Life of "i"

The loneliness that comes as the outcome of living away from family, often gives a fair reason to get lost in different regions of Europe.

The trip led me to Prague, Vienna and Paris in last three weeks. This in turn made me to do a comparison based on my feelings of each of these places while I was there. This is no indication of the life in there but merely my travel fatigued feelings. 

The trip started with Prague which I felt as the most interesting among these three gems of Europe. Prague was full of youth even though it is a very old city. The architecture resembled the dreams that many would have of an European city. The city was filled with life. Prague and Vienna could be covered walking around once you are in city centre. The trams and buses can be used but doesn't seem like really required. I ended up walking all around even though I had already attained a 24hr pass for transport. 

The people of Prague seems to be making more merry while preparing for the Christmas with its picturesque Christmas markets. It was very easy to get around and also more people spoke English for the comfort of certain visitors. Prague had their own language and currency crowns whereas Vienna used Euro and was almost all German, And Paris has welcomed Euro and spoke French. 

The cost of living was highest in Paris. During my visit to Prague, I was fascinated by their castles which were on either side of the lake, Vienna with its musical tourism, and Paris with museums. I met lot of travellers in Prague who were completely in love with the city and always were ready to pick a conversation. In Vienna, even though the city is beautiful, I was struck with the visible poverty that many folks were in and how they lived, in and around the stations. Paris was more Indianesque and easy to adapt for me. 

To elaborate on the way of life of the poor in Vienna, you don't need to move around much. With a keen mind and half open eyes you could observe it straight from the railway station where you get down. I saw people well dressed but evidently rugged, idling as while waiting for the train with an objective of pouncing on left overs and acting as if they were owning it. People would collect such thrown about stuffs in a bag from a store around the station and then would take a seat between us others to explore it to get some food. I was surprised to see this form of self sustenance as due to the weather, people cannot do much things outside and also cannot afford to rob or steal due to the strong rules. 

Often the food stores closed their eyes as it was normal for them to do this and survive. Most of them where living with little hope as the modernity has let the family abandon or forget them. The family system was not seen as the strength in any of these places I visited except for Paris. Some would collect few cents to have a coffee or drink from McDonalds and would spend hours together there to get some warmth from the heating systems. Many where seen waiting for trains which they knew would never come to pull them along. It was very depressing sight because there was very little tomorrow for most of them. Many of them were in their old age and needed help for sure. 

As ironical it could be, you could see advertisement and posters all around them in the stations which requests to share an euro for a food for an African child and portraying African and other countries as really poor and requiring help. I felt it is in this country they need more help as economy is so advanced that a common man cannot afford to feed their stomach compared to other part of the world where still something called hope lingered. 

The transport system in all three places were unique with Paris mainly the best subway system I ever boarded even better than the London one based on my rating. The Prague was crowded with trams and Vienna had good train and tram networks too. The main thing about these cities are they are made for tourists and you could easily figure out how to get around and places of interest no matter how lazy and lousy we are. The Prague trip was in a local train where the customs and police comes for checks asking me to open my bag, weird but required questions and also a body check. This was not the case with trips to Vienna and Paris. 

Each city gave a different impression of life and allowed me to meet some interesting and impressive people. The chance meeting with an Indian cafe and bar owner stands out in the list. While I was trying to find the route to my accommodation, an elderly Indian person came to me and asked where I lived. With less affection and more suspicion, I answered his question. This is a normal behaviour to strangers when you are all alone in an unknown country. This person being very nice by nature, invited me for a tea with him. As I was very busy to find my place and start my visits throwing off my bag there, gently denied the request promising to meet sometime later as he gave his cafe address. Evening after the days trip, I thought of having the dinner at the cafe expecting him to be employed by the cafe. 

As I walked in, I could realise that he owned the cafe and was new in business. We spoke a lot during the dinner and he shared his story with me. Even invited me to stay at his home during my next visit to Vienna. He had made his fortune working from an odd job worker to his current job and was rich enough to buy the cafe for his sons. This person visits India every year for two months but calls Vienna his home as it brought him wealth which eventually brought him respect at his homeland. The intelligence of a man is often overlooked in most places and only wealth respected. Based on his deeds and behaviour to a stranger like me from whom he even denied taking dining cost, the character seems richer than the wallet to me.

Overall it was a life enriching experience visiting all these wonderful historical face of Europe. All the life that I saw across the world keeps reminding me of INDIA and makes me feel that whatever we do or not do, life and people are all the same across the world. The life is more simple without boundaries and, hope the world loses its borders with boundless love that we can all share. All countries has its own things to pride and lot more to hide. It is what we decide to show outside that matters and it is where INDIA has to improve as we always tries to pull ourselves back. Let their be love, opportunity to learn from each other and freedom for all!