A Letter from Paris

Couple of years back, I was in Europe for a few months of MBA & I still distinctly remember the travelling I did during my stay there. Lovely memories! Here is a letter that I wrote to some of my friends after returning from one such short trip to Paris. Stumbled upon this mail while searching for something and realized how much I love to travel and write about it. It brought a smile to my face and now it's edited albeit extended version :-P finds a little space on this blog. Going into a flashback -- Voila!...

Hello Everyone!!

How is everything at your end? It'd been a long time since I tested your reading stamina. That's how this marvellously long e-mail is here before you today. Now since you all are so many in number, I think I would basically (conveniently) talk just about myself  <lol>,  easier that way na......Arrey!....You all must tell me wassup at your side when we get to chat or talk.  Deal?  So here is an account of my weekend trip to Paris.

It was 6.30 am on the Belgian morning of 14th of October 2006, when Isabelle (the lady whose house I resided in Antwerp), left me at the bus stop. I was amazed with the punctuality of all my fellow travellers & the driver, through out the trip. Everyone stuck to time and that was great! 8'o clock meant 8 & not 8.01. The bus was driven so fast, yet it was such a smooth journey & it took us some 4 hours to reach Paris.(The point is that the roads weren't decorated with pot holes:-P) Amazing feeling to enter France! Our arrival was signalled by the appearance huge signboards, broader flyovers & all that jazz. Moreover, the radio (on my cell phone) switched its language to French & I tell you......I almost hate this language now, what with all the juon shion stuff. It is such an uncomfy way to speak. That deep nasal chatter is hard to listen to and I am sure it would take a lifetime of practice to perfect those 'hard-to-make' sounds that we call Francais. No pun intended but laughter's allowed people :-> ! The alphabet that needs to be stressed on, may not be written and that which is silent, seems like a prominent part of the word! Ok so moving on, the songs were in French too & therefore, it was confirmed we were in Frankenreich (lemme flaunt it a bit, that's France in Deutsch). Am I complicating matters? Not to worry, the rest of my mail is in English.

Achcha toh then we first went around the city, and reached the river Siene which is at the heart of it. Paris at first sight, reminded me of the Fort area in Bombay or Cannought Place in Delhi. I thought Paris was quite populated and that people broke rules pretty often and the Police failed to control the cars from driving at any side of the road at anytime. (I saw a WagonR there!!) Then the roads were full of autumn leaves and a bit of muck. That for sure made me feel India has an awesome chance. I had a memory flash of the stellar roads around India Gate and Rajpath in Delhi. That area is amazing to say the least. So coming back to the river Siene, we went for a boat-ride across the historic spots in the city, and it is then that all the stories about France, the heritage, renaissance architecture, expressionism in art and abundant opulence of lifestyle.......(deviating a bit here - I did see a beggar lurking on the side of the road) everything seemed to fall into place coz they have so much of history preserved in all those buildings which are architectural marvels - the Pantheon, La tour Eiffel, Notre Dame, the museums of paintings, the City Square which is hugeeeeeeeee,  the gardens, prisons, Champs Elysees ....the list goes on, but the boat ride didn't. It was absolutely worth it. I wish I had Russel Crowe or someone like that for company, but never mind that. One irritating thing was that, since we were on the boat, we couldn't go and touch those buildings and really 'be there', but could only admire the beauty from a distance. So close and yet so far!..... I did have a bout of romanticism right there, the setting was such. But how much can one ask for on a 2 day trip? It was well worth it anyway.......

Thereafter, we went to eat out. The 2 days that we were with the bus, they would take us to places & tell us the time when we had to get back. And each time, all of us, 15 travellers would be back on time...before time infact. I liked that understated sense of shared responsibility. The bus actually leaves you & goes if you are not there on time! We happened to stumble on a Mc Donald's restaurant and there we were, holding the tastiest fries in the world, inspecting them from every possible angle for their consistency. And there were just the same! Hats off to Uncle Donald. After that quick meal followed by window shopping at Printemps (which is a departmental store that seemed like a fabulous mall to me), we went to our hotel. It was cute, small but posh. Yours truly..."Her Highness' if you so insist, had a single room with all the amenities. There are some things that particularly catch my fancy for some vague reason wherever I go .....and those things are - tea & coffee sachets. Strictly between you and me .....'I innocently stole a few '....sparing the little bottles of cream and soap this time. Well you win some you lose some. 'Dariya mein se ek lota paani lena koi paap toh nahi hai......hehehe . You wont understand !....It just gives me a kick that's all.'

We also went to two churches - Notre Dame and Momatre. At the former, we took snaps at the centre point of the city and at the latter one we saw painters making portraits of people. Then we went to the 3rd tallest building in Europe- Montparnesse Tower, to get a bird's eye view of Paris. Oh! The lift went 56 floors in just a few seconds like a rocket. It was so cold and windy up there and we figured Paris might be even/much bigger than Delhi !!

The next thing on our agenda was to go on a bus ride to see the illuminated city. The Eiffel Tower has lasers that keep moving while beaming and they illuminate the city wonderfully. It's a great sight at night. The red light area there was so 'out there', right in the middle of the market and all brightened up with lights....just like the wine & beer shops in Goa at night...a lavish & unabashed display of the agenda. For sometime I left my batch mates alone, while I walked by myself in that market, feeling quite different, an independent 21st century girl and all, and making all sorts of plans for the future......thinking there is so much too see & experience in life ...so many places to go to | people to meet | cultures to discover | ideas to debate on | concepts to imbibe & realities to fathom ...(breathless) my own concept about people abroad completely got a reality check. I realized the real nuances of difference and similarity between them and us. I 'll just give a simple example - I mean even here people live in families and have certain rules, share responsibilities, have meals together at home, take care of their elders just like we do. That was nice to notice. This coupled with the experience of living with a Belgian family for around 3 months and studying at the University, added a different perspective to the stay.

You know I was thinking that one major point of difference between us and them is that- we in India are conditioned to be a certain way. We are oriented to following convention over and above our own personal style. We get accustomed to following a lot of things & at times get pressurized by society norms. But here, people have a lot more personal choice to exercise. I don't think they beat themselves down too much with the pressure of comparisons. I might be wrong. But, I only mean that people have a bit more of freedom to really think and make their own true choices. And that's one of the most precious things I feel. In a couple of pockets in India, one can feel free, but most of the times, one has to keep too many external considerations in mind which should ideally have little bearing on the choice in question. This is a much bigger debate so let me save it for later.

Bas that's more or less all of it & if you guys have reached this far, I salute your stamina ..:)

L'amour vous tous
Aditi

  

Pondering over this letter (euphemistically 'chewing the cud')-

The last bit of this letter talks about making true choices wholeheartedly. There is no one you can please and nothing to gain if you are uncomfortable in your own skin and if you are untrue to your own self. I genuinely believe in the freedom, clarity and peace such choices bring along with them.

Another thing that comes to my mind right now is how interesting it would be to go back-packing across Europe! Actually, it would be so much fun travelling extensively across India and then the whole world. Why make it feel left out!  :-P

And finally, I realize how unique days are remembered so clearly, forever. Like this Paris trip for one and numerous such journeys and moments. I remember the kurta & jeans I was wearing when I first met the guy I am incidentally married to now. And if I am vaguely sounding like that character Subodh from  the movie 'Dil Chahta Hai' then please ignore it!

To sum it up- I believe every weather is perfect for- Following your heart, Going beyond, Exploring something new and Cherishing it!