Never ending reflections.. of myself and my relationships to the world that i see, feel and hear around me.. My constant effort to share my thoughts .... my whispers and my cries.. My Crystal.
Happiness is such a relative term. If you are sad and you find some occasion to feel upbeat, you think you are happy. If you are already happy, it means such feeling should last longer and should be felt stronger. All we want is to have happiness in our lives, forever. Have we ever thought what is happiness... What are the things that make us happy, what are the things that we think make us happy but in reality have no play in it, and what are the things that do not make us happy at all.
Happiness is a state of our mind when we feel good about ourselves and about the things around us. It
"What do you mean the flight has not yet taken off?", Charu with a frown on her face asked. A slightly pudgy figure with hair neatly combed off her broad forehead, a mother of a cute little girl of two, Charu was already exasperated with her own decision to board a morning flight to Egypt. It was 6:30 am and the flight was scheduled to depart at 8:50 am. She had woken up at 4, got her things tidy, spent some time with her mom before she leaves for a long time to a far away country.
Charu was married to Avinash, a well to do manager in The Savoy. He has been in Sharm-al-Sheikh, a beach town tourist destination in Egypt for last one and a half years. Charu was flying down to be with her husband after a long vacation in India. Neeli, her darling daughter was travelling along her and her first trip to meet her dad was not even dampened by a sudden seasonal fever she was suffering from.
“Are you going to Cairo?”, a question greeted Charu while
she was patiently waiting for her check in. She turned back to see a smiling
face with a genuinely quizzical look. The girl looked pretty in plain teal
color kurta and her carelessly made bun had more than few escaped strands. She
was on the heavier side but her eyes had innocence. She might be a young woman
in her late twenties, guessed Charu. “Yes”, she replied softly and bent down to
wipe her daughter’s nose.
“The flight has not left Cairo yet.”, announced a middle
aged man. The girl gave an exasperated look mixed with disbelief and shrugged
her shoulders. Charu was bewildered too. The man announced that the flight is
way too much delayed and all passengers have been asked to go back if they
could and come back at after three and a half hours. The young woman shook her
head and headed straight to the check in counter to inquire the flight status.
A handsome and smiling gentleman was standing near the counter and his
mannerism suggested that he was in charge. She approached him and asked about
the delay. He looked at her and smiled. She couldn’t help but reciprocate
though she hardly felt any reason to smile. He informed that due to technical
fault, flight from Cairo had not yet taken off and will do so in another
fifteen minutes. Hence, the delay caused. “Can we check in our baggage and
go?”, she asked. The man in charge replied that she would have to stay back if
luggage is checked in.Though she
marvelled at unexpected start to her journey, she was too sleepy to protest. She tuned back to leave but suddenly looked back the incharge with concern and asked, "I will be missing my connecting flight to Istanbul. What will happen to that?". "Oh, there is another flight in the evening for Istanbul. You will be accommodated in that.", the person replied. She shrugged her shoulders and asked to be assisted in walking out of the airport. Another
aircraft assistant helped her out of the terminal.
Charu saw the girl leave. She waited for sometime before approaching the person-in-charge. She asked softly, " When will the flight leave?". The person looked at her and seeing her with a kid, replied in a genuine tone, "Madam, we do not yet but flight is about to leave Cairo. It will take five hours for it to reach and will take an hour to turn it around. So check in should not happen before 11:30 AM. You can safely come at 11:30 and take the boarding pass. Your daughter will also get to sleep some more.". Charu smiled and turned. She called her father-in-law and informed him that she was coming outside.
Airport assistant helped her with the trolley while she held Neeli. She was relieved as well as tensed. Now she would miss her connecting flight to Sharm-al-Sheikh for sure. Her all apprehension evaporated seeing her darling daughter run to her grandpa and hug him. She thought to herself, "Good, I got some time to sleep now.".
Charu's mother-in-law, a lady in her early sixties was waiting for her at home. She took charge of Neeli and asked Charu to rest a while.
It is Amsterdam that reminds me of fire.. passion and life. And no, not just because of it being the sex and drugs capital of the world! (well to certain extent they do play a part ;)).
A visit to this city in Autumn is best explained with visuals as no word can compare.
How can you NOT think of Fire when those orange, yellow and red leaves blow around you. How can you NOT feel DEEP.. even if you are one not naturally inclined to.
How do you NOT feel the bliss!!
A walk in any lane of Amsterdam is sure to make you smile. Countless canals and bridges.. building overlooking and probably turned solid because of being narcissist (they deserve to be narcissist I will admit).
Of course you can never visit Amsterdam and NOT goto IAMSTERDAM sign. Its a place though crowded lies in between two of the best museums in the city.
Rijksmuseum is the biggest and best museum in town which showcases not just the art of Holland but of world over.
It has one of the largest collection of impressionist paintings that took the world by storm (atleast art world) in late 19th and early 20th Century.
It also houses one of the sexiest library I have seen. All book lovers are going to agree with the adjective to some degree atleast.
Not to mention it is the best showcase for Rembrandt, an artist brilliant.
Van Gogh Museum is is just across Rijksmuseum and is another side and sadly has NO PHOTOGRAPHY policy.
As I walked through the lanes of the city in warm sunlight (thanks to brilliant weather), I was amazed by how beautiful even wooden broken sliders looked. Probably it was to do with brilliant colors making me crazy :P.
One of the most noticeable thing as soon as you land in Amsterdam central is the Dam square. A short walk from the railway station (which has a beautiful building too), you land at a square which has Madam Tussad's museum on one side, Grand Palace on another and numerous cafes all around. The vibrancy and warmth of the place is unmatched (specially if you land there in afternoon when it is balmy)
If you decide to treat yourself with some "Shrooms", make sure you either do it in the Vondel Park or while roaming around the streets. You can either enjoy the beauty of nature magnified thousandfold or watch cobbled streets come to life with immensely rich foliage, sparkling canals and beautiful buildings.
I can hardly describe the beauty in Vondel Park. I found it to be the most beautiful place.. a serene getaway from all hustle and bustle right in the heartland of the city.
Another colorful place is stins flower market. You can buy all your souvenirs at the best prices all while enjoying gathering of flowers. (yeah all types of flowers ;))
Do not miss a canal ride (though it might bore you a bit) if you land at Amsterdam. Watching Amsterdam life go by from a different view point is surely a treat.
Last but not the least, enjoy yourself to the fullest while in the city. Be it Sex museum or live sex show to tick off your bucket list or fun pub-crawls... or just enjoying your smoke by one of the numerous canals... I am sure you will find something that moves you.. that makes you marvel at the beauty all around. Architecture, art, performance, music, history, controversy.. you name it, this city has it. So taste the forbidden fruits of the world (well not so forbidden any more:P.. atleast not while you are in AMSTERDAM).
P.S. If you ever come to AMSTERDAM, listen to this while you soak in the feeling!! (Shout out to all retro music fan out there!!)
