iron Maiden in India, this is definitely the 3rd most significant concert for us. It would have been a dream come true if Jason Newsted could have been witnessed too, with his powering bass lines, but then we would make do with Robert. After headbanging on their audio files a million times over, gaping in awe at their concert DVD’s and S&M performances, and singing in tandem at rock pubs all over India, this is pure Salvation, closest we can get to it, and no one’s complaining.

I can’t wait for that unnamed feeling, of those almost synchronized movement of heads to Lars’ thundering drum beats or thousands gripped by insanity air guitar-ing along with Hammet’s riffs and a loud vocal of Hetfield’s ‘Seek and Destroy’ seeming like a Dolby Surround sound in open air. There will be many a beautiful evening in Delhi this winter, but this one will be Special, Time will March On this October evening and rightly so.

I will be there, and am sure many of you, my metal head friends will be too, celebrating while our heroes take us through a trip. I will feel like the ‘Hero of the Day’ and am sure each one of you will too. Metallica maketh our Dream come True…finally…

Getting lost within myself
Nothing matters, no one else
There is nothing more for me
Need the end to set me free

1. Kolkata (Calcutta), India


2. Darjeeling, India


3. Paris, France


4. Barcelona, Spain


5. Rome, Italy


6. Marseille, France


7. Bruges, Belgium


8. Bergen, Norway


9. Munich, Germany


10. Berlin, Germany


11. Stockholm, Sweden


12. Kalimpong, India


13. Pune, India

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Today’s Pain ; Tomorrow’s Gain

Every individual, in his/ her lifetime does conjure, acceptable or otherwise, of coming to think of a moment/ phase from which they learnt the most, or in common parlance an instant where in, you could list out your greatest achievement, so far. This could be an out – n – out philosophical Sunday brunch exercise over Enya swooning in the background, or more apt in today’s times, a preparation of the so called probable questions expected from the savior across the table in the myriad interviews you’re about to face, to get so called in line with Life.

Most of the statements being made up, and at those rarest of the opening of the third eye, when you actually sit down with a scotch in one, and nothing much to put your other hand to, you wonder…..whether one is supposed to remember and list down in bullets, the learnings’ of the so called phase in life, that so damn-right changed you or when you felt like the Achiever of the decade forgiving All and sundry. Or should it come to you naturally, like the smile on your face, when you see the sun set against the water-line.

I till now fell in the former, but now proudly, spill onto the latter. The last one and a half years of my life, especially the last one year, has been nothing but the toughest and most grueling one, by far [in distance and context]. Having been able to complete my MBA with grounded colors, nonetheless, expectations were flying in weird capacities and imaginations. Contradictory to popular belief and my own expectations, I had been looking after the Rural Sales channel for a respectable FMCG firm in India.

Over these one and a half years, I have been given a life – time opportunity of travelling across the length and breadth of this gorgeous and delightful country of ours, literally, something which people would sacrifice, to do. Having worked in East, West and North already, considering a stage so early in my career, I couldn’t have asked for more. From the remotest of Maoist infected interiors of Bengal, to coming home to the city in the night, witnessing the two sides of India, and feeling helpless and drained. From the organized, and the awakening in rural Maharashtra, to the ‘colorful’ and celestial life at Pune. To the ‘final frontier’ in sales, UP, to the hills of Uttaranchal. Moving in and out of cities like it was my park and the lanes were there waiting, to be treaded upon.

But more than all of that, I would remember something else, for a long long time to come. I would recall how coming from a completely opposite background being in charge of a team from the grass roots of as they say the Real India. Its like putting the Colin Farrell out of the Phone Booth straight into the fields of the war at Troy. Having been able to see the life at the grassroots and villages all over the country, very very closely, their lifestyle [if I could call it so], their aspirations, their idols, their mode of entertainment, their grief…and more importantly THEM. Learning small things from them, which we in the city, or if you reading this write up, overlook, the humility, the small sources of happiness and the incapacity at times for deviation and hence insanity. The fact of how important Bollywood and Cricket actually is to this country and its citizens, can never be understood from the seats of our plush living room sofas. Of how life changes in these small villages at the onset of a festival or celebration, and how their belief in GOD just keeps them going on and on.

Courage and Adaptability were only fancy words, thrown here and there, making the world look a tad more intellectual and erudite. Living these words was a whole different Ball Game, only the stadia kept changing. To strangle your inhibitions and become a kid again, making a weird blank face whenever the word Ego was thrown into the dusty air was an experience in itself. To be away from all the things I have loved, so dearly, and yet maintain the relation passionately and believing in its magic has been a chapter in itself. Thrown into the world of sales [Note : FMCG sales is the only hardcore sales, please do not try and sound hard’ly’ working people by associating the sales you do with FMCG. It ain’t even come close enough, and I could write that for you, if you would require a copy] and its mannerisms, could be a whole different book series in itself. So I’ll keep that for later.

Character and Confidence carried a whole new different meaning now. The actual faces of Hardships were known, what with all its expressions thrown in as freebies. A separate new set of list became clearer, better known as the list of ‘Things for Granted’. All this would go a long way, as anything now, from here, would just seem like a luxury, a pampering. Adversity has been dealt with, at least for the time, I would like to believe.

If I said it was all a cakewalk for me and I could adapt like a surfer does to the waves, I would be lying like a - whatever evil comes to your mind [you have a quite a choice, at that]. Whenever I felt like this is it, I don’t deserve all this; I could get any other more ‘comfortable’ role, regretting all am missing due to this, the ol’ life, there was this infamous picture which erupted from some genius spot in my brain and it read, as the famous construction sign reads : Today’s Pain, Tomorrow’s Gain.

Value was known, and valued more, of time, pleasure, company and its moments, money, solitude. Travel in its truest sense, was absorbed, and not the package ones, with the glitter and handouts, the brochures and guides. The travel of unpredictability, travel of not knowing where I would be tomorrow this time, travel of how I would be wherever I would be that time, travel of just being able to travel, the joy of it, and nothing else, the rawest form that there could be. Of Living the Life, of mobility, literally out of a bag [and where-in the bag slowly takes the place of your BFF (as Paris Hilton would like to say)], of meeting new people, hearing a different dialect or language every other week, and take in to the nuances of the cultures at display. Of being able to think their way and understand their move before they did mine, because they were the majority and me the minority. I was learning, they were just being themselves, with their everyday routine. I was and am The Journeyman.

Today I move onto another sales channel, and again it’s quite an opposite of sorts, seems the unpredictable attribute just loves being my mate, gladly so. I take a crossover from Rural India to the new emerging India, handling the Modern Trade [swanky malls et al] end of the sales business now. Tomorrow there will be a new set of experiences, a different world, different challenges and a different force, and there would be a Different – ME too, ready and waiting at the other end with arms wide open. After all I’m 4 states, ‘n’ number of numbers [my friends love this part about me, Read: they are ready to kill me for the same], 4 visiting cards, a million bus, train, air tickets, hotel bills and a bag full of memories and experiences old.

So I’m equipped to bring on my A –Game….let’s see what the World has.

P.S : now at least I would have one answer ready for the interviews, god save me on the others!!!


`

Room Service

“When a hotel room's the closest thing you got to home
You could be in Philadelphia you could even be in Rome”

Its been roughly over a year, my association with the corporate arena, and to be more specific the “sales world”. But no, this is not a cribbing session on sales, that will follow later [to everyone’s delight], for documentation sake or more. This one is close though – on a lifestyle which the sales force have to adopt and live by, voluntarily or otherwise…

I have been living out of an American Tourister bag since the past few months, moving in and out of hotels, places and cities like it was no one’s business. Post school, it seems India has become my playground – yes it being a very bold statement…but I would repeat it, if need be.

I am not aware if all hotels and its rooms were meant to have this uniformity in design and content, but they sure adhere quite well. A few things up front:

 I can randomly dial numbers now and get room service / housekeeping, given my in depth knowledge on their prescribed range

 I have to take a quick glance at the key to remember my room number every time I do call

 More often than not I utter the room number of my previous room in the last city I was at

 My interaction at the reception/staff has become mechanical and duly follows a linear mode

 My arrangement of laptop, books and diaries are of the same nature in all rooms, if I have to adjust in any way, it’s a shady room…Period

 I without taking a look at the menu, order precise food items and have a high hit ratio at that

 The most astounding : From a hotel room, I cannot within a short time frame conclude on which city I am in…I would have to ThINK for that…to make things clearer to those who are already laughing at my state, I present a live case, which took place a week back…

One of my dear Mba batch mates called from the Ambal land down south of the IT origin and in between mutual cribbing sessions happened to ask me which city I was in (which seems to be a joke doing rounds within my friend circle these days). I frankly could not at once answer her, as this was my third city in as many days, so I took a quick glance towards the hotel menu. Usually this does the trick, and, I answer, before the other person can notice a hitch. But this was not going to be that easy, because on the menu were listed :

KUKREJA GROUP of Hotels
• Delhi
• Lucknow
• Kanpur
• Varanasi

The menu was playing with my mind, and hence had to use reserve brain power in order to answer the undesired question of the season. My friend in all its moment did take full advantage (as I would have done) and “thy trip taken”…royally at that…

So, well this is going to continue and run through the year. Would have to devise a way out, and create a code of some sort, as I know that in the deep and remote corners of forgotton lands lie my friends, faced with a common enemy. I will rise to the occasion and deliver…or whatever!!!....

Till then keep humming this while I pack and check out…


“Ya I've been on the road nearly all my life
Been around the world 'bout a thousand times
Still a knock on the door makes me nervous
I think I'll see you standing there - but no
It's only room service - ya room service”

Red Wine on Shooting Star

I had a dream, I, stood beneath an orange sky,
With her standing by,
Said ‘you look so beautiful tonight’
She held o wine, red or mine,
Standing by, the felt of hand,
The eyes speak, oh so fine,
Away from you, be killed if moved,
Your love’s a definite crime

I had a dream, I, stood beneath a felted sky,
Looked like a picture, sounds like a tale
It’s all true, in feeling I failed,
The wine had spilled, dress on fire,
Poker face, love’s on hire

I had a dream, I, stood beneath a darkened sky,
Woke up, with this dream within a dream
The hand’s not mine, distance resigned,
Another setting, another rhyme,
Past was life, future a lie,
The feeling morphs, breaks into a cry


If only she could help herself,
To regain within the designed frame,
To have moved from the sane,
For yourself;
Cuz love’s crazy, defined insane

A drop of tear,
With hands so cold,
A thought I could hear,
If only time could hold,
The eternal spark,
The serene heart,
But it dawned;

Society is such, love, an overrated fuss,
Regrets rule over trust,
One life is no reason,
Belief equated to animated treason,

Are we living the way we would have?
Are we believing in what we should have?


The wine in glass, the dress a class,
My hand in hers, lifted the curse,
It could have been a perfect take;
Chemical romance to this day
Life’s content, decision met,
Our Glory, Love Story…

Breaking News...

This may well sound like one of the many forwarded mails spamming our inbox. But at times, one just has to pause and look, stop and stare and realize what each and every word means, what the feelings emote and how the mind and more importantly our heart react.

This is with reference to a recent terror attack on the 13th of February, at the infamous German Bakery eatery on the North Main road at Koregaon Park, next to the Osho International Meditation Centre. It’s no use stating the facts and the numbers.

I am writing this as a selfish soul, as I’ve never thought about similar atrocious attacks with such provocation. I haven’t seen death so closely, until now, and hence maybe these words. Putting it very simply, one of them could have been me, easily; it was just a matter of minutes and some really good deeds accumulating to fate working to our favor. Now many will frown at this attribution to luck, etc, understandably. But honestly its times like these one starts believing in destiny, fate, the ‘luck factor’ and all which completes the ‘gyaan’ circle which we so effortlessly ignore and push aside. The five who died at the table, with the bomb, could quite easily have been me with four friends, who were looking for a place at the packed Bakery just minutes before and deciding not to sit after one big table became empty at the rear end of the place.

German Bakery: at the corner of Lane A, the lane where we reside. A literal second home for us, the vibrant hangout/joint, which also by the way provided us with our daily meals, at breakfast, lunch [on weekends] and dinners. It was always the familiar faces munching on the burger, chewing on the salad or sipping on the many shakes and juices on offer. The Nepalese crew with the loveliest of smiles and always ‘Happy to Help’ attitude.

For one of us, it was The Home who also used to at times stay at his second home/place in the one room flat of his. He was riding on some magical guidance for sure which took him to a rock concert nearby, or else, one would have never liked to guess the consequences. For another, who called from the bakery to another, and then deciding to push off to his place rather than waiting, heard the shudder and shiver as soon as he took off on his bike. For the three of us, who entered our flat and heard this loud thud, as if a building had just gone down. Basically, a few minutes here and there, the faces could have been different, the result the same: Death.

We could not believe what we were hearing, or we were trying not to. We were trying not to accept what we saw, but we had to, when we saw our neighbor in blood, walking up the steps. Watching the live coverage on the news, and realizing it was the same place we had spent the maximum time at, the spot at the end of the lane, where a few minutes back, things were as lively and joyous as ever and now smeared in blood and distorted bodies, sent a chill for sure. We were and are feeling sick and pathetic and more importantly helpless, certain that these feelings would not fade quickly. One of us, voiced that if anything had happened to his friends, he might as well have taken the violent route ahead himself. It does not matter whether the victims are young or old, nationals or foreigners, Christian or Muslims, what is common amongst them is that they were innocent individuals, sure of returning home to their bed that night…almost sure…

One cannot be sure of the future, take one day at a time, thank God for it, every single day, enjoy those moments, treasure each one of them and be the NOW…Do what you got to do now, if you have to say things to someone, if you have to complete something left for the future, live NOW!!!...[I apologize for the pessimistic undercurrent in the note, but that’s how reality shapes up things for us, whether we like it or not, the faster we accept and realize it, the better for us.

You realize you cannot take anything for granted, not even time, forget about people. You realize that life is not in your control at all times, as much as you would disagree with that. You realize the hate around you, and how at times, it beats peace and love to the finishing line. You realize the power of fear and to what extent it drives people. You realize that, at times good is beaten and evil prevails.

As one of my friends said, correctly so, ‘Please, Please, Spread the Love people…just Spread the LOVE….and hope.

ALL is WELL…???

The term ‘Idiots’ have come into a wide variety of uses, via discussion and speculation, especially since the release of the movie. Though it’s quite interesting to observe and note as to how society, as a wholesome body, views an idiot, and, how an individual does.

An individual may have two distinct sub- perspectives to this entire ‘title’. How society [family, friends, and people around him] views him? How he views himself? This is no different to the personality theory which we have gone through ‘n’ number of times: The Real Concept and the Social Concept.

Now I came across 3 individuals, with diverse, yet common backgrounds, while on my extensive travels in Bengal recently. Each one had a story I was moved by, and I believe there might be many like them, here and there, around us, with us…Hence shall use the common parlance of Tom, Dick and Harry….will keep it to the point and brief….watch out though for the symptoms….

TOM: Smart, intelligent, young, brilliantly creative and a decent level of humor. Works hard, gets de-motivated when he lets himself down, ethical in nature and formidable when he knows he’s right.

In a stimulating society resplendent with opportunities, he would be equipped with enormous potential. A Commerce student just like me, with willingness for further education and knowledge, but it’s a pity that he does not possess the financial backing, necessary in today’s world. The only difference being I have done my B.com from a ‘reputed and prestigious’ institution and he from an unknown one. I had options and he had doors slammed. We had numerous discussions on topics like interests and hobbies, rural India, nature, etc. Can’t comment much but all I know is that he could not make use of his will to the utmost of his inner desires. He is seen by society as what he is today and not what he could have been.


DICK: An ex-professional footballer, has played for a few top league clubs, was also called for a squad representing the country. He’s been to European and South East Asian countries to represent clubs. Due to financial or health reasons he had to leave the sport, had to move away from what he did best, from what he believed in.

Now he is in sales, moving from shop to shop taking orders, day in day out, something I could see he is not good at, and more importantly not enjoying. Resulted in him cheating the distributor of some money, as his performance was not up to mark, got caught and was fired. He is seen by society as somebody who’s not good at his work, as someone who is struggling, someone dishonest.

HARRY: a man in his mid-30’s, street smart, respected and amiable. He at one time was running multiple small businesses. He liked doing that…..Period. Was doing well and was also part of a sales force for a company. He had that entrepreneurial streak in him, quite evident at that.

A few years back he had a life-threatening accident on the railway lines. He says and I quote “the villagers where I met with the accident still call me a miracle”. After multiple bones, torn tissues and shut down ventures he still is a salesman at a company, the streak dying a forced death. He has to bear expenses for his health and his wife’s, which takes a toll. The society sees him as a person, who is still where he was some years back, if not worse.

There is a thread between these three individuals, and many such beings. Given a different circumstance, a different occurrence and a different setting, maybe they would have been heroes of their time and place. Heroes and not ‘Idiots’ [not the literal colloquial meaning, but negative nonetheless.

Society sees and clubs them as certain characters, the depressing and disheartening part being, when they themselves start to lose belief in themselves and start doubting their abilities. Start wondering if Heroes and stars are only to be dreamt of or celebrated on 70mm screens on Fridays. Three great minds, deteriorating and becoming stale….If that’s the case, we really have to ask is “ALL ‘really’ WELL???

Sales – on - Song

Morning blues, another route,
A different beat, quite a feat,
Monday mornings, weekends in sight,
It’s a thin line between the wrong and right
Move in step, tongue in cheek,
Rain’s –a – falling, figures seem bleak,
Retail card, pushing hard,
Shop to shop, till we drop.
This is the scheme, selling style,
Chik, Spinz, Fairever, Nyle,
Seasonal plight, display delight,
Target seeking , JC meeting,
Cavinkomm, Sales on Song,
Stories to hear, a million faces,
Learnt from time, left my traces.
I salute the Field and their Force,
Cheers to them and may we Grow…

This is It....R.I.P MJ....

Wrote this for my buddy's bachelors invite....the night before.....loved the feel aftr finishin.....was godspeed and satiating....:)

Think you’re Dangerous and Bad enough???

You believe you can take the Blood on the Dance Floor???

Just Keep the Faith and gear up to Jam

We gonna be starting somethin’ and

Give in to me cuz You’re not Alone and That’s the way you make me feelCalling all Billy Jeans in Black and the Smooth Criminals in White

Be ready to Heal the World

Whether you’re a Smooth Criminal or a Liberian Girl,

The question now is…..Will you be There???

P.S. It’s gonna be a Thriller…!!! And trust me you’ll Remember the Time….for years to come….till we are done…J

Sunday Afternoon Outlet...

Dhaaaaaansh!!!!....Clink…Clink….that’s the audio byte which got me off my feet in the middle of Denzel’s dazzling dialogue delivery….[woah managed four consecutive one’s with ‘d’…]…..on a Sunday afternoon…’not kool’ as I would have typically reacted…..but only to find out it would all be worth it….soon…

Cause : Neighborhood kids playing a game of Sunday cricket

Stimuli : Window breaking in the bathroom

Reaction : To be discussed in detail…..here on…..

Initially I was a bit disturbed at the past 7 seconds. I gazed out of the window only to see an empty play arena….and then a sight which defined the moment for me…..an innocent set of eyes, full of fear, peeks out from behind a wall to check if a middle aged aunt would come screaming and hurl out all her Sunday morning frustration through the choicest of expletives.

I picked up the ball and collected the shards of glass, putting them aside, in a secluded corner. Thought would shout, but then decided age hadn’t got the better off me. Could actually see myself in one of those fearing, mischievous, yet innocent children, after having broken many a window and glass during my time at the ground. Of how we would rush to the nearest bunker/ cover when an uncalled for shot towards an uncalled for direction would be made. Which would usually be followed by a week’s ban of us playing in that vicinity…..then the next neighborhood…..and the next…that was my and am sure most kids journey….pure in its own simplicity…

Coming to the reaction :

I just threw the ball back and jokingly advised them to play a little carefully, and hit better shots. They were quite shocked, the reaction quite deferred from the usual. They had smiles, unmatched, unparalleled….innocent.

I became an angel in their eyes…..felt nice…reminded me of those days and sunny afternoons…..with caps and bats….fights and the rush for cold water…..kept thinking of it….halfway through the movie….sorry Denzel…..

P.S.: Window was already broken…..they just increased the gap….so that I could see the world more clearly out of a much bigger outlet…..

Stockholm | Cruise

SWEDEN | COPENHAGEN | Cruise



After the sojourn at Copenhagen, we headed off to the next Scandinavian behemoth….SWEDEN!!! Early morning, we wake up from the luxury laps of the expensive beds we paid for…our first and last luxury booking on a Eurail. After exchanging the Krones with another set of the same….Danish with the Swedish ones…we headed off in search of a hostel in accordance with our exciting night plans at Stockholm. The original Ice Bar, the sunshine on the streets and the glittering water all made it a joy to tour the city on foot. Stockholm, like most of Sweden is a set of islands, all connected, appealing and resplendent in its entirety.

After reluctantly not taking accommodation at a ship youth hostel, we settled in for a cheaper one. We also completed the most integral part of the morning and quite efficiently at that – collecting the passes for the DJ TIESTO show, which was scheduled after a few days. Even though we had pre empted all sorts of things going wrong with that one, to our delight….it all worked out just fine. The rest of the day, which honestly seemed quite a drag as we just couldn’t wait for the high-time, going aboard the cruise, comprised of the following:

1. Visit to the Coin and Currency museum [which had free entry on that particular day of the week]. Also the presence of the World’s Largest Coin, was appealing enough.

2. The discovery of a café run by a Pakistani dude, who apart from serving us a customized pasta delicacy [the best dish on the entire trip], also provided us with an hour long discussion in sub continental mother tongue’s. He also proved to be our savior the very next day, be responding to our fussy dietary needs [read: Jajoo]

3. A million more pictures, till our trustworthy batteries ran out on us, yet again, with all the trust we had, to betray us at the most scenic spots.

4. Running towards the cruise liner, fearing we might miss that one too, going by enough evidence of a 2 month history timeline.


Coming to the cruise, it was a Viking Line cruise one of the famous carriers in that part of the world. It was a two day trip, Stockholm – Helsinki – Stockholm. Another first for us, we were eager, and already flowing, before the latter happens literally.

We make it in time for the boarding and it at first seemed like a culmination of a 5 star on water and an airport. After a brilliant reception and welcome, we managed to find our way to our cabin. Dumped our bags and just went exploring the structure and its insides, the most exciting corners of the ship being the Duty Free shop and the club.

As the night dawned on us, we braved our way to the deck, and when I say ‘brave’, trust me it was worthy of a Red and White Bravery Awards nomination if not winning it out and out. With some of our structures, the wind would have literally blown us out onto the Baltic Sea. It was chilly, and while I write this, I still feel that clip through my neck and hair right now. We then directed our efforts to the edge and given the sleet cover present, it is safe to say we were outta mind, high on momentous glory.

Out comes the multi faceted sandwich, customized to the last detail, and prepared with heart felt warmth by our Pakistani friend from Stockholm and click goes the beer can, one of the many, I must add here, as we conveniently decided, out of the blue [color seems apt as we were on sea]at the duty free shop that we have to consume all brands of beer available that night, and don’t even get me started on the number on sale. Let’s just say it reached quite a ‘high’ figure. So this moment on the deck, which I term as the Globaliz-ing moment of our Trip is for the following reasons:

 On a Swedish Cruise Liner
 Enjoyin the sumptuous Sandwich made by a Pakistani
 Along with a beer brewed in Holland and another in Germany
 Somwhere in the Baltic Sea
 Towards Finland
 And all experienced by an Indian

Unable to find a more appropriate definition and understanding of the clichéd term. It’s special when you experience it, rather than just reading it in texts and glossy covered magazines. After the wind on the face and delight in your stomach experience, we staggered back[ we literally were moving backwards, thanks to the wind] to the interior confinement of modern luxuries. To further the cause we headed straight to our rooms to make sure our trip and purchases from the duty free were in good stead, if you know what I mean. After hasty swigs we left for the club scene, which was trippy in itself, as all rooms were anyways having private crazy parties and to top it all, the club had views of the serene water world outside giving one a kick one, he could never expect to imagine or wonder. Some of my dear friends had to call it an early night, as they could not handle the first experience, of, mixing waves splashing and alcohol splashing in their stomach too well.

For others, well all I can say is, we were there to Livin’ it Up!!! …..Aboard Style….Another dream realizes on this journey of a lifetime….:)

Scandinavia Alla....Copenhagen...

COPENHAGEN :

Well we got onto the final leg of our marathon journey and hence SCANDINAVIA!!! Our first stop plausibly had to be Denmark. We made our way from Berlin via Hamburg and its well “much enjoyed events” from the train journey to the walk at Ripperbahnhof at 3 am.

So when we did arrive in the morning at Copenhagen, the capital we were a bit tired, mentally and physically. First things first we had to get our Euros converted into Danish Krones and our mathematical cells again were called upon, also use of our income statement and Balance Sheet of the next few hours had t be thought upon.

Hence after doing darshan of the much heared about “Tivoli Gardens” we sought the tourist destinations which woudnt demand much effort, so to say [never once foretelling what lay ahead]. We started from the Botanical Gardens and another famous garden/ park in the heart of the city. It was just like in the fairytales, verdant grass, pristine water bodies [not to mention the other celestial bodies all around us], leaves of multitude both seen at their abode and sparkling the streets. Inside the Botanical Garden there also was a green house packed with rare species from the plant kingdom, flora and fauna abound to our hearts content in this scenic city. After taken the “NATURE-al path” we decided on paying visit to a random museum of art. Again was a diverse hence enjoyable usage of time.

We then made our way to the Royal Gardens and this again was a sprawling spread of land, and aptly fit for a King and his Queen. With a mini palace separated by a sleek water body it was another chapter, another fairytale.

It was getting insanely windy and the temperatures falling. Note: we still we were on foot all this while and not once did we make use of the Danish transport system. Our plan of visiting the Carlsberg Brewery though had to be omitted as it would close by the tie we would have reached….damn.

We then headed off to the most popular tourist location of Copenhagen : The Little Mermaid. This was the infamous site and character on which Hans Christen Anderson’s work by the same name stands apart. But it never did mention that it was built on the other extreme of the city and we made our long walk with shopping bags and heavy jackets and the unwelcomed gusts of wind with us. On reaching the place we could see the tourists making the most of their new Asian made digicams. And so we delightedly obeyed too. It was a nice piece of work but we couldn’t figure out what was so famous with it. Or maybe we were too tired and our expectations just increased with every step we took towards to Mermaid [apart from imagining Mermaids]. We somehow managed to make our long walk back to the station, this time viewing the city in all its lights and then spending some time at the Hard Rock Café, Copenhagen…a perfect ending one would say….and we obliged.

Hamburg Sista Sasta ve...

Luckily on our train journey to Hamburg almost all of our co passengers were football fans of Hamburg FC who had been for an away match to Berlin. And the Germans really do love two things the most: Beer and football. Let me tell you or rather warn you that a blend of these two could be a lethal combination. Thanks to this feature we experienced the most enjoyable and memorable train journey ever. What followed was a series of events one could just think back and laugh their guts out about kinda thing. Fans with crates of beer and massive flags just stormed the train and well it was quite a normal course of events for them. A large amount [number recall is quite weak] of beer consumption followed with drinking games with crazy soccer fans and to top it all we found out that their team had lost….Imagine if only they would have…..

We made some crazy friends of the fans and since we had some time to kill at Hamburg till our next train to Copenhagen we were taken to a sports bar at the Hamburg station for further intoxication rounds. We then made our way to the “lively and vivid” area of Hamburg, Rieperbahnhof which seemed a mini Amsterdam, of whatever I remember…all in all a Dream come true of partyin with insane football fans did materialize and this I would remember for time to come….

Hamburg Sista Sasta Ve….the chant we were shouting in the city at 3 a.m.

Berlin...The Historic and Political capital of the World...

Chilly gusts of wind greeted us onto the German capital, seeming to compensate for the lovely time we had at Munich. After the tiring forceful walk from the Bahnhof to our first stop which was well invariably the German Parliament or better known as in German parlance “The Reichstag”. The structure from outside quite failed to give us any kind of hint which would draw us to such a guess. This primarily was due to the Indian mindset of everything administrative and political and certain imagery to that. The building was an authoritative one but at the same time there seemed connotations of contemporary linings which made for a pleasurable and distinct blend of sorts. We jumped at the offer to take the free tour of the parliament. This was due to one of the following plausible reasons or the combined appeal of all of them on the different sub levels of our psychic:

1) FREE !! FREE !! Our penchant for anything…FREE
2) Tour of a parliament, u gotta b kiddin me….
3) Escape from the rain
4) Two pretty [decent description chosen] beings of the opposite gender in the line.

NOTE : The above points are not in a particular order or preference except for number 1

On entering the Reichstag an air of unexpected seriousness overshadowed our intentions. We were highly impressed on learning of the history surrounding this place and the importance attached to it. The relatively rebuilt structure was based on principles of transparency and trust. This was mainly because of its history and the ruling government’s relation with the German people. Visitors could from above watch parliamentary sessions in progress and on prior reservations also attend them from the stand allotted. We made our way out after quite an eye opener tour of the historic venue and losing the pretty beings in the crowd.

Our next stop which was a few strides away was the popular and recognizable Branderburg Gate. This venue again held high degrees of importance in German and European history. A spot for many a post-war celebration, revolutionary marches, inspiring speeches and many more of the same bracket. A symbol of power and grace it sure was a winner with the tourists. Right opposite the Branderburg Gate was Hotel Adlon, the one from whose window Michael Jackson had held his baby out for his fans. Also a Starbucks is fitted where a sumptuous and worthy purchase was made. And as fate would have it we were on tine for a free walking tour. With no plans as such as to where and how to go we decided once again to listen to our pockets, quite seriously at that.

After being divided into groups and assigned guides we were taken along a fixed route along the significant points and spots in this historical city. The whole concept of a free walking tour quite caught my fancy, which was nothing less that brilliant and an all win situation in the end. Another astonishing fact being that most of the guides were not local Germans, but tourists who had been staying in the city for a few years or so. We headed to the Holocaust memorial site next to the Branderburg Gate which was in remembrance of the atrocities met out to the thousands of Jews. The site was composed of gray stones of a cuboid nature and placed in an ascending order open to multiple interpretations which has a fair bit of controversy itself.

We then made our way to the most popular and heard of in every tourist –to- see- list in Berlin….the erstwhile BERLIN WALL and along with it the history being recited by our Guide. This sure felt special, simply to be standing there and imagining the happenings on that very ground and how it affected people and their views around the world. Even more shocking was the story of how only “two words” brought down the Berlin Wall…and these were “Effective Immediately”, the build up to the story even more astounding to hear. We then made our way to Charlie Checkpoint, the most famous crossing point between East Germany and West Germany where numerous hilarious escapades have been documented. Other spots of visit included the Memorial for Book Burning and few other significant locales.

Finally on the steps of one of the palaces was a perfect and picturesque way of signing of our walking tour of this deep rooted and essential city in every respect. After this 3 hour story session on Berlin and its history I was quite drawn towards it and the first thing which dawned upon me was how much the city would have meant without the inputs. According to me Berlin served as the chief and the most vital city for its part in history and relation to world political issues. It was undoubtedly the seat of world agenda and its activities, whether it be the Nazis, the Soviets, etcetera. Fell in love with Berlin for entirely different and unforeseen reasons…

Just before we caught the night’s train to Hamburg we had one of the best dinners on our Euro Trip. Roast marinated - Chicken and beer out in the Berlin cold on an empty gurgling stomach…now that’s what I call Life….