I was wondering about history, the history of a country,a city, a place, a person.
I was thinking of Rome, the old city with a new face. The history is still alive though, as the ruins of the old empire, where brave men fought to death, where the first Christians were burnt alive, where the emperor 'fiddled while Rome burned'. I thought about all those merciless, gruesome murders and how the city's new face was trying to hide all the horror that happened there.
The country I live now, has a little bit of a history too. Often when I'm walking through the streets I feel it breathing down on me. But the people I meet always smile, some of them came from other countries, the countries that had been torn apart, the countries breathing horror, the countries stuck in poverty. They all came looking for a better life, or at least life in some cases. And they found it here, where once tyranny claimed to seek the utmost purity by wiping away a race.
That takes me to vibrant Amsterdam, the city of canals, bike and guilty pleasures. The city where a lively little girl and her family once tried to hide in a 'secret Annexe', where she dreamt, lived and wrote, where someone gave her away. She was crazy about movies and had secretly dreamt of being a movie star! The movie posters she once had in her bedroom are viewed by hundreds with utmost deference.
Not to forget my home town(s), every time I'm in Eastfort, Trivandrum, I think of the royal era, the pleas held, the battle fought. Every time I'm in Kappadu beach, I think if the history could have been different, different for the city, different for the whole nation.
People have history too, though we all try to hide it. The little girl who was a guest at my home last few weeks brought a little bit of history too. She is 11 now, she brought the first story she wrote, just so I could read it.
I want to smile. I really do.
Her little cousin is missing her now. I've been trying all day to cheer him up..
Life!
I was thinking of Rome, the old city with a new face. The history is still alive though, as the ruins of the old empire, where brave men fought to death, where the first Christians were burnt alive, where the emperor 'fiddled while Rome burned'. I thought about all those merciless, gruesome murders and how the city's new face was trying to hide all the horror that happened there.
The country I live now, has a little bit of a history too. Often when I'm walking through the streets I feel it breathing down on me. But the people I meet always smile, some of them came from other countries, the countries that had been torn apart, the countries breathing horror, the countries stuck in poverty. They all came looking for a better life, or at least life in some cases. And they found it here, where once tyranny claimed to seek the utmost purity by wiping away a race.
That takes me to vibrant Amsterdam, the city of canals, bike and guilty pleasures. The city where a lively little girl and her family once tried to hide in a 'secret Annexe', where she dreamt, lived and wrote, where someone gave her away. She was crazy about movies and had secretly dreamt of being a movie star! The movie posters she once had in her bedroom are viewed by hundreds with utmost deference.
Not to forget my home town(s), every time I'm in Eastfort, Trivandrum, I think of the royal era, the pleas held, the battle fought. Every time I'm in Kappadu beach, I think if the history could have been different, different for the city, different for the whole nation.
People have history too, though we all try to hide it. The little girl who was a guest at my home last few weeks brought a little bit of history too. She is 11 now, she brought the first story she wrote, just so I could read it.
I want to smile. I really do.
Her little cousin is missing her now. I've been trying all day to cheer him up..
Life!
