Personal
Homecoming
It’s been more than 10 days since I left home. And I’ll be back in an hour from now. This time, it’s with mixed feelings that I return. On the one hand I wish this trip could have been longer. I wish I could gain invaluable international experience by working outside India for a few years. On the other, it’s a quiet determination to bring the situation under my control.
I realise that I’ve spent a lot of time regretting what could have been in the past year. That realisation was hard to come by. It hasn’t been easy to accept that perhaps I was not entirely right. Perhaps I was too caught up in the circumstances to examine and act on things that I could indeed control.
At the end of this realisation is to make things better starting now. A first step is refuse to accept being a victim. Yes. I realise now that sometimes it is indeed as easy as that. Nobody can make you miserable if you refuse to be. And I refuse to be a victim of circumstances.
At some point in my life I might have to make difficult choices but today is not it. Today, I just need to decide to be happy. I need to change the things I can and accept the things I cannot. There will always be things in life we do not like.
This has been a voyage of self discovery. A voyage of knowing my own needs and desires. A voyage of enlightenment. And for that, I am grateful.
Leaving Prague
It was a wonderful three days in Prague. I haven’t seen all that I wanted to, but I come away feeling there is so much of history to discover in this charming little city of Central Europe.
Sitting in this flight that takes me to Paris, I feel the same sense of elation that I did when I left Chennai. The sense of going home to a place to you love and enjoy. Paris really does that to me. And I’d like nothing more than to go back and live there sometime again.
This trip has helped me clear my mind a little bit and redefine my priorities. I’ve made a bucket list of things I would like to accomplish in the coming years. Nothing really fancy. Just take care of my health and be happy. Shouldn’t be difficult I reckon!
Another thing I’ve realised is that I need a physical space of my own in which I can be happy, regain my composure and clear my mind. Having this space helps me think and makes me write more. And write better if I may say so myself.
My ideal home would probably have a comfortable couch with a reading nook and a fireplace (or air-conditioning considering I live in Chennai) where I can curl up and read after a long day of work.
I probably just need to work towards creating this space for me in order to be truly happy. I don’t know.
But, as a writer, I feel like this trip has helped me rediscover myself. I feel like I’ve regained what I thought was permanently lost: my ability to articulate feelings and emotions. I also realise that I probably just need to start writing again and stop looking over my shoulder and wondering who’s reading the blogposts. I probably will. Because the writer in me in an inseparable part of my soul. To lose that would be to sell my soul to the devil. And my soul is far too precious to lose.
A day with art…
A dreary and raining day once again. Prague seems to conspire against me in my quest for sightseeing.
But, I decide that there is no point in coming all the way to Prague and sitting at home, however cozy and inviting it may seem.
First stop: National Gallery. Three exhibitions. Starting with Neoclassicism in the Salm Palace.
This is so quiet. With so few tourists. Stark contrast to the galleries in Rome and Florence.
Discovering the works of one Ludvík Kohl. A proliferation of greys. Neoclassical painting. Captivating. I wonder why I’ve never heard of him before.
Still life paintings seem quite taken with the idea of lizards. But why?
There is something powerfully attractive about nocturnal landscapes. Perhaps it’s the mystery, or the use of colour, or perhaps it’s simply because the night seduces.
Lake in the Mountains by Charlotta Piepenhagenova. Breathtakingly beautiful in its use of light.
It’s only after someone mentioned it that I am beginning to see the several shades of grey in painting. Grey indeed is beautiful. I had always assumed that landscapes had more green.
Second stop: Schwarzenberg Palace: Baroque in Bohemia. Fascinating experience mainly because Baroque is a very important period in the history of the Czech lands. Not that I understand Baroque very well apart from the fact the themes are Christian. I did notice two portraits of a penitent Mary Magdalene though. Quite in contrast with Catholic art where she is a companion of Christ.
Final stop: Sternberg Palace: European painting from over 300 years. The great masters. Interesting study of Rembrandt’s “A scholar in his study”. It’s fascinating how paintings are studied under infrared, ultraviolet and X-ray lighting. Must do some further research.
Fascinating. That’s the only word I have for these art galleries. Makes me wish my creativity extended beyond the verbal. But I’m so bad at using my hands that I will probably not be able to fashion a single tea cup or draw a straight line. The sooner I accept this limitation, the better.
Random thought: Human anatomy is notoriously difficult to master. If the great masters were such great fans of nude paintings, there must be something powerfully attractive about the female form to an artist.
The Prague castle
Dragged myself out of a very warm and welcoming bed to go see the Prague castle. It’s raining. And six degrees. Not very motivating for someone from a place where the Mercury rarely dips below 30.
Boards with explanations must be bilingual. This way, we’re not obliged to buy pointless audio guides.
The Czech Republic has an interesting history. Protestant initially, the influenced by the Jesuits and progressively Catholic, a lot of people today identify themselves as atheist. With the Habsburgs, the Czech lands have been under foreign rule from 1526 until the end of the First World War. Must look this up more in detail. I’ve never really paid attention to the history or Central and Eastern Europe. It seems terribly interesting.
There is something very powerful about the inside of churches and cathedrals. The St. Vitus Cathedral is no exception. Part of the Prague castle complex, you need to pay to see all parts of it. Even then, the Royal Crypt and some underground chambers where closed when I was there.
The old royal palace is a large stone castle with multiple rooms, passageways and paths. Interesting. No photos are allowed inside though.
The St. George Basilica is a simple structure. A central nave with with an alter and some chapels. A crypt downstairs is shut but seems interesting to explore.
The castle alone took me close to five hours to explore. If you want to see Prague well, take at least three full days. Tomorrow is a day if museum visits. So until then, so long!
PS: “A young girl was dating an Italian and Italians are known to be very potent.” I overheard this at the St George’s Basilica! What actually happened? So apparently, that particular Italian was not potent but possessive. He suspected his lover of being unfaithful and killed her!
Prague – First impressions
Prague is a living picture post card. Medieval, beautiful. First impressions are fabulous.
I seem to have arrived in Prague on a most interesting day. Demonstrations, freedom festival, celebrations. Feels like I’m in a carnival of some sort. Except that it’s cold.
Still getting used to a currency other than the euro. Not easy. And I have trouble identifying the coins.
Apparently the Czech Koruna does not have a cent equivalent. Everything is in whole numbers. That’s one thing I find quite unusual.