Torino, Ti amo

The wonderful sense of familiarity, in the form of the warm July air kissed my face as I disembarked the light Air one aircraft in Caselle on Thursday the 21st. As I arrived towards the baggage claim passing the ‘Benevenuti  in Torino’ boards, I almost said ‘thank you’ to whoever put those signs and  couldn’t  contain my excitement to run out of the ‘uscita’, to enjoy every bit of my little  summer break in Italy.

I was buried deep in my thesis work for five months since February, working and shuttling between the cold in Sweden to no-so-warm spring in the Netherlands. I do believe my whining is not completely unnatural, as I come from  a land where the concept of winter is quite unknown. After delivering my final draft report, the flight to Italy sounded like a staircase to exhilaration

The welcome we (Luca & I) received was as warm as the weather. Gisella was standing at the gate with her face beaming at our sight. We ran towards the sweet mother  and after the pleasantries drove to a restaurant, as we landed just about time for a nice lunch. It was located in a little town called Avigliana, and the buffet was light yet delicious. Piedmont is famous for its delicious little drops of pastries, and Aviligliana is home to the world famous ‘Pasticceria Dalmasso’. We packed a generous portion of an assortment of the most heavenly little pastries, for dessert and finished the lunch with a coffee of course.

We then drove to Luca’s beautiful home in the mountains, located on a serene and panoramic hill, with beautiful sights of the mountain ranges, and the amazing  Sacra di San Michele. We took the rest of the day easy, and wandered around in the garden, examining the tomatoes that we planted during Easter, shaping up to become red and juicy. Dinner started with anchovies in olive oil garnished with basil, which is a typical piedmont starter and the main course was a special vegetable pie ordered for us from an organic food shop in the valley, paired with a delicious tuna paprika pie made by Gisella. After enjoying a wholesome dinner, we had to go to bed early, as the plan for the following morning was to climb up the Sacra, standing more than 600m high  , by the ancient mule track .

So we woke up early, had our breakfast with tea and biscuits, while Gisella was preparing a backpack with trekking supplies, mostly food, water, energy drinks, and some chewing gum to clean teeth after eating. I love being mothered!

Claudio drove us to San Ambrogio, a town located on the foothill of the Sacra, and bid adieu, promising to pick us up after our journey. The hike was thoroughly enjoyable, as we climbed up towards an ancient monument through the woods, on a steep, narrow and slightly slippery path of cobblestones. Adventurous would be an over-statement, but the trek was demanding a lot of physical strength to claim that it was worth the effort.

After we finally reached the Sacra in about 2 hours, with some puffing and panting(mainly me), we had to wait a while before the entrance opened after the lunch hour. I first decided that I should train more often, and secondly we voted for a nap in the sun. We chose two benches and dozed off for 20 minutes, only to be awakened by a noisy gardener tending to the grape wines hanging next to our benches.

After our little siesta, we went to purchase tickets into the Sacra, which was a beautiful abbey , built by Saint.John of San Ambrogio in the 900 A.D.We heard a lot about a beautiful girl named Alda who jumped off the Sacra trying to escape from Arabic invaders, but was saved by San Michele. But pride hit her like poison and she started bragging about the fact that she was a favourite of San Michele, and dared that she’d be saved if she jumped off again. But her bragging attempt proved to be fatal as San Michele dint encourage such acts of pride. A tower in the Sacra is named after Alda. Bell’alda or the beautiful Alda.  After appreciating the architectural details, and the view of the valley from the Sacra, we began our descent , which was quicker but more painful. Claudio was ready to pick us at San Ambrogio, and we drove to the Villar Dora home, with a small ‘malabar’ coffee in between in a cafe

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Dinner was at Alpignano, at Franco’s place. Seafood pasta and starters , with some white wine from Sardegna were a perfect celebration present from Franco for my greenlight for the thesis. We went home after a happy tummy but tired legs.

Saturday was as buzzling as it could get. We arrived at the Torino ‘mercato’ or the weekly market full of people and colourful clothes, shoes, shiny berries and garden fresh vegetables. After a merry walk around pushing the crowds, we went to piazza Vittorio in the centre of Torino, for a typical lunch. The weather seemed like dulling down, but din’t  manage to dull our spirits. We left to Villar Dora to pick up some spices that I brought along to arrange an ‘Indian food night’ at Stefano’s place in Torino. I cooked a lot of food, and the guests survived the atrocity of my spices. I got few compliments as well ( surprise surprise!!)

Sunday was a perfect sunny Italian summer day, except for the occasional unruly wind. The garden in Villardora played a beautiful setting for a Barbeque, the aroma that woke me up from my lazy morning mood. Claudio was the chef, thanks to his great sense of wine, we had an intense yet smooth selection of Tuscan red wine to accompany the delicious grilled food. We had five more guests, and the afternoon passed with gelato, smiles, jokes and chatter and more wine of course. Guido’s birthday which was a day later, was also celebrated. Why waste a crowd!! Couldn’t have thought of a better holiday plan for a Sunday.

Monday was time to say goodbye, but my short stay in Italia ended in style. We went to Franco’s again for lunch before I had to fly back to Holland, leaving Luca behind. We had yet another delicious lunch, and while having walnut gelato and while watching Michael Phelps coming third in a semi-final round, it felt like a small shake in my chair. I mistook it for the powerful bass from the speakers that Franco recently bought, but later realised the house was shaking for 5 seconds. My first earth quake. Ok, over-statement again. A strong tremor. My first.

After over-reacting about the possibility of death and disappointed that I couldn’t think of anything at that prospect  , Luca had to calm me down stating that it was just a 4.3 on the Richter and was as common as rainfall . Amused at my little shock, I realized I had to get to the airport to return to reality. Trying to hide my grumpy mood, I said goodbye with a smile and left Torino, promising to return very soon. Oh sure I will. Why wouldn’t I? I love you, Torino. Really, really.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY_hftAh_vg

A few good men

One of my favourite poems in the English literature is ‘The Brook’, written by Lord Tennyson , and the most famous lines of the poem being

“For men may come and men may go

But I go on forever”

So much meaning in those two lines, which has a soul soothing effect , though metaphorically the idea of these lines have a philosophical and transcendental meaning of life, some men manage to surprisingly defer from this by all means. When they come, and whether they choose to go or stay, they affect you  in a very special way. And you cannot tell exactly why, and your pride wanes away, and so does your faith in the lines of Lord Tennyson

Maybe because they are so genuine, and their actions however small, seem so thoughtful

Maybe because their passion and  concern  towards all the evil that’s happening around the world tell you that they really want to make the world a better place

Maybe because a fashion label doesn’t mean more than a piece of string and paper to them

Maybe because they are so down to earth that, they don’t expect to encounter only angels in their daily life, hence are hardly judgmental

Maybe because they are so humble to remove your drain hair with bare hands, and still smile about it

Maybe because they never make a malicious statement , even against the people that hate them and always give a benefit of doubt to people who you may consider unworthy of it

Maybe because they care so much for you that, you wouldn’t mind  showing your vulnerable side even if you have the strongest will power

Maybe because they are so enthusiastic to go places and see new things and are open to all the things the mysterious world is ready to offer

Maybe because their sense of humour  is so subtle yet smart, never ending , can be forever explored and keeps you in splits every time

Maybe because they are true gentlemen, who spread nothing but goodwill and geniality 

Maybe because they never accept praise and are even annoyed when people like me try to write about them

Maybe, maybe, there are a thousand other reasons...

But, when  you meet one of them, you will know what I'm talking about, and more.. 

How I met my Muge

How could I ever not become best friends with a girl that confused me with French, even after I spoke few sentences in English with her (and why did I ever think my ultra obvious Indian features would give me away). Just an example of how adorable she could be. So this continues to explain my association with slightly crazy yet awesome people, Muge being more on the awesome side.

So this dark-haired European looking girl was introduced to me by my vivacious Italian friend Fra( Francesca will get a post too, soon) , in one of the jazz Tuesday nights at bebop, sometime in July last year. She was puffing her favourite Davidoff(which she argues that it causes the least harm to her lungs and one of our constant topics of disagreement) with a Belgian beer in hand when we went upto her to say hello. Thanks to Fra, who has this amazing socializing skill, brought a delightful company along wherever she went. So after a couple of weeks, we sort of had a gang of friends that would constantly hang out, and Muge was also one among. My beautiful Muge.

                                                                

I wish I could document each of the crazy fun times we had. Muge was a highlight. She would always be ready to go places, try new things and have fun. I hardly remember her saying no to a dinner, a drink or a party invitation unless she had a final exam the following day. That may not be entirely right, she did hang out even when she had exams. Smart kid, Muge. Oh yes, the smart architect- always enthusiastic and passionate about her field. She has this hitech configured laptop,which she spent a fortune on, to run her simulations and I was more than happy to see her results when she wanted to display them occasionally for me. When we went out for a coffee or a day trip to a nearby town, I was finding it a tad bit difficult to appreciate the size of the bricks on a wall, when she went on explaining the curves, corners, forms, function in the beginning. After some months and spending a great deal of time with her, unconsciously I started noticing the beauty of some buildings, which I would’ve cared a dime in previous times. Especially, I can never forget the day trip to Amsterdam, to see the famous buildings with her professor and few other friends was remarkable, for a variety of reasons

I was so glad I had a smart and optimally geeky friend. I would get bored in a minute if we only talked about makeup and boys, not that we didn’t. Our girl time was fantastic and hilarious. We had so many topics to roll on the floor and laugh about. We used to engage in harmless gossip, and when she would hint something to me in public and I don’t understand, she would send a text banging her head and would get so annoyed if I didn’t realise that the text was for me, when she has to ask with faint smugness, ‘where is your phone Shasha’. She suited right for my level of enthusiasm and excitement and could relate to each one of my crazy ideas and behaviour. She was such a darling when I had so many emotions to share and she would have an answer if I wasn’t sure about anything

. We had so many coffee talks, study talks( I tried to study with her in architecture faculty several times), skype talks, bouwpub talks, bebop talks, dinner talks, de ruif talks, pootstraat talks, zusterlaan talks ,pijnacker talks, bus talks, train talks, and I can go on and on. I had this amazing comfort level with her within a short period of time, that I could tell her pretty much anything without qualms , and so did she.

I cannot imagine how depressed I would’ve become if she wasn’t there for me, when all my other Erasmus friends left. We became even close after the exodus of Italian buddies. Amongst her amazing qualities like a being warm, affectionate, funny and free-spirited individual, she has a talent for wearing the sari. She was a natural, when I first made her wear it and she was carrying herself like a lady, stunning everyone with her beauty and grace. She also appreciates Indian food though she isn't a fan of spices. I still don’t know if she was being nice or really enjoying it.

I too became a big fan of Turkish food , thanks to Muge’s constant campaign of ‘ Doner kebab is not Turkish cuisine’ , she made me taste some amazing dishes . I plan to visit Turkey and witness in person, the dreamy description of the places and food given by Muge.

We've had so many memories and will still do, but this is just an account to say in writing, how wonderful Muge is. So to cut it short , it is obvious that, when I praise a girl so much, you can comprehend how much she means to me.

See you soon Muge dear!! This post was just an another way of saying ‘I miss you, get well and come back soon’

Travel smiley-1

Travel is one of these redundant topics, say, like love, that many poets and literary big bosses have churned out into the most beautiful poems, thoughtful quotes, gripping stories and adventurous logs. But it isn't for no reason that travel makes such an awesome topic to talk, write, sing and smile about.

The year 2011 so far has been an amazing(touching wood) travel period. I couldn't have asked for a better start of my new year. I went in India for the Christmas/Winter from Delft, after being royally spoilt by my folks for more than two weeks, I was still looking forward to new year's eve.I flew back to the Netherlands on the 30th evening. I was invited to Italy, and I was so dearly excited about meeting Luca at the Milan Malpensa arrivals gate, and was counting my lucky stars hoping not to miss my early morning plane from Schipol on the 31st. And there he was, gleefully smiling at me exactly the way I imagined, and it was so hard to contain my enthusiasm, as I had to struggle slowly through the relaxed Italian crowd to reach the exit(uscita). I loaded my stuff into the car that Luca rented for my visit, and we hit the highway towards Torino, which took about 2 hours. Torino, not as famous as Rome or Venice is a beautiful city. It is the birthplace of Fiat, Lavazza and Martini( so to say, carries a big chunk of Italian legacy). We drove to the highest point of Torino , colle della Maddalena and enjoyed a foggy yet beautiful view of the city. My lack of sleep coupled with jet lag, made my head explode and stomach churn like a whirlpool, but I was determined to enjoy the new years' eve, not matter what. We met a friend Samy,from Eindhoven in the city center, and went for a coffee at the famous Cafe Fiorio, and bought some powerful painkillers in the pharmacy nearby to aid my new year celebrations.

We were so lucky to have Luca's friend Stefano living in a nice apartment right in the Piazza Vittorio, the largest square in Europe after the Vatican. It would be preposterous to say we had a party in the apartment when the whole city came to the square at midnight to witness the firework display over the river. Nevertheless the party at Stefano's turned out to be great, and we were located so strategically that we could just climb down the stairs to walk into the ocean of happy people welcoming the new year at midnight. After the fireworks, our big gang comprising of ale and ale, Riccardo, Stefano, Silvea, Samy, jurek, Emily, Matteo, Laura and many more returned to warmth, to continue the party until early morning. We woke up around brunch time , and got ready to explore the city . We met Guido, Luca's uncle and walked around the city and the landmarks and had a nice cup of coffee in between. It's almost blasphemy to drink cappuccino in the afternoon for Italians, but I feigned ignorance for I have a great love for that beverage anytime.Guido was a cheerful and energetic man, who spoke good English, thanks to his one year stay in San Francisco. I din't have to the time to visit all the monuments but I promised myself that I would visit the city again would also buy a I heart Torino tee, for I really loved the city and especially the people. Dinner time was approaching and we were invited to Reano, a lovely town 20km from Torino where Angelica, Stefano's mother lives. Italian cuisine needs no introduction to the world, but I was surprised to discover a traditional Piedmont delight,called bagna couda , not as famous as pizza or pasta but very delicious. Angelica was really an angel and was an amazing host. We spent the night at Reano and woke up quite early to leave to Bologna, to meet our fantastically crazy friend Francesca. Angelica was ready with cookies and tea for breakfast , after which we said bye to enter the highway again.

We were in Quarto( near Bologna) at Fra's house for lunch. It was heavenly to have an authentic home made lasagna bolognese. Fra enthusiatically took us around the city in her brand new car, that she got as her graduation present. Bologona is the city of porches, and people of the city are well shielded from sun and rain. We also visited Basilica di San Luca, a famous church of the Virgin on Monte della Guardia. We returned to Bologna for a brief aperitif with Simone, and returned to Fra's home to have yet another authentic tortellini dinner. Her parents were fine hosts and knew ho to entertain young people. After a brief, but nice stay at Fra's we hit the road again, now towards Florence, or in a more sexy way, Firenze. Italian is a lovely language!

Florence- to add more adjectives to the existing list of qualifiers for this amazing city would be just not too possible. If not for the biting January cold, I would've loved to stay outside more and absorb the art dissolved in the Florence air( I have the right to be cheesy , when in Florence :P). Nevertheless, the sun showed some mercy and shone us a little warmth, just to make sure we don't miss out a lot . We walked in and around the center, I was completed stunned by the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore and amused by David, and we manage to slip the coins through the lucky boar's mouth into the grill. We did have coffee at Cafe Gilli, a fancy place in Florence, which was more interesting as it was the namesake of Luca's last name. I was so comfortable, all along because Luca was Italian, I would be so lost if I din't know the language.

After bidding adieu to the beautiful Florence, though a bit tired of driving so much( I never drove!! but was so exhausted), we had to revive our excitement as we were heading to the most important destination- The Tuscan valley.

We drove past Pisa, into little towns neatly embedded in a cosy place among the mountains, and witnessed some beautiful sceneries , some hunters behind wild boars.. I could feel the Tuscan essence. After our delightful sight seeing we headed to another nice town Capanolli, in Tuscany as well, to meet Luca's parents. I was a bit queasy, both from the ride and the anxiousness of introductions. They turned out to be the most lovely hosts and we got along instantly and I had a fantastic time, and dinner was a decorative affair. With the smell of hand ground olive oil of Tuscany, the light dinner was delicious. We had some guests too, and I showed a little of my Indian side, which amused the company. Overall, my apprehension turned into smiles and stories. Luca was endlessly translating the dialogue, and sometimes swallowed half the words, and would re-translate only if admonished. It was a fun evening, and Gisella was such a sweetheart. The next morning started quite late, and was our last day in Italy, so the parents treated us well for lunch at a restaurant close by, after which we packed our bags to head back to Torino.

Luca was a fantastic driver, and I tried my best to entertain him while driving. We missed an exit, so when I saw an opening in the highway( non-railed) , I suggested as if it would be the most obvious thing to do- to take a U turn. I suppose he got the shock of his life. That there was another country that could beat the reckless driving of the Italians!! I said come on.. we do it all the time, he decided not to reply. After the major discovery of our cultural differences, we reached Torino. Ale and Ale(Alessandro and Alessandra), a beautiful couple invited us and the gang for dinner. My stomach couldn't stand the strong espresso I had during lunch, so with great disappointment I decided to skip dinner and just give them company. I loved her red and white apartment and quite inspired about the perfect housekeeping( guess the inspiration dint stand too long, as my room is a mess now). The funniest part was that I was hallucinating that Riccardo was present, while everyone denies it. I still believe he was there. After the smiles, chatter and aberrations we hit the sack quite late.

It was so hard to believe that we metered more than 2000km in 4 days , and still we had to drive to Milan to fly back to Netherlands. With fantastic memories, we said bye to our friends and returned the car in Milan and flew back to Holland. I just couldn't believe the trip turned out to be this extraordinary and amazing than I ever expected. Everything and everyone were at the right place, at the right moment and the right mood. I think i can never forget this trip for a million reasons, that I cannot put in words . Just blissful.. A billion emotions, that made a precious memory, that would never fade. ...My best Christmas present ever!!

If I wrote a romance novel...

Prologue:

I received the movie 'The Notebook' as a present for my last birthday and I realised that I haven't watched it yet.It came in a very fancy case . The cover really appeared to be highly appealing to romance film buffs with some intense poses and a dreamy boat ride of the protagonists. Nevertheless, it was still standing pretty, leaning against my small DVD collection on my desk. I was motivating myself to watch it. IMDB gave the movie an impressive 8, and moreover I've been looking at the DVD case for months, and at least for that amount of visual acquaintance , I felt obliged to try. Without jumping into making hard-core decisions like watching the Notebook for more than an hour, a wise mind searched for the trailer online and after watching it for 2 minutes, I din't dare to open the DVD. But then thought, hmmm.. maybe I can write a Romance novel.. Can't be too hard can it? A part of which might look like what follows.....

The Netbook ♥♥♥♥♥

It was a breezy Sunday morning. Susan was smiling.. She was having a beautiful dream. Her curly auburn hair was covering her eyelashes to ward off even the faint sunlight of the dawn. She pulled up her purple satin covers in a lazy yet cute way, to catch a little more sleep to finish her lovely dream. The gentle morning breeze squeezed through her drapes and kissed her cheeks gently. She rubbed her pink cheeks as if Jonathan was trying to wake her up with a little peck. "Johnny... Five more minutes", she stretched, and half-awake and fully disappointed realising that her darling Johnny was away. Away for a noble cause, to save the nation from the evil forces. She was proud of him. He promised to come back to her after he finishes the bad guys, and she promised to stand by him. Stand by every action he takes. Johnny was a successful computer hacker who was summoned by the NSA to crack a malicious code, that was sending shivers down the homeland security forces. Susan and Jonathan were a month away from getting married and Jonathan had to leave abruptly without a specified date of return. But Susan said, " Baby,the Nation needs you now, I will wait for you with all my love and until my last breath ". Johnny din't know what to say, he was so deeply touched by Susan's love, he replied" Check you e-mail regularly darling". He gave her a long kiss that would be remembered for years to come. He hopped into a black car without number plates waiting in front of their house , and dint turn back once to see the beautiful face of Susan covered with tears.

It has been 3 years, and not a single e-mail from Johnny. Susan was worried, but she was a bold and beautiful woman. She told herself, "My Johnny is a genius hero, he will come back unscathed, and more handsome than ever. There must be some security reasons for the long silence. He will come back and we can have a magical wedding and have 5 beautiful babies and live happily ever after".She was dreaming about Johnny every single day.

One of her day dreams were interrupted by a calling bell noise and when she opened she wanted to shout at the top of her voice but she couldn't even whisper. It was Jonathan, with flowers in his hand and the same magical smile that swept her off her feet 7 years ago. He lost his tan, maybe due to indoor working conditions. But he was still handsome. He offered her flowers, and when she was passionately going to kiss him, he moved away and said.. " Sorry, I thought you knew about Amy". Susan was close to a nervous breakdown. "Amy?!", she hardly managed to say the name. It was like her world was crumbling into fine dust, not being able to get close to her long gone fiancée and suddenly Amy.. Amy who? Jonathan was as confused as Susan. He said in a calm voice" You never replied to a single e-mail of mine" "You never wrote me one", replied a sobbing and shocked voice. He took the liberty to get to her desk and said ," Let me check your Netbook", and looked at her with an expression that appeared like a combination of guilt and shame and slowly said " The e-mails from NSA seemed to have ended up in your spam folder. Maybe you should have checked your Spam"

P.S- This piece is highly inspired by and dedicated to Principe Azzurro, if you know what I mean ;)