Thursday, March 30, 2006
Stand out of my light
When Alexander the Great visited Diogenes and asked whether he could do anything for the famed teacher, Diogenes replied: 'Only stand out of my light.' Perhaps some day we shall know how to heighten creativity. Until then, one of the best things we can do for creative men and women is to stand out of their light.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Crossroad
It’s the place where east meets the west and mountains meet the sea.
Greece can pertinently be called as CROSSROAD from where you can go back to any civilization you want, be it oriental, Egyptian, African, Scandinavian, Russian or even western.
Athens, the capital of Greece, particularly (the only place I have seen in Greece till date) is surrounded by hills from all the sides. One of the hills is the Acropolis around which the entire city is constructed. Acropolis has been the centre of Athens for thousands of years and scores of dynasty that has ruled this place. The PARTHENON rests on the Acropolis.
Smoking is the best time pass of these people. Every Greek citizen smokes irrespective of the sex and the social status.
People are outgoing and spend the entire night outside. Night life is more prominent here than in any other part of the world. Restaurants remain open till the wee hours. The performers in various pubs and discos start their show as late as 1:00 AM in the night.
The average height of men would be close to what we have in India. Females are tall and majority of them are good looking (at least that is what I feel now).
The entire city was renovated because of the 2004 Olympics held at its birth place.
Billboards and directions were then updated with English, Thanks to the Olympics, and the infrastructure of city was improved by leaps and bounds.
Though this place lies in the Mediterranean region, the temperatures remain close to the freezing point during winters and in summers the temperature soars to 45 degree C and above.
People move to the numerous islands surrounding Greece mainland on the weekends and spend the night there itself. In fact at that time the entire population moves to the islands deserting the city.
I am looking forward to having some fun in summers here but my Visa is expiring just at the time when the temperature would be at its maximum. Nonetheless I plan to spend the only summer month weekends on the beaches of Greece. Greeks have so much passion for driving that this place is highly adverse to the pedestrians. People drive at high speed and immaculate European cars respond to their unstoppable fervor.
This is also reflected by the high number of SUV’s running on the roads.
Athens is clean, green and looks quite beautiful. A lot of roads are lined by trees which makes it look really good. The terrain of the city is all up and down and houses are constructed on the hills also. The view is breathtakingly good after the lights are on in the night. People are fashion inclined and wear the most trendy and designer attires.
People eat a lot of beef and pork. Food is usually bland and distasteful for us Indians.
I am yet to see a lot of things that I have already mentioned above. And I am sure I will have a lot more to share and treasure in my memories once I start exploring the city of civilization which is almost as old as ours.
Greece can pertinently be called as CROSSROAD from where you can go back to any civilization you want, be it oriental, Egyptian, African, Scandinavian, Russian or even western.
Athens, the capital of Greece, particularly (the only place I have seen in Greece till date) is surrounded by hills from all the sides. One of the hills is the Acropolis around which the entire city is constructed. Acropolis has been the centre of Athens for thousands of years and scores of dynasty that has ruled this place. The PARTHENON rests on the Acropolis.
Smoking is the best time pass of these people. Every Greek citizen smokes irrespective of the sex and the social status.
People are outgoing and spend the entire night outside. Night life is more prominent here than in any other part of the world. Restaurants remain open till the wee hours. The performers in various pubs and discos start their show as late as 1:00 AM in the night.
The average height of men would be close to what we have in India. Females are tall and majority of them are good looking (at least that is what I feel now).
The entire city was renovated because of the 2004 Olympics held at its birth place.
Billboards and directions were then updated with English, Thanks to the Olympics, and the infrastructure of city was improved by leaps and bounds.
Though this place lies in the Mediterranean region, the temperatures remain close to the freezing point during winters and in summers the temperature soars to 45 degree C and above.
People move to the numerous islands surrounding Greece mainland on the weekends and spend the night there itself. In fact at that time the entire population moves to the islands deserting the city.
I am looking forward to having some fun in summers here but my Visa is expiring just at the time when the temperature would be at its maximum. Nonetheless I plan to spend the only summer month weekends on the beaches of Greece. Greeks have so much passion for driving that this place is highly adverse to the pedestrians. People drive at high speed and immaculate European cars respond to their unstoppable fervor.
This is also reflected by the high number of SUV’s running on the roads.
Athens is clean, green and looks quite beautiful. A lot of roads are lined by trees which makes it look really good. The terrain of the city is all up and down and houses are constructed on the hills also. The view is breathtakingly good after the lights are on in the night. People are fashion inclined and wear the most trendy and designer attires.
People eat a lot of beef and pork. Food is usually bland and distasteful for us Indians.
I am yet to see a lot of things that I have already mentioned above. And I am sure I will have a lot more to share and treasure in my memories once I start exploring the city of civilization which is almost as old as ours.
Stranger
The mercury reading 1 Degree centigrade @ 8:00 in the morning, deserted Bus stop, the only possession; a wooden plank, cars racing down the road making the chilly wind even more intense.A guy comes from the other side of the road and sits on the wooden plank. He is trying to contract his body to fight the cold.The air rises from the bus stop and whispers something to the tall trees. I could see the trees lending an ear by tilting on one side. It must have informed them of the stranger waiting at the bus stop.The trees tilt even further to get a view. Meanwhile the air has traveled to the mountains less than a km away from the Bus stop spreading the news. There is more commotion in the air as more trees try hard to see the stranger.Fast cars pass by on the road and the drivers give a quick look at the stranger.The two tall trees right in front of the bus stop still discussing about him, their murmurs loud enough to be heard at the ground. The stranger trying hard to comprehend the language of the trees.A black overly sized dog passes by barking meekly not knowing how the stranger might react to it. It turns back once to ensure it is not being attempted to hit.
An uneasy feeling crept in me coz of the amount of attention given. It was time for the bus to arrive. I stood up and started looking at the end of the road from where the bus would appear.In a minute’s time the bus was there, I boarded the bus and validated my ticket. I went thru the scrutiny of some more pair of eyes before taking my seat.
Well we all are strangers away from home and it’s a matter of some time before the new place accepts you and provides you with warmth.The bed gets warm only after you lie there for some time.
An uneasy feeling crept in me coz of the amount of attention given. It was time for the bus to arrive. I stood up and started looking at the end of the road from where the bus would appear.In a minute’s time the bus was there, I boarded the bus and validated my ticket. I went thru the scrutiny of some more pair of eyes before taking my seat.
Well we all are strangers away from home and it’s a matter of some time before the new place accepts you and provides you with warmth.The bed gets warm only after you lie there for some time.
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