Cities....

I've seen only a few cities in this tiny life... but what I've noticed is that there are cities you give your heart to, and there are cities that just don't want it.



I first realized this when I stayed and left Bangalore... It was the most wonderful experience ever... I adapted to the city so fast, grew to make so many friends... some I've surely kept for life... I never leave that city without a tear...
I owe a lot to Bombay... the city that made me. I never wanted to be there... but I was.. I had no option. My attachment to Bombay is so because I was there the longest... But really...nowhere in the world can you experience the strongest emotions of love and hate in the same instant... Bombay makes you do that... Bombay made me the hardcore, blunt, gangsta' survivor that I am today (or at least feel like)... And Bombay also gave me the horniness for Bollywood music every few weeks...
I visited Istanbul lately.... Its power, energy, voice and people draw me to it so much... I feel a pull toward it everyday since I left it... and it increases by the minute. 10 days there and I'm pretty sure I left my heart behind...
And Sezen Aksu voices my exact feelings in her song 'Ah Istanbul...' (Its in Turkish... but still... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30kZhYSP3ok&feature=related)

Ahmedabad I spent just a few days... But the small-town atmosphere, the academic air, the great Gujju food and energy.... and hardcore unpretentious Gujju-style fun made me want to be a part of it really desperately! So someday... I'll be blogging from there also... Another city that really attracted me was Utrecht in the Netherlands... nowhere have I seen such madness, yet such sanity! A small town with the most beautiful sights possible and unique as ever nooks and corners... Such a sweet place to work or study... make a life... get to know people and just have a beer by the canal... Yes one part of me is still right on that spot... :)And then there's Amsterdam.... the little time I spent there was still so wonderful it made me want to just run out and grab some people to talk to and get to know over coffee on a bustling street... (I see this might be interpreted in many ways.... but do as you please)...
Bern... ah Bern.... you confused town... or city? Bern is like Spout... it looks like plastic on the outside but when you bite it you realize that there's life in it... I didn't like Bern so much. It was too plastic for me. But the things people do to get by in plastic-town is interesting.... but it ends there... Bern follows the 'garden slug' theory- fun to observe... but then what?
And last of all, I must introduce the lovely city I live in, Zurich... All I can say is... its cold... very very cold. And I don't mean the weather...

Zurich is a container for human beings and their activities... By chance its also beautiful. Very beautiful. But there's no magic in the air.. there's nothing that defines Zurich. Its bland... it has no masala. The people just live. That's all they do. If you ever want to question your existence as a human being, please live here! This numb city has squarely rejected my heart.... so I take it elsewhere.. huh..


But I'm still having a great time here... But that's because I have great friends, a nice job, good alcohol content, and of course, a fine, fine boyfriend.... I survive here because I look forward to traveling in December... I'm ready to give my heart away some more...