The Level Playing Field

A walk in Pere-Lachaise Cemetry made me think of lines from Bhaja Govindam composed by Adi Sankara. And I experienced the same feeling that I experienced while watching the dead being cremated in the banks of Ganges at Varanasi.Yes, the dead teach you more about life in silence than the living beings who give away free advise, unasked.

Situated in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, the 110 acres of Cemetery also houses a crematorium and holds ashes of many. Probably this is one of the largest green spots in the city and will not be an over-statement if I said Pere-Lachaise is the lung of this neighborhood.

The famous and unknown, rich and poor, beautiful and ugly, intellectuals and fools, good and evil are all reduced to ashes and bones in the end, yet we all live a life of jealousy, greed and caught in materialistic pursuits in this world. Some places in the world are turned into a level playing field, and death is a great leveler.

I spotted individual graves, family graves, graves of small kids, graves of Air France flight crash victims, 1st World War soldiers. What surprised me was the grave of two men holding hands and the tombstone said that they were dead in a hot air balloon crash. Other popular cemeteries include that of Oscar Wilde, Napoleon's sister, Marcel Proust, Jim Morrison, etc. 

Some of the graves were artfully decorated with bronzes, marbles, terracottas, flowers, and stain-glasses depicting life and beliefs of dead, grief and hope of survivors. There are graves of various other religious denominations like Jewish, Orthodox Christians, etc. While some of them are turned into ashes and scattered in the lush green lawns.

Sometimes cemeteries are more beautiful than many of our homes. The life of dead are lessons and their cemeteries are like classrooms, but if only you want to learn. 

If you are in Paris, this must be a part of your itinerary. It is a good picnic spot on a sunny day, and from right below the chapel on top you get an unobstructed view of the city monuments: Notre Dame, Bastille, Montparnasse Tower, St. Sulpice, and the most visited Eiffel Tower. Entrance to the Cemetery is free, metro ligne 2 and 3 gets you there and map of the cemetery and flowers are sold at the entrance.

For more information: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A8re_Lachaise_Cemetery

Travel Tips to Budapest: What guides books will never tell you

Guide books and tourism sites tend share select information to create the desire to travel and make you spend more to experience the city, but they seldom talk about the tourist traps or tips on how to get under the skin of the city and still keep it funny, interesting and cheap. If your home currency is stronger than the currency of the country you are traveling to then you quickly stop converting and tend to loosen your purse strings. But did you know that by being smart, wise and economical, irrespective of the valuation of your home currency you can save enough to book yourself on another trip? 

Budapest International airport is named after their famous musician Liszt Ferenc, but is it possible to explore the city for a song? Here are a few pointers to remember if you are traveling to Budapest. 

Best place to change money

Though Budapest is part of the EU, it has its own currency: Forint (1Euro is approximately 310FT). When you exit the terminal you will have money-changers entice you with boards that claim "no commission", but in reality the commission is only 0.5% of the FT value. You don't know this until you change money in the city. So, change a small portion of your cash that will get you to the city (1500 FT) and once you are in the city look around for good rates. Also, change little by little to protect yourself against volatility and remember that Hungarian FT is cheap and cannot be used outside of the country. 

Cheapest way to get to city center

Budapest proposes convenient transportation options, where trams, buses and underground rails are integrated to give you a seamless travel experience. When I searched online and looked at guides no one gave me clear picture on how to get to the city center. Cabs cost you anywhere between 24-30 euros, and I found a cheaper way to travel to the city center at one-fifth the cost. How?

The Budapest one-day travel pass costs 1450 FT and is valid for unlimited travel from the time of purchase and you can simply use this to travel from the airport to city center. The Bus 200E from the airport (just outside the terminal) gets you to Kóbánya Kispest and metro line 3 gets you to the center of the city in less than 30 minutes. But before you leave the airport, don't forget to pick-up a free city map at the airport. Once you arrive in the city, you can use the travel pass for a day to wander within the city, but beware that metros don't operate after 11.40PM.

Walk and discover the city

These bus trips are ideal for elderly folks, people with kids and people who can't read a map or when there is a bad weather. I was approached a half-dozen times by their staffs at popular spots to buy a pass (6000 FT/20 Euros 48 hours valid for 48 hours) and in fact he even offered me a discount and asked me to pay 5000 FT. But if you are a history and architecture buff, you must politely decline this offer and walk around to discover the beauty and neglected beauty of this city (thanks to the communists who ruled Budapest for 60 years).

On foot you discover various styles of architecture in the city: Barroc, Byzantine, Gothic, Roman, Renaissance, Neo-gothic, Florentine, etc. that reminds you of Florence, Rome, Vienna, Paris, Prague, and Barcelona. The city is truly the meeting point of the West and East, more so than Istanbul. Budapest remains untouched by many tourists and many of its architectural marvels continues be under neglect, and if uncared for this would soon become a city of ruins.

Navigate tourist traps at Turkish baths and therms

Hungary is home to some of the best spas in the world, thanks to natural thermal springs that come along with medicinal value. Winter temperatures are normally 15 deg C below zero and baths can be a best way to enjoy the winter and feel pampered.

There are a dozen spas recommended in guide books, and most of them are tourist friendly in terms of the packages and services they offer. I preferred going to Sźechenyi Furdo on the East side of the city. The bath is situated in a park area (Bois de-la-ville) which is houses a zoo, museum and a castle and metro line 1 takes you there in no time.

So, are these spas touristy and expensive?

The staff at the bath may convince you to go for their basic package for 45 Euros, but politely decline and just pay the basic entry fee and rent a cabin. I recommend that you go to the bath in the morning (8.30 am); if you arrive late you may not get the cabins to store your clothes. Don’t forget to pack a towel, bathing suit/swim trunks, a sandwich and a bottle of water with you.

The architecture at this baths will stay with you lot longer than the medicinal value. Once you exit the bath, you can soak yourself in nature at the back of the castle, a spot rarely explored by tourist and return home by sunset. This location also doubles up as also a nice picnic spot, and a peaceful place to read and ruminate.

How to eat cheap and healthy?

Restaurants and cafes proudly boast their Trip Advisor awards, and people with money blindly follow the advice of guide books, but no experiences are guaranteed. Luckily, Budapest is still cheap compared to other European cities and nevertheless, you can count their pennies and stretch your notes.  But is it possible to eat cheap and healthy at the same time?

As recommended by the Michelin guide, I ventured to Cafe Vian and the first experience was good. And on the second visit the terrance was full and waiters weren’t willing find us a seat inside. Disappointed with their service, I discovered another restaurant across from Café Vian that wasn’t mentioned in the guide book, but I was surprised with their Hungarian Cold Cherry Soup (here is the recipe: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013699-cold-cherry-soup), though their Porcini Pasta was dry, but they quickly brought me a cup of white sauce.

As marketed in the guide, I also tested the Central Market Hall (outside at Fovam Ter metro) for lunch, where I enjoyed a fresh salad and homemade lemonade alongside live music by local gypsies for 1500 FT. The rip-off of breakfast place award goes to New York Cafe near Blaha Lujta Ter. Breakfast at this museum style café comes at a steep price of 7500 FT, where canned fruits are a part of the breakfast spread. So, you now know how not to spend.

Never fall for free breakfasts while booking your hotels or pay upfront for expensive breakfast because you never know the quality. Bakeries in Budapest offer you healthy breakfast for less than 700 FT (croissant, coffee and Yogurt). Spar, a local grocery chain offers fresh fruits, salads, yogurt, varieties of breads and decent wine that you can buy and choose a park from a half-a-dozen in the city to organize your lunch/dinner picnics.

You now know how it is possible to travel in Budapest for a song, and stretch your money to travel another country in Europe. And if you have more ideas and experiences to share, don’t feel shy to leave your comments below.  

The Diva reminds us of our demons

I always have the habit of doing my homework before I watch a movie, for a few reasons. One, to understand the plot and the characters, two, to make a decision if it is worthwhile to watch and lastly, will I be ready to manage the emotions post the movie? And when I saw 'Amy' posters all over the town, I recognized that it was Amy Winehouse and there was something honest, original and mysterious in her appearance complemented by her distinct mascara and hairdo. But if I were to be quizzed on her life or music, I would be qualify to be an illiterate. I confess, I'm neither a tabloid reader nor a listener of western music, but I wanted to learn about this beautiful singer.

Since this is a documentary, I refrained from reading up any material on Amy so that I could enjoy the screen time without having to compare it with facts that I read from elsewhere. I sat unprepared and was open to understand Amy and evaluate my own life and get inspired watching the movie. Isn't it what biographies and documentaries are meant to do?

Amy comes across as a happy child and with a strong will that even her mother couldn't bend. As you get ready to search for her father in the documentary, you realize that the man is mostly absent, proclaiming to be busy working for the family. Soon a broken marriage at home leaves Amy scarred for life.

Growing up watching broken marriages and failed relationships makes one look for coping mechanisms in life and Amy's life turns out to be another one in that pack. In Amy's case her eating disorder, trouble with drugs and alcohol and her behavior towards men all had a strong bearing from her father's absence during her childhood. Do you realize that our family can be the starting point for our journey along the downward spiral? 

Amy begins her teenage years battling depression and that quickly leads way to Bulimia. To cope up with over her disappointments, she slowly begins to write and her innate talent and gifted voice turns her into a nightingale. Her first song https://youtu.be/7CYE0DYIbaw describing her pain from her first relationship with a man 7years older to her wins her award and acclaim.

Is taste of sorrow in youth more dangerous than taste of success? Before we know Amy meets Blake, who also shares a scarred childhood, courtesy his step-mother. The proverb, misery loves company becomes true in their case. And soon Blake turns into another addiction to her coping mechanism. And this time Amy's addiction got depicted on her body as tattoos bearing the name of Blake. Sadly, she tries every trick, but nothing prevents Amy from hitting her lows and get off the emotional roller-coaster.

Her strong will and her mother's meekness gives Amy the opportunity to go unchecked. Her eating disorder morphs into substance abuse (alcohol and cigarettes) and her hidden sorrow becomes the fountainhead of her talent that soon gets her performance and recording opportunities.

From eating disorders, depression, substance abuse, to promiscuity, we use many ways to unction our wounds and cover up the ugly scars beneath. By this point into the documentary many in the audience were already beginning to evaluate their lives looking for similar patterns and scars. By then Blake had introduced crack into Amy's life, apart from giving her the much needed support and self-esteem to shine. Can relationships be a potent performance enhancing drug?

Singing and describing her pain in her own magical voice made Amy popular and soon the filthy British Press starts smells her lows and starts to hound her everywhere she goes. She is on talk shows promoting her albums, that not only celebrate her success, but also berate her failures. For the first time, Blake is out of her life (returns to his ex-girl friend). Like every other disappointment that she been through, she courageously picks herself up to compose the next album Back to Black that eventually earns her 6 coveted Grammys. She rises from ashes like a Phoenix bird. Here is a song from Back to Black: http://youtu.be/TJAfLE39ZZ8

Amy's songs were written by her and the lyrics capture her pain and emotions, which turns out to her autobiography. She and Blake are briefly back together and this time they are forced to go into a rehab, which doesn't help them mend their ways. Was Blake fueling her addiction or was the Amy searching for sadness in her relationship to pen down her next album? 

Finally, her father realizes the path Amy has gone down and takes control of her, but it is too late. She stays sober for a few months and begins to start working on her next album "Rehab" featuring all her pain and sorrows. By then Amy is officially divorced from Blake. Here is a song from the album: http://youtu.be/KUmZp8pR1uc

Soon after the album, she goes through another ride on her emotional yo-yo. She cancels her tours  and on her last performance in Belgrade http://youtu.be/x4j95dHfB04  she couldn't get herself to sing. The nightingale choked and lost the will to sing; may be there was nothing more left inside her to be expressed. Finally in July 2011, another cocktail of alcohol and drugs stopps her heart and plunges the world of music and her fans into a deep sorrow.

Though she left behind her songs and lyrics (strong-willed) to narrate her story, but nevertheless, the documentary is compelling and brilliantly captures her life from available footages and her own lyrics and voice-overs. She is a star, both real and original. Her music reminds us of our secrets and sorrows.

Amy was lucky to have a circle of friends who understood her, stood by her and who also brought out the real story of her life to the world that ruthlessly measured, misjudged and made her look like a misnomer. How about you?

I came out of the movie hall, a little shaken, and was ready to do some homework by not just on Amy and her songs, but also looking into my life. Isn't it an opportune moment for all of us to do an honest self-enquiry to find out the epicenter of such demons within us and get them destroyed before it destroys you. Finally, before you go away to your rehab listen to this: http://youtu.be/b-I2s5zRbHg