The strangest thing about visiting Europe in the winter is how late the sun rises. In France, it was bewildering. Pre-dawn hours, to me, should be unearthly. But 8 a.m. in December is still pre-dawn!The lovely thing about the late sunrise in Luxembourg, however, was that I had a table at the window and could watch the daylight slowly purpling the sky and spreading over the city. I sat and wrote, watching the lights of the city go off, and the sunlight make it all come alive. From the warmth of a heated room, it felt like a beautiful, toasty day.It took Google to tell us that the temperature was -3ºC.Jack Frost had spread his fingers over everything. It was nearly 10 when we finally stepped out - late by my standards, particularly considering the sun sets at 4 - but the streets were empty. Many shops and cafes hadn't even opened yet!At the tourist office, we learned that the … [Read more...]
My Year in Travel
I've seen and experienced so much this year! I brought 2019 in in beautiful Pench, shivering in the cold and rejoicing in the sight of a jackal and a leopard amongst so many other wonderful wild animals.Later the same month, we travelled to Sikkim and Kolkata, a city I love. I also wrote a travel article about our experiences in north Sikkim, reliving the adventures we had.For work, too, I travelled quite a bit - to Mumbai of course, but also to Goa, Aurangabad, Bhusaval, Akola, Chandrapur ... I love it!And finally, we ended the year in Europe, which I visited after seven years. I've written extensively about other visits; this one was special in its own way.On the flight to Paris, someone sitting next to me told me about a friend who hadn't been able to see anything - not even the Eiffel Tower - because of the train strikes in France. Thanks to our wonderful, wonderful … [Read more...]
Chambery to Torino
From Lyon, I went to Chambéry to meet my correspondent from the French exchange programme and her family. It was a lovely stay, though short. My 'Maman' in Chambéry is a boat-driver, and, as I was there in summer, she had long hours of work, so I did not want to impose on them for too long.My sister came to Chambéry to meet me, and we stood in queue to reserve places on a train to Milan. The plan was that we would get to Milan, go from there to Bologna and finally, find our way to Greece. With Eurail passes, we did not need reservations for most trains, but for trains from one country to another, we did. The train to Milan was full, though, so we considered our options, and then booked tickets to Turin instead.With a few hours to spare, we wandered around Chambéry. Nostalgic about the exchange programme, we looked around happily, but made sure we got back to the station well in time … [Read more...]
Lyon
On the 15th of June 2006, I validated my second Eurail pass, officially valid for fifteen days. Maybe the official at the station was being nice; maybe he could not count. He marked the end date as the 30th of June, giving me 16 days of free travel.Building up to my departure from Grenoble, we did many, many things. I visited museums and churches. We played children's games like 'Duck-Duck-Goose'. I took a ride in an 'egg' - the ropeway up to the Bastille. My sister was leaving Grenoble, perhaps never to return, so we filled our days with things she wanted to remember. And then, I left Grenoble for Lyon so she could say her last goodbyes alone.Lyon is a place to spend a lot of time or none at all. Around the station, there are business hotels. Reach Lyon, and you get the impression that it is a no-nonsense, commercial place. I'm an unabashed people-watcher, and I felt even the way … [Read more...]
Paid Artists
I have been learning dance for 22 years. Yes, that is a lot. Often, people ask us whether this means that we have our own dance classes. No. That is not the only reason to learn dance."How much would you charge for a performance?" is the next question. "It depends on what sort of performance it is," I reply. "If you want a full-fledged dance drama, obviously, our cost is higher, so we charge more."If it is not a dance drama, people ask, "Why is it so expensive?"I never know what to reply. I have so many ideas in my head, but I think, "Isn't it obvious?"1) We practise a lot. If we need to put up something that is professional, it is necessary, don't you think? 2) If you want us to be "professional", at some level, you accept that performance is our source of income. We perform three or four times a year, usually. Calculate how much a performance ought to cost if you think of it in … [Read more...]
Cet espace …
"Yuk, what is that disgusting smell?" I asked. My sister chuckled and pointed to a board - "Ici, je fais ce que je veux" - "Here, I do what I want", accompanied by the picture of a dog.I found that lovely. Not only were there designated zones where dogs could do "whatever they want", there were cute little signs saying so, all over the city.The next day, I took a deep breath, ignored passing stares, and took a photograph of the board. I went around Grenoble taking photos of all the dog boards that I could find, to the amusement (and sometimes wrinkled-nose disgust) of people passing by. Unfortunately, I seem to have lost all my dog photos from Grenoble. So much for my nose-holding, stench-standing commitment to taking photographs.I found two that I took in Annecy, though - here they are! … [Read more...]
Musée Dauphinois
"My parents loved the Musée Dauphinois," a friend told me. "It was the best one of all."Intrigued, I decided to go. As usual, I had nothing to lose - the museum was free for those under 25. It was farther than I expected, not being a fan of climbing the Bastille alone, but I did reach, eventually."The ground floor was - um - uninteresting, to say the least," I've written in my diary. The museums I had seen before, right there in Isère, were much better. All the Musée Dauphinois had was general information about the history of humankind, without even the audio guide that was available at the Musée de l'Ancien Évêché, a museum I quite enjoyed. What that meant was that I had gone all the way there, climbing up towards the Bastille, to see sharpened stones.The first floor was not much better. I could not understand what had earned such high praise - until I got to the second … [Read more...]
Seshan/XB
Nisha had a 'Carte 12-25', which entitled her to ridiculously cheap tickets on trains in France. When she went to buy tickets from Paris to Grenoble, she produced her card and booked a ticket for her sister and herself. Instead of asking for my name (bound to be a complicated Indian name, of course), the gentleman decided to call me XB. I feel like the distant cousin of a pencil. We reached Grenoble and began to practise for one of the many performances we did in France. We were to perform in a place called Gap, a name that I did not quite associate with France.When we met the person who organised the performance, I realised something that continues to haunt me even now. As long as I'm eavesdropping on someone else's conversation, as long as I am not the only person being addressed, as long as I'm part of a group, I understand what's going on. The moment someone addresses me … [Read more...]
Straight to the Louvre
The conversation I overheard while I was at CDG airport convinced me that I simply had to make the most of my youth and of being young in France.I landed in Paris on the 4th of June, 2006, a Sunday. It was the first Sunday of the month, and I was in Paris. That meant only one thing for us - free entry to the Louvre! So, luggage and all, we went straight to the Louvre.France has always been like that for me. Pack as much as possible, as much as possible, into each minute there. So what if I had spent hours awake, terrified of falling asleep on my co-passenger? So what if I had preferred the beautiful mountains below to the sleep I needed? We went to the Louvre. When would I get the chance again?Later that evening, when I was exhausted and my head was swimming, I thought I had been hallucinating, but it was true. Out of the blue, I met a classmate of mine in the Louvre. To meet … [Read more...]
Flying Alone
"Window or aisle?" "Aisle, please."I took my boarding pass and boarded the flight. No sister with me this time. No one to hold my hand. No one to exchange sparkling glances of excitement with. Sure, I was going to meet her, but on this journey in 2006, I was alone.The journey to Milan from Mumbai was a long one, but I sat straight, willing myself not to fall asleep. What if my head dropped and I leaned against the man sitting next to me? Mortifying! Better to be sleep-deprived. I was travelling alone, I reminded myself, and I had no comfortable shoulder to rest on.Chewing the inside of my cheek, I kept myself awake. I could not bring myself to eat dinner at 2 in the morning, so I drank a glass of water and stared out of the window. The world I was flying over looked like a topo map. I loved topo maps. I found myself marking settlements in my head with red dots, matching the red … [Read more...]