Illusions

My First Digi Picture : December 2004

2007-12-07T03:13:00.000-08:00

I have to admit this is perhaps the only time, my digi picture was touched up using photo software. But I was sure then and I am sure now that I am purist in this handicapped mode of digi shooting. None of my other pictures have even been through the mouse. If I can lay my hands on the original picture, I promise to share it, but I doubt I will be able.

Check this other one taken in the JNU library. This perhaps is the earliest representation in Digi technology of my fascination for the light and dark around which I think most of my pictures revolve. I think I ought to now look down and at the world around me.

Light And Dark November 2005 III: 245 Sutlej

2007-09-29T16:24:00.001-07:00

Light And Dark November 2005 II: 245 Sutlej

2007-09-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

Light And Dark November 2005 I : 245 Sutlej

2007-09-29T16:13:00.001-07:00

Mid November Heidelberg Sun Set V

2007-09-06T13:59:00.001-07:00

Mid November Heidelberg Sun Set IV

2007-09-06T13:53:00.003-07:00

Mid November Heidelberg Sun Set III

2007-09-06T13:46:00.001-07:00

Mid November Heidelberg Sun Set II

2007-09-06T13:41:00.001-07:00

Mid November Heidelberg Sun Set I

2007-09-06T13:23:00.000-07:00

Summer Evening Delhi III

2007-06-30T14:50:00.000-07:00

The Same summer evening: Delhi

2007-06-30T14:39:00.000-07:00

A summer evening

2007-06-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

Bars II

2007-01-04T05:24:00.000-08:00

Bars I

2007-01-03T07:49:00.000-08:00

On the Rhine in Dusseldorf, Germany II

2007-01-03T07:34:00.000-08:00

On the Rhine in Dusseldorf, Germany I

2007-01-02T09:43:00.000-08:00

Germany: Cobbled Roads

2006-12-30T08:39:00.000-08:00

North Germany: Graffiti

2006-12-30T08:35:00.000-08:00

Cologne, Germany: Dome and Train Station

2006-12-30T08:18:00.000-08:00

Muenster, Germany II

2006-12-30T07:56:00.000-08:00

Muenster, Germany

2006-12-30T07:37:00.000-08:00

Brussles V: Herge's gaon

2006-12-21T12:19:00.000-08:00

Brussles IV

2006-12-21T12:14:00.000-08:00

Brussles III: Images

2006-12-21T11:54:00.000-08:00

Brussles III: Waffle-ing

2006-12-21T11:42:00.000-08:00

Brussles II: Chocolat

2006-12-21T11:27:00.000-08:00

Brussels I: Beerland

2006-12-21T11:11:00.000-08:00

Brussels was the the essential surprise in this trip. I had no plans to go to Belgium and reached there as I skipped Italy, and a friend, to go to Paris and was on my way to Amsterdam. Brussels came on the intinerary cause it also was home to one of our 'sardar' (A Sikh and a leader: pun intended) friends. So I reached Brussles at about 4 pm and was most affectionately received by him at Brussels Nord. I was seeing him after 10 years.

Dodretch II

2006-12-06T12:41:00.000-08:00

Dodretch, Netherland

2006-12-06T12:28:00.000-08:00

I took the bus from Brussles, a Eurolines ride, for Euro 16 for Amsterdam and was in Amsterdam by 6 pm. It was overcast and cold and waiting for a while at Amstel Bus stop, I was sure of being mugged. Not cause of anything that happened to me in The Netherlands but rather more because of my middle class insecure upbringing. The middle class dictum goes that, if you are scared of being mugged, you will be but I tried to rationalise my fears with my experiences and managed to mock myself. It was cold, already dark and I had two bags with which I was waiting for what seemed like an eternity. I tried to make a call to my friend but I couldn't fit into the phone booth with both my bags and worse, I didnt know how to operate the phones with the Euro coins I had. Later that night I visited the Red light district in Amsterdam. Amsterdam as a city grew up not by royal decree or someone's imagination but rather as a port town and the unplanned origins of the city are reflected in the hooks that all Amsterdam houses have on top center of the building. The red light district is situation in/near China Town(the Chinese are everywhere), and like most of Netherlands is crisscrossed by a number of canals. It was quiet a nice experience except for my indisciplined bladder which need two evacuations during the outing, total cost 1 Euro, that is about 56 Indian Rupees. The next morning I cycled around Amsterdam with my friends and visited the Van Gogh Museam, definately the high point of my visit despite the steep Euro 10 entry fee. My relation with high art has always been suspect and I am more like an animal circum-ambulating around theatre, philosophy,paintings, dance forms and other such high arts. But Van Gogh for me has been humanised as a fellow human being rather than an artist by John Irving's biography called Lust for Life and a few other secondary readings about other contemporary painters like Paul Gaugin which mentioned Van Gogh. But it was the power of Irving's prose which provided me an entry into Van Gogh's life, times and more importantly his work. It took me a whole three hours to get past the three floors that the museam held and its a must visit for even the most philistine of you.

Back to the point, the pictures below are from the town of Dodretch, in the province of Holland. An important clarification, Holland is merely a province in Netherlands! I bet a lot of you didnt know that, nor did I. After Amsterdam I made my way to Leiden where a dear friend is studying. The visit to Dodretch was part of a class excursion his group was going to and so I joined them. After a refreshing class of the history of Dutch Archives at Dodretch, we had a guided tour of the quaint, small and classically Dutch town. The weather was mostly close to brilliant that day with beautiful sky and great sunshine, yet, we had moments of doubts when they would suddenly become overcast and a small patter of rain gently had us running for cover.

Paris

2006-12-03T12:56:00.000-08:00

Paris overwhelmed me. I was actively suffering. The previous days in Geneva, I was vainly asserting that in Paris, I would have a bottle of wine in one hand and a French chick on the other loafing through the cobbled Paris streets. Alas, life is not what we imagine or what we wish, life is what we make of it. So what did I make of it? I reached Paris about 1 pm by train from Geneva, an exorbitantly expensive ride, first class and reserved. As soon as I reached I took my onward ticket to Brussles for the next day. I had merely 24 hours in Paris. I ate at an 'Indian' resturant in La Chappele, largely a Sri Lankan Tamil area, where pictures of LTTE maniac Prabhakaran adorned their walls, the maps of Sri Lanka only showed the Tamil areas, I changed money and took the metro to Eiffel Tower. And then I crossed over to the Eiffel Tower side of the river Seine and walked till I crossed over to the Concorde Square in front of the Louvre and then reached Champs Elyesse and closed it with a picture outside Moulin Rouge, slept very well in a room with four people. The next morning I took found the Eurolines Bus stop in Galleni and made my way North to Brussles.

Heidelberg: The city

2006-12-02T14:54:00.000-08:00

This is Heidelberg too. The first picture is the sunset over the river Necker that divides old Heidelberg from what I assume is the new town. It is a beautiful small town in what is called the Rhine-Necker Valley. The most gorgeous natural landscape in Germany was my route to Heldelberg when I boarded the train at Muenster and changed three trains. The last two pictures are from old Heidelberg. The clear blue sky, the lovely sun light and the open air cafes, breathtaking!

Heidelberg: A Walk in the Woods

2006-12-02T13:40:00.000-08:00

Heidelberg was also special in my itinerary. It was my last stop and my host was a great guy. I also saw the best colors of Fall in Heidelberg. It was also the warmest weather I got in Europe and the four days I was there saw three days of great sun light. The pics in this post was my friend Nitin's idea and I merely walked through and he went shooting. I think I look quiet hot in them, what do you say.

Geneva

2006-12-01T12:03:00.000-08:00

These pictures were all taken about the Cathedral in Old Geneva. We got there after a really long bus ride, the bus took a circitous route, it was simpler to have just walked to it. It was a slightly overcast day but as we reached the heart of the old town at about 4-4.30 pm, it miraculously started to clear up and the heart warming yellowness slowly gathered strength. The last picture in this post was pure luck, the sunlight got that strong only when we reached there. The other three pictures are on top of the cathedral, where I rushed up the really narrow staircase and was out of breath. It was very windy on top and very cold. I like the first two pictures for the expanse of Geneva they catch and the shadow and the light areas, as well as the really interesting cloud formation.

Geneva: Around Town

2006-11-30T13:01:00.001-08:00

Geneva was special among the European towns I visited. Geneva was distinct for many reasons. That was the first place I saw, I was put up in a nice hotel and was there for a whole week. Also Switzerland being one of those really exclusive countries and the general prosperity was almost paradise for a gaping third world type. I walked a lot about the town, exploring the night zones, the clubs, the cabarets, talking to prostitutes waiting at corners, it was all so new for me. I watched my first topless cabaret, well it was my first cabaret anywhere. The really sunlight was the most amazing for me. I had a vague impression of the Medditteranean Yellow and it was so invigorating to just be there even if for just a few days. The last two pictures in this post was my last day in Geneva and I was suffering my bout of an acute 'morning after' sickness.

Geneva: About the Lake

2006-11-30T12:41:00.000-08:00

Lake Geneva or Lec Leman as the lake is called in French is the center of Geneva. The lake is also open to water traffic till September and was unfortunately closed while I was there in end-October. It was cold and breezy, the lake was the source of icy winds. One morning while I was rushing to the workshop venue at GIIS, I thought my ears would crack up and fall, thats how cold it seemed. The lake had lots of ducks and even swans and full of boats and since most of the days were sunny, the light on the lake was attractive and the perfect meditteranean yellow.

Geneva: The First Look

2006-11-30T12:22:00.000-08:00

So the first real contact with Europe came when I smoothly exited through Geneva airport. The first sense activated was the sense of smell and I took in that gulp of mountain fresh air. I was travelling with a friend and it took us atleast 45 minutes to figure out our way to the Gare Carnovan (Main Station) from the airport. We had detailed instructions from the GIIS about how to make our way to the Gare Carnovan with maps and train/tram numbers and even fare. So we took a train and the getting the ticket from the automated machine took us a long time, maybe 10 minutes or so and with some help from an 'uncle' we did manage to take the short ride and arrive at our destination.

Very obviously as a third world citizen, I noticed the immaculate cleanliness, the organisation, the smoothness of services and the very quiet station, sometimes it felt eerie but well thats development for you.

So from the main station we were expected to walk it to the hotel or take a tram going towards Nations and get off at stop two. So we again tried to figure the ticket machine out and we were even more clueless, till my companion's brain wave put us in the tram but in the wrong direction. We managed to get off and lugged our way back to get the tram in the opposite direction. There was actually a Sardarji with his what I suppose newly wed wife on a honey moon who were also eyeing the ticketing machine. The Sardarji gave us a vulnerable smile and admitted that he had also just arrived and had no clue while his wife was stand offish in a, "I am pretty sort of way".

These pictures below are during the time when we were lugging our way back to catch the tram in the right direction.

I had this terrible urge to take as many pictures as I could on the road because they are so different from Indian roads and the colours and the sophisticated transport system...the trams, the buses....

Zurich Airport

2006-11-24T02:06:00.000-08:00

A random search for pictures at Zurich Airport.

The Setting

2006-11-20T01:27:00.000-08:00

I was heading for a workshop of "Young Scholars of the Global South" organised by the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, Switzerland. We, 'young scholars' were expected to share our phd research and findings with each other and provide comments over a period of five working days. It was an informal setting and we had people from all parts of the world in the group of 13. Some of the countries where the participants came from were Brazil, Mexico, Uganda, India and Phillipines.

So this was the setting. Being an aspirant traveller, Western Europe worked as a heady charm in applying for the workshop and being selected was an exultant feeling. I decided to use the workshop to launch myself in the select group of people who have travelled through bits of Europe. The Swiss Visa (Switzerland is not part of the Schengen or the common European Union Visa) was not a difficult process owing to the organisational abilities of the GIIS. However, to see the countries bordering Switzerland, I would need a second visa, the Schengen or the common European Union visa. Staying true to my penchant for being late, I secured the Schengen Visa (Schengener Staaten) from the German Embassy in New Delhi five days before my departure. There were moments of panic, when I was certain that I would not be granted the Schengen visa owing to my poor documenting abilities as well as my skills at being badly organised. In times like these, I felt a surge of pity for myself at being so close to the 'promised land' and yet so far. In my mind Geneva, which was surrounded by France from three directions and Switzerland, which was closely bordered by Italy and Germany, was a box in which I was enclosed and while I could stand on my tip toe and peer into the above countries, I would not be able to visit them due to the absence of a visa!

Promised Land

But all's well that ends well. And so I was on the Air Canada flight to Zurich, enroute to Geneva. I have been told that premier airlines use their worst aircrafts/services for the South Asian sector, I havent travelled much so I cannot vouch for the veracity of that claim. But compared to my last outing abroad on Singapore Airlines, Air Canada was a poor cousin. I wanted a moniter to watch my own movies on the flight, something I was really looking forward too. But the aircraft had no back of seat personal moniters but rather shared ones in front of the respective cabins and a bigger projection screen with bad resolution and worse choice of movies. Mercifully, it was a night flight and I could sleep most of the 8 hours of the flight to Zurich.

Never mind the airports my motherland offers to visitors but last year an eight hour transit in Singapore airport had made airports a fetish from me and everything was judged by such high standards. The transit lounge at Changi Airport in Singapore is huge with bars, cafes, resturants and shopping malls. Zurich Flughaufen (German for airport) was not dissapointing for me in the three hours I spent there. Then there was the heady feeling of being part of the an International/global travelling population. And so I boarded my flight to Geneva, a short 30 mins Swiss Air flight with chocolates as refreshment and when I ate it on the train to the main station in Geneva from Geneva airport, I realized that it was ummm gorgeous.