Thursday, July 24, 2008
Snack with a Real Sting !!
I was surprised about it when I first came to southeast asia, but now have been familiar with such stories. I told my siblings and friends that people eat dog meet and snakes, and they were suprised (no offence intended). They were also surprised when I told them that people eat spiders and scorpions for their snacks. They did never believe me. They thought these as my own made up stories. Here is a piece of evidence that I confirms what I had told before.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Watching Oriya Movies
Fondness grows with distance (don’t know if it works in all cases). During my recent visit to my home state, my uprooted mobile identity created nostalgic feelings about Oriya films. Oriya films were the most precious and rarely available sources of entertainment during my childhood days. I grew up in country side where there was no electricity until 1996. Although there was no television, news from one village to the other traveled very fast. The news of video shows or film screening in other villages used to create unending excitement among the children and adults of my village. The video show generally starts at 9 in the evening, for which we, the film lovers, ask our mothers or sisters to prepare the evening meal quite early so that we will not be late for the film. If we get the news about the video shows early, we sleep for some hours during the day to prepare ourselves for the unending entertainment night. We often carry sensor, so that we can use it to break our sleep. Since my village was a small one, we used to collect 10 rupees from each family to run video shows in our village. If someone is willing to pay some extra money we also pay special attention for their request of movies. Growing up in a village was, in retrospect, indeed an exciting experience.
I had not seen Oriya movies for long time. Unlike Bollywood, Oriya film industry is very small and undeveloped for which you can not even find any of the movies online. During my recent visit to Orissa, I was eager and decided to watch an Oriya movie and see how it is. I was visiting my sister’s place in Puri which is one of the most sacred places for Hindus in India. It is also one of the most beautiful places situated at the coast of Bay of Bengal. The place is very pleasant in the evening with the wild roaring sea waves, gentle breeze, and serenity of atmosphere. I love spending my evenings in the beach whenever I visit my sister’s place. But this time I decided to watch an Oriya movie instead of going to the beach. I thought I could go to the beach even after the movie which was supposed to be over by 9 p.m. My elder brother was with me. When I told my intention to watch movies, everybody was surprised. Why Oriya movies? However, I was adamant. My bother could not tell anything although he was not happy with my decision. He very much wanted to spend the evening at the sea.
Finally, we went for the 6.15 p.m. show. The name of the movie was Mun Sapanar Soudagar (I am the merchant of dreams). I was surprised to see the show house-full. The movie was a copy of one of the Hindi movies where a secret and psychotic lover tries to buy his dreams and turns it into reality. I don’t anymore remember the names of the actors. It’s a love triangle, where a girl and boy love each other very much. The boy is a friend of girl’s brother. Nobody else in either family knows about this love affair. There is another rich but orphan, who secretly loves the same girl. She has become his dream girl. The situation has become such that he cannot live without her. He has been following the girl and his lover and threatening the girl to leave the guy. Since she did not listen, the secret lover kidnapped the girl’s actual lover. After kidnapping him, he comes with a marriage proposal to the girl’s house and eventually the girl’s family agrees with the proposal. The girl could not tell about his love affair because her elder sister had run away with one her brother’s friend. Thinking that it might make her brother angry, the girl accepted the proposal. The actual lover comes back after the girl’s marriage.
After marriage, the secret-psychotic lover starts torturing the girl. It becomes so unbearable that the girl’s brother brings his sister back to their own house. The psychotic lover gets angry, kills the girl’s brother and takes her away. The psychotic lover met an accident and got killed. The girl saw him dead. The police also declared him dead. She became a widow. After few days, her marriage got fixed with the ex-lover. It is at this exciting moment, the dead psychotic lover comes alive and again starts threatening her. But none believed her as he had already been declared and seen dead. He even kidnapped the bride on the day of her marriage and kept her in a secret place. The psychotic lover burnt the house and throws a dead girl’s body into the fire who was dressed up exactly in the same way the bride was. Everybody thought the bride was dead. But in the end, the bride manages to send messages from the secret location and the ex-lover comes to rescue her. A fight occurs between the ex-lover and the supposedly dead husband. In the end, the psychotic and supposedly dead husband kills himself saying the girl that “I can’t live without you and you can’t live without him. I love you so much that I can’t even kill you”. The film ends with the altruistic end of a psychotic lover who forcibly wanted to buy his dreams and make them reality.
The movie was boring and badly made. I liked the actress of the movie who was quite pretty with her slender frame, flower beauty and incredible gracefulness. In the end, I, however, regretted spending three hours in the theatre and wished I had spent the time in the beach. My glasshouse of nostalgia shattered into pieces. Before throwing the stone, I had perhaps forgotten that I am inside the glasshouse and my feelings are fragile.
I had not seen Oriya movies for long time. Unlike Bollywood, Oriya film industry is very small and undeveloped for which you can not even find any of the movies online. During my recent visit to Orissa, I was eager and decided to watch an Oriya movie and see how it is. I was visiting my sister’s place in Puri which is one of the most sacred places for Hindus in India. It is also one of the most beautiful places situated at the coast of Bay of Bengal. The place is very pleasant in the evening with the wild roaring sea waves, gentle breeze, and serenity of atmosphere. I love spending my evenings in the beach whenever I visit my sister’s place. But this time I decided to watch an Oriya movie instead of going to the beach. I thought I could go to the beach even after the movie which was supposed to be over by 9 p.m. My elder brother was with me. When I told my intention to watch movies, everybody was surprised. Why Oriya movies? However, I was adamant. My bother could not tell anything although he was not happy with my decision. He very much wanted to spend the evening at the sea.
Finally, we went for the 6.15 p.m. show. The name of the movie was Mun Sapanar Soudagar (I am the merchant of dreams). I was surprised to see the show house-full. The movie was a copy of one of the Hindi movies where a secret and psychotic lover tries to buy his dreams and turns it into reality. I don’t anymore remember the names of the actors. It’s a love triangle, where a girl and boy love each other very much. The boy is a friend of girl’s brother. Nobody else in either family knows about this love affair. There is another rich but orphan, who secretly loves the same girl. She has become his dream girl. The situation has become such that he cannot live without her. He has been following the girl and his lover and threatening the girl to leave the guy. Since she did not listen, the secret lover kidnapped the girl’s actual lover. After kidnapping him, he comes with a marriage proposal to the girl’s house and eventually the girl’s family agrees with the proposal. The girl could not tell about his love affair because her elder sister had run away with one her brother’s friend. Thinking that it might make her brother angry, the girl accepted the proposal. The actual lover comes back after the girl’s marriage.
After marriage, the secret-psychotic lover starts torturing the girl. It becomes so unbearable that the girl’s brother brings his sister back to their own house. The psychotic lover gets angry, kills the girl’s brother and takes her away. The psychotic lover met an accident and got killed. The girl saw him dead. The police also declared him dead. She became a widow. After few days, her marriage got fixed with the ex-lover. It is at this exciting moment, the dead psychotic lover comes alive and again starts threatening her. But none believed her as he had already been declared and seen dead. He even kidnapped the bride on the day of her marriage and kept her in a secret place. The psychotic lover burnt the house and throws a dead girl’s body into the fire who was dressed up exactly in the same way the bride was. Everybody thought the bride was dead. But in the end, the bride manages to send messages from the secret location and the ex-lover comes to rescue her. A fight occurs between the ex-lover and the supposedly dead husband. In the end, the psychotic and supposedly dead husband kills himself saying the girl that “I can’t live without you and you can’t live without him. I love you so much that I can’t even kill you”. The film ends with the altruistic end of a psychotic lover who forcibly wanted to buy his dreams and make them reality.
The movie was boring and badly made. I liked the actress of the movie who was quite pretty with her slender frame, flower beauty and incredible gracefulness. In the end, I, however, regretted spending three hours in the theatre and wished I had spent the time in the beach. My glasshouse of nostalgia shattered into pieces. Before throwing the stone, I had perhaps forgotten that I am inside the glasshouse and my feelings are fragile.
Slave of Freedom
Boredom makes people think. My last train to Orissa on 17 June was indeed worth remembering. It was running almost thirty hours late. While standing near the door and looking at the green fields, I thought if I had traveled on 12 June I would not have had such terrible and traumatic experience. I had originally booked my ticket on 12 June to celebrate Raja (a very famous festival in Orissa) with family and friends but due to certain work commitment, I decided to postpone my journey till 17 June when it started raining heavily. Heavy rain and flood not only disrupted the movement of trains but also uprooted many families from their homes.
An ontological thought came to my mind. People say being an academic is a COOL job. Academics have no fixed schedule, no rigid office hours, lot of international traveling, and no overwork – in a sense there is not much constraint and compulsion. They are FREE and enjoy maximum FREEDOM. Perhaps this was also somewhere there in my sub-conscious mind, although I had never been a good student of Sigmund Freud. This could perhaps be one of the reasons for which I chose to be an academic besides the fact that I like reading and writing. In fact, I sometimes think that will not be able to do anything else (hence my thought is ontological).
The story behind this and my late journey is my work commitments in Rajasthan. I had celebrated Raja for the last time when I was in my early adolescent. It was lovely in my village. The young boys and girls dressed up in new colourful clothes play in the village backyards. Every house has a swing for which the festival is famous. Boys and girls go swinging and other games. It goes on for three days. I still have that nostalgic feeling lively in my heart and mind. These are some of the things that I miss about my village. To make sure that this year I celebrate Raja with my family and friends in Orissa, I booked the train ticket through a friend even while I was in Copenhagen.
Unfortunately, the protest of the Gujjar messed up my schedule. Trains and buses to Rajasthan were stopped. I could not go to Rajasthan on time to finish up my research. I had to wait and spoiled a week in Delhi waiting for the bus service to continue. Finally, I paid huge amount of money to buy a bus ticket. It took me 15 hours to arrive in Udaipur. I spent few days there in the tribal areas when I realized that my work might need some more time. Since I was not to come back to Rajasthan because of time constraint, Gujjar strike, expensive fares, etc., etc., I decided to stay back for some more days and try finishing up the necessary tasks. I cancelled the train ticket and asked a friend to book it on 17 June.
Such cancellation and extension was not forcibly done the orders of any authority above me. Rather it was my freedom that constrained my activities and plans. I thought that although people think academicians are free individuals not only in terms of flexibility in working hours but also in exercising their freedom in academic writings. In retrospection, I, however, encounter a different existential reality that is manifested through late working hours, academic pressure for publishing, teaching burden, broken family life, etc., etc. This existential reality and constraints subconsciously played a significant role in postponing my trip to Orissa, and in the end, I became a slave of my own freedom or free will.
An ontological thought came to my mind. People say being an academic is a COOL job. Academics have no fixed schedule, no rigid office hours, lot of international traveling, and no overwork – in a sense there is not much constraint and compulsion. They are FREE and enjoy maximum FREEDOM. Perhaps this was also somewhere there in my sub-conscious mind, although I had never been a good student of Sigmund Freud. This could perhaps be one of the reasons for which I chose to be an academic besides the fact that I like reading and writing. In fact, I sometimes think that will not be able to do anything else (hence my thought is ontological).
The story behind this and my late journey is my work commitments in Rajasthan. I had celebrated Raja for the last time when I was in my early adolescent. It was lovely in my village. The young boys and girls dressed up in new colourful clothes play in the village backyards. Every house has a swing for which the festival is famous. Boys and girls go swinging and other games. It goes on for three days. I still have that nostalgic feeling lively in my heart and mind. These are some of the things that I miss about my village. To make sure that this year I celebrate Raja with my family and friends in Orissa, I booked the train ticket through a friend even while I was in Copenhagen.
Unfortunately, the protest of the Gujjar messed up my schedule. Trains and buses to Rajasthan were stopped. I could not go to Rajasthan on time to finish up my research. I had to wait and spoiled a week in Delhi waiting for the bus service to continue. Finally, I paid huge amount of money to buy a bus ticket. It took me 15 hours to arrive in Udaipur. I spent few days there in the tribal areas when I realized that my work might need some more time. Since I was not to come back to Rajasthan because of time constraint, Gujjar strike, expensive fares, etc., etc., I decided to stay back for some more days and try finishing up the necessary tasks. I cancelled the train ticket and asked a friend to book it on 17 June.
Such cancellation and extension was not forcibly done the orders of any authority above me. Rather it was my freedom that constrained my activities and plans. I thought that although people think academicians are free individuals not only in terms of flexibility in working hours but also in exercising their freedom in academic writings. In retrospection, I, however, encounter a different existential reality that is manifested through late working hours, academic pressure for publishing, teaching burden, broken family life, etc., etc. This existential reality and constraints subconsciously played a significant role in postponing my trip to Orissa, and in the end, I became a slave of my own freedom or free will.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Celebrating Easter in Poland
Polska or Poland, as it is known, though geographically located in the central part of Europe, has been politically a part of the east-European communist block. I spent my Easter holidays in Krakow – the cultural capital of the country. Three months ago, I had no idea that I will be visiting Poland. But an unanticipated friendship produced through the International Sociological Association’s PhD laboratory in Nigeria made it all possible. It began during the travel in Nigeria after the conference, where two newly introduced people were strained to travel together due to the unpredictable socio-political situation and gradually became good friends. As a result of that beautiful friendship, I was invited to visit Krakow – the home town of Karolina, who I met in Nigeria.
Poland, being a catholic country, as Karolina told me, is a nice place to celebrate Easter. I planned my visit accordingly and got my flight from Malmo (Sweden) to Katowice (Krakow). I was traveling from Malmo because all the budget flights from Copenhagen were booked during the time. Traveling from Malmo was also comparatively cheaper. I thought Malmo Airport, like Copenhagen, would be besides the train station. When I got off at Malmo Central train station, I did not know that the Airport is 25 K.M away and there is also no frequent bus services. There is only a private coach, which leaves every one hour. Luckily I had some time, which gave me the opportunity to walk around Malmo city. It was a very nice city similar to Copenhagen. Finally I managed to catch my flight and arrived in Krakow.
Karolina came with her friend Agatka to receive me at the bus station in the evening at around 9 pm. It was indeed wonderful to see her there after our scary and exciting trip in Nigeria in December. Both of us could not believe that I am in Krakow. We headed to a pub. She bought me a cup of nice warm coffee that let my mild headache go away. I also met Pawel, a gentleman who, although initially looked like a rock star to me, is in reality a philosopher. His long hair and thick glasses later compelled me to revisit my first impression. I had a wonderful evening with them. A walk around the dazzling city and vibrant night life sensed magical. The time spent in Singer bar was lovely because of its nice table arrangements. Each table had an old singer sewing machine that reminded me of my village, where the tailor’s place was one of the most vibrant place during my childhood days. Anyway, it was a happy evening that made me interested in the city’s life and style.
The next day began with a smiling face. Having had our breakfast together and we went to the university, where we met Agatka and Pawel. Karolina and Agatka showed me around their department. The department looked like the old colonial houses in India – tall buildings with majestic architecture. The houses looked really beautiful. One of the interesting things is to count the number of churches in Krakow. Almost every hundred or two hundred meter you find a church. It was interesting for me to see the religious vibrancy in the city. Even the college going young people were very religious. I visited a number of churches and I liked this whole idea of celebrating festivals or being religious.
I should mention here that I am a very religious person. This also reminded me how much I miss these things in my life and how things have gradually changed in my village. When I was a kid, I longed for festivals and religious celebrations because it was fun. Community living and collective social life in my village was strong. But with the changing times, as I see now, things have changed. Religious functions and collective celebrations do not have much vibrancy in village life. Community living has given way to individualistic behaviours and practices. This is what I was explaining to a friend of mine in Belgium, when he asked me what I miss about my village.
Being religious has often been misunderstood as being fanatic or fundamentalist. However they are not the same thing. Being religious for me is to believe in God or some supernatural power or having faith – it could be any religious faith. But when you develop some rigid ethnocentric attitude and judge one’s religion as superior or inferior, it gives way to fundamentalism. Recognizing the existence of other religious faiths as equals and an attitude of syncretism can solve the religious conflicts of the world. Though I am born in a Hindu family, I enjoyed my visit to the churches during Easter. I enjoyed it because of the “sense of community” or religious faith it spreads among the people and revives the collective social memory in the age of amnesia.
I visited many places of historical and cultural importance. I went to Wawel castle that represent a symbol of Polish royal traditions and history. It was majestic in its look and had occupied a beautiful place besides the river. The main market place, the cloth hall, the town hall tower, the St. Mary’s church and many others were simply beautiful. I was amazed to see so many tourists, who added vibrancy to the city’s already busy and bustling life. The city of Krakow can not be defined in one word. It was beautiful, it was colourful, it was vibrant, and it was modern in look with a traditional soul.
I had also no idea about the difference that the so called eastern Europeans feel in their life style and moral underpinnings from the so called western Europeans. We, in India, take things for granted about the life, love, marriage and family of westerners. This was good to know how people are so strongly attached to their families and share a strong sense of belonging. I got to understand that how the simple dichotomy of west being individualistic and east being communitarian belies many aspects of social reality.
I also visited the Welizka salt mine, which was 30 minutes by bus in the south-east of Krakow. It was truly amazing to see the salt mine which had been ceaselessly operating since the Middle Ages till 1996. It took me almost one day to go around the mine underground to its various sites. Since Poland is a catholic country, you get to see a lot of churches and statues of Jesus and Mary in all places. There is a beautiful church down in the salt mine where people can also get married. A statue of Pope John Paul II is recently established there who visited the mine perhaps in 1972 before became the Pope. When I get out of the mine, I was very happy to see it snowing. I loved it. It was beautiful. The earth looked like being covered with a white blanket. Winter was back again in Europe. In the evening, Karolina and I went to her mom’s place. I met her mom and Andre (I loved Andre’s songs). They were really nice. Her mom was a beautiful lady, who was surprised to know that I am a strict vegetarian who does not even take eggs and who does not drink and smoke.
During my stay in Krakow I also visited Auschwitz. Located about 60 K.M from Krakow it remains one of the most explicit symbols of the terror and tragedy created by the Nazis during the World War II. It was the Nazi extermination camp, where almost 1.5 million people were killed. Though it was horrifying and depressing to see, it was one of the best museums that provide details about the Nazi brutality. As per the data, 430,000 Jews from Hungary, 300,000 Jews from Poland, 69,000 from France, 60,000 from the Netherlands, 55,000 from Greece, 46,000 from Czech Republic, 27,000 from Slovakia, 25,000 from Belgium, 23,000 from Austria and Germany, 10,000 from Yugoslovia, 7,500 from Italy and 690 from Norway were deported to Auschwitz (data reproduced from a picture taken at the museum).
The next day, Karolina and I came to her mom’s place to make the Easter eggs. After having breakfast, we painted the eggs and prepared a chocolate cake. I painted the egg in the form of a soccer ball, which belonged to the Karolina Company. She then prepared a basket of food representatives (one piece from each food group), which we took to the church for prayer. The priest prayed for the food and we then returned home with the basket.
Finally came the big day – the Easter. Karolina and I went to her mom’s place. Though Karolina had told me before that the Poles eat a lot during Easter, I had no idea about it. I was surprised to see the amount of and the kinds of food were placed on table for breakfast.
After wishing a very happy Easter to each other, we started our breakfast. First the food from the food representative basket that had undergone sacred prayer was served on the plates. After that we were free to eat anything from the table. I was offered to eat eggs. Since eggs represented the symbol of Easter, I thought of trying because my vegetarianism was due to personal choice and had nothing to do with religion. So I thought of trying it and also not to disappoint my lovely hosts. Andre had prepared the eggs stuffed with mixed vegetables. They really tested nice and I kept on eating more and more eggs.
Karolina and I visited the cemetery where her grand father and grand mother’s bodies were buried. The cemetery looked beautiful. Everyone had decorated their relative’s graves with colourful flowers and candles. It happened that it was also the cemetery where the Pope John Paul II’s father was buried. When he was the Pope, he used to visit to that cemetery. It was nice to see this and have a unique experience.
We then visited a church and came back home for Easter lunch. Karolina’s uncle and anti had also come. Her anti and uncle were really nice. It was lovely and wonderful experience for me for being a part of her family to celebrate Easter together and having such wonderful time with them.
I felt how and what it means to stay away from the family. But then, I guess sometimes it depends on the nature of your family. Sometimes, for some, it is perhaps better being away from rather than being with the family. Whatever it is, my visit to Poland was truly unique and memorable. I thank Karolina and our friendship for letting me experience such a beautiful aspect of Polish culture, religion and social life.
Poland, being a catholic country, as Karolina told me, is a nice place to celebrate Easter. I planned my visit accordingly and got my flight from Malmo (Sweden) to Katowice (Krakow). I was traveling from Malmo because all the budget flights from Copenhagen were booked during the time. Traveling from Malmo was also comparatively cheaper. I thought Malmo Airport, like Copenhagen, would be besides the train station. When I got off at Malmo Central train station, I did not know that the Airport is 25 K.M away and there is also no frequent bus services. There is only a private coach, which leaves every one hour. Luckily I had some time, which gave me the opportunity to walk around Malmo city. It was a very nice city similar to Copenhagen. Finally I managed to catch my flight and arrived in Krakow.
Karolina came with her friend Agatka to receive me at the bus station in the evening at around 9 pm. It was indeed wonderful to see her there after our scary and exciting trip in Nigeria in December. Both of us could not believe that I am in Krakow. We headed to a pub. She bought me a cup of nice warm coffee that let my mild headache go away. I also met Pawel, a gentleman who, although initially looked like a rock star to me, is in reality a philosopher. His long hair and thick glasses later compelled me to revisit my first impression. I had a wonderful evening with them. A walk around the dazzling city and vibrant night life sensed magical. The time spent in Singer bar was lovely because of its nice table arrangements. Each table had an old singer sewing machine that reminded me of my village, where the tailor’s place was one of the most vibrant place during my childhood days. Anyway, it was a happy evening that made me interested in the city’s life and style.
The next day began with a smiling face. Having had our breakfast together and we went to the university, where we met Agatka and Pawel. Karolina and Agatka showed me around their department. The department looked like the old colonial houses in India – tall buildings with majestic architecture. The houses looked really beautiful. One of the interesting things is to count the number of churches in Krakow. Almost every hundred or two hundred meter you find a church. It was interesting for me to see the religious vibrancy in the city. Even the college going young people were very religious. I visited a number of churches and I liked this whole idea of celebrating festivals or being religious.
I should mention here that I am a very religious person. This also reminded me how much I miss these things in my life and how things have gradually changed in my village. When I was a kid, I longed for festivals and religious celebrations because it was fun. Community living and collective social life in my village was strong. But with the changing times, as I see now, things have changed. Religious functions and collective celebrations do not have much vibrancy in village life. Community living has given way to individualistic behaviours and practices. This is what I was explaining to a friend of mine in Belgium, when he asked me what I miss about my village.
Being religious has often been misunderstood as being fanatic or fundamentalist. However they are not the same thing. Being religious for me is to believe in God or some supernatural power or having faith – it could be any religious faith. But when you develop some rigid ethnocentric attitude and judge one’s religion as superior or inferior, it gives way to fundamentalism. Recognizing the existence of other religious faiths as equals and an attitude of syncretism can solve the religious conflicts of the world. Though I am born in a Hindu family, I enjoyed my visit to the churches during Easter. I enjoyed it because of the “sense of community” or religious faith it spreads among the people and revives the collective social memory in the age of amnesia.
I visited many places of historical and cultural importance. I went to Wawel castle that represent a symbol of Polish royal traditions and history. It was majestic in its look and had occupied a beautiful place besides the river. The main market place, the cloth hall, the town hall tower, the St. Mary’s church and many others were simply beautiful. I was amazed to see so many tourists, who added vibrancy to the city’s already busy and bustling life. The city of Krakow can not be defined in one word. It was beautiful, it was colourful, it was vibrant, and it was modern in look with a traditional soul.
I had also no idea about the difference that the so called eastern Europeans feel in their life style and moral underpinnings from the so called western Europeans. We, in India, take things for granted about the life, love, marriage and family of westerners. This was good to know how people are so strongly attached to their families and share a strong sense of belonging. I got to understand that how the simple dichotomy of west being individualistic and east being communitarian belies many aspects of social reality.
I also visited the Welizka salt mine, which was 30 minutes by bus in the south-east of Krakow. It was truly amazing to see the salt mine which had been ceaselessly operating since the Middle Ages till 1996. It took me almost one day to go around the mine underground to its various sites. Since Poland is a catholic country, you get to see a lot of churches and statues of Jesus and Mary in all places. There is a beautiful church down in the salt mine where people can also get married. A statue of Pope John Paul II is recently established there who visited the mine perhaps in 1972 before became the Pope. When I get out of the mine, I was very happy to see it snowing. I loved it. It was beautiful. The earth looked like being covered with a white blanket. Winter was back again in Europe. In the evening, Karolina and I went to her mom’s place. I met her mom and Andre (I loved Andre’s songs). They were really nice. Her mom was a beautiful lady, who was surprised to know that I am a strict vegetarian who does not even take eggs and who does not drink and smoke.
During my stay in Krakow I also visited Auschwitz. Located about 60 K.M from Krakow it remains one of the most explicit symbols of the terror and tragedy created by the Nazis during the World War II. It was the Nazi extermination camp, where almost 1.5 million people were killed. Though it was horrifying and depressing to see, it was one of the best museums that provide details about the Nazi brutality. As per the data, 430,000 Jews from Hungary, 300,000 Jews from Poland, 69,000 from France, 60,000 from the Netherlands, 55,000 from Greece, 46,000 from Czech Republic, 27,000 from Slovakia, 25,000 from Belgium, 23,000 from Austria and Germany, 10,000 from Yugoslovia, 7,500 from Italy and 690 from Norway were deported to Auschwitz (data reproduced from a picture taken at the museum).
The next day, Karolina and I came to her mom’s place to make the Easter eggs. After having breakfast, we painted the eggs and prepared a chocolate cake. I painted the egg in the form of a soccer ball, which belonged to the Karolina Company. She then prepared a basket of food representatives (one piece from each food group), which we took to the church for prayer. The priest prayed for the food and we then returned home with the basket.
Finally came the big day – the Easter. Karolina and I went to her mom’s place. Though Karolina had told me before that the Poles eat a lot during Easter, I had no idea about it. I was surprised to see the amount of and the kinds of food were placed on table for breakfast.
After wishing a very happy Easter to each other, we started our breakfast. First the food from the food representative basket that had undergone sacred prayer was served on the plates. After that we were free to eat anything from the table. I was offered to eat eggs. Since eggs represented the symbol of Easter, I thought of trying because my vegetarianism was due to personal choice and had nothing to do with religion. So I thought of trying it and also not to disappoint my lovely hosts. Andre had prepared the eggs stuffed with mixed vegetables. They really tested nice and I kept on eating more and more eggs.
Karolina and I visited the cemetery where her grand father and grand mother’s bodies were buried. The cemetery looked beautiful. Everyone had decorated their relative’s graves with colourful flowers and candles. It happened that it was also the cemetery where the Pope John Paul II’s father was buried. When he was the Pope, he used to visit to that cemetery. It was nice to see this and have a unique experience.
We then visited a church and came back home for Easter lunch. Karolina’s uncle and anti had also come. Her anti and uncle were really nice. It was lovely and wonderful experience for me for being a part of her family to celebrate Easter together and having such wonderful time with them.
I felt how and what it means to stay away from the family. But then, I guess sometimes it depends on the nature of your family. Sometimes, for some, it is perhaps better being away from rather than being with the family. Whatever it is, my visit to Poland was truly unique and memorable. I thank Karolina and our friendship for letting me experience such a beautiful aspect of Polish culture, religion and social life.
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