'eurailed' in loco-engine!

..from Bratislava to Budapest:

“Your train will arrive on this platform only.” The man sitting on the next bench spoke in broken English. But my wife was not convinced, and she insisted that I make an inquiry in the main reservation office. That big man, biting sandwiches and taking sips of coke, again asserted that- “the train is 20 minutes late, and it will arrive here only.” However, Namita had all the reasons to be skeptical …How can he understand our language? Or did he pick up just few English words of our conversation in Guajarati, and misunderstood for something else? How can he be so precise in providing us this information? We both had travelled in Central Europe by Eurail, some couple of years back, but had not come across any delay of more than a minute in any of some thirty train journeys in those three weeks. And then Namita’s concern was rational- we could not afford to miss this train, lest it disturb our further itinerary.

That was the morning of 6th August, 2008, and we were at Bratislava Hlavana Stanica [main station] to catch the train of '9.40 AM to Budapest', coming from Prague. We had already purchased Eastern Europe’s Rail pass from Ahmedabad only, and was valid for five days in a fortnight. We had arrived in Bratislava on the previous day. Unexpectedly, that short stay turned out to be an excellent experience and one of the best days of the whole trip.

I approached that burly man and conveyed my doubts about the authenticity of his information. He looked back at the group of ticket checkers [?] in blue uniform, shared with them something in Slovak [?] language, and then everybody erupted in big laughter. Not to embarrass me further, he immediately clarified and revealed that he is the Locomotive Driver of The Federal Railway of Slovakia, and he is the one 'on duty' for the next shift, to ride the train, further ahead to Hungary. We introduced ourselves. He, along with that ‘navy blue bunch’, were curious and quite entertained to see me shooting with my camera-all those odd shots and pictures - like timetables written in local script, manhole covers around and on the platforms, iron works of that very old, historical railway station and what not. [We jocularly quote that during travel – ‘mis-s-pacing’ ,‘cros-swords’ and-‘klicking’ are the best ways of time ‘ckilling’….]

When the train was about to enter the station, Gabriel [by now we knew each other’s names] suddenly offered me –if I am interested in travelling with him in his engine cabin of the train. Long back, during my college days, I was compelled to jump, with two other friends in that ‘sooty’ cabin of engine driver from Londha to Miraj, to catch a running train, on the way back from Goa. In vivid contrast, Namita and I travelled in the sleek and posh cabin, adjoining and almost a part of ‘high-tec-cockpit-like’ engine of ICE train –a superfast from Freiberg to Cologne, ‘flying’ at speed of 240kms/hour. Then also we had chance to converse with the ‘engine drivers’.

Needless to say I did not let go this unique opportunity. After all, it’s been said-“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing and experiencing things.” And for me, this one hour was going to be more than a experience with this naïve Slovak, who wanted to ‘feed’ me, more than I could ‘digest’.

--That train no.131 had left from Prague, some 4.20 hours back, and was late from the start only. Sturovo [read-Stur.jo.vo] on Hungary border was 135 kms away from here, and Budapest some 68 kms further.

--The locomotive engine-no: 350007, was 1.3 mega wats power having double systems [?] It was 25 years old, of older Czeko-Slovakia Rail, and now belonged to Slovak Railway, after the partition in 1993. Speed limit was just 140 kms per hour and nobody liked such ‘old –horses’ to drive. [..grumble].Most of the trains had better and advanced diesel engines than this.

--He was Gabriel Morowich-an engine driver by profession since 1970, happily married man, conservative Christian and regular church-goer. Andrea Morowich [30 yrs] -elder of his two daughters ,was a doctor, having worked in Sudan for Red Cross for 3 years, and now working in Hrade Kralove, Poliklinika, in Slovakia. He wrote for me all these difficult sounding, and even more difficult to spell names in my note book. In return I also scribbled the probable diagnosis of his nail-problem on the back of his ‘rule-book’-as ?.onichomycosis and jokingly told him that somebody may mistake it for the name of the railway station. I could make out that his medico daughter must not be, at least a Dermatologist! He took quite a time and many gestures to convey that she was an Anesthetist. Like this-our game of ‘Dumb Sherad’ continued for quite a while.

He decided not to take chance at the border of Slovakia-Hungary, and asked me to get down and return back to my compartment at the previous small station- Nove Zamky. Before thanking him profusely, I asked him the last question –why did he take the risk to carry me in the cabin where civilians are not supposed to travel? He responded-“To give you the chance to take better pictures from the best angle. After all, you are a medical doctor like my daughter!” I bade Gabriel Maj Sa [Good Bye in Slovak], having learnt from him just few minutes back and jumped down the ‘loco’.

Why Manhole Covers ?

Today, Dr. Kamal complimented the previous article on the 'Manhole Covers', but raised the genuine question about the subject of the topic. Two other phone calls sounded almost similar. I could sense that they did not find it 'decent and decorative'. One of the friends was blunt enough to tell that it is not the story, and looks more like an 'endless essay’. While the other complained that the slide show of the pictures in the end looses the attention and get literally lost in 'bla-bla' of the narrations. [I’m not disclosing their names!] So, these are the thoughts... and possible explanations of the coincidence of many reasons!

1] The previous post on the manhole covers was in the remembrance of the young boy, Vishant, who has been missing after accidently stepping in the uncovered manhole in Ahmedabad. Even after about a week of extensive 'search’, his body is not yet recovered from the underground drainage and sewers. This whole week, this unfortunate mishap has been in the news in most of the local dailies.

2]Unfortunately Vishant was not that lucky to be rescued immediately like the young girl of some 6-7 years, brought to my hospital, some 15 years back. She was resuscitated successfully and revived. That fragrance of the fulfillment, for we all at ‘Shaishav Hospital’ was far more than the stink of the ‘gutter’ in which she was ‘near drowned’ and soiled completely. Both these smells lingered behind even after the discharge, for quite a while!

3] This incidence happened just last year, when the work of road resurfacing was undertaken in our society. From the first floor of the our house, when I was talking with my sister, an auto rickshaw suddenly stopped and out jumped the man sitting on the backseat, he gathered the 'cast-iron man hole cover', in front of the opposite bungalow, and within no time sped away, before we could react or raise the alarm. This happened in the closely guarded society, with round the clock security!

4] The competition and the display of the posters for 'The mission -Clean Ahmedabad' by 'Ahmedabad Mirror' was there at the Law Garden, last week.The under taken campaign, as 'Christina's Challenge' is for the noble cause to involve the common man of the society and to spread the values of the cleanliness and sanitation, in the community. I could correlate this well with the similar 'Art competitions ' for the manhole covers in the Western world, few decades back. [ I also contributed in a little way by attending one of the 'sunday sessions' and also by submitting the above 2 posters of the contest to appeal for 'Cleaner Ahmedabad'.]

..in S.E.A.R.C.H. of 'MANHOLE COVERS' [?!]

Travel photography is one of my favorite hobbies. It is quite challenging type of shooting because it encompasses certain factors, which you may hardly control, like time of the day, light quality, direction and the distance of the object, especially if you are pressed with tight itinerary. Apart from the conventional sites I love to click and ‘capture’ the unusual and atypical sights too. They may be street signs or window designs, soaring spires or local attires, scribbling on the walls or eatables in the stalls, tower clocks or just ancient mailbox. Generally these subjects are the impromptu decisions. [of course they have made some of my unique photographic ‘collections’ like ‘cows in New York’ or ‘cabs in London’] .But this time, for the first time, the unusual theme was almost pre decided- before starting the trip!

While planning our trip and studying different cities to set up our route for Eastern Europe, we discovered many interesting facts about ‘manhole covers’. We were to land in Prague in Czech [for IPP], and to return via Warsaw, of Poland. Bratislava, the capital of the young nation-Slovakia was squeezed in ,literally for the visit to that world famous ‘Cumil-Manhole sculpture’ During that fortnight, our ‘search’ on cobbled streets of the above cities, along with Budapest and Krakow, was in real sense stretched to s. e. a. r. c. h., an acronym which befittingly describes the different faces of these ‘Poziom Wlazu’ (‘Gates to underground’)…viz. Sanitation & Sewers, Endangerment & Explosions, Artwork & Antiquity, Rescue & Resistance, Culture and Craftsmanship, History & Humour.

Ignoring the above order of this ‘search’, let’s take the ‘sweeping’ view of these manhole covers.

HISTORY

Webster's Dictionary defines manhole as “a hole through which a man can get into a sewer, conduit, etc. for repairs or inspection “ People who worry about gender and language want the term "manhole cover" changed to "sewer cover." However, the word manhole was first used to access the holes between the decks of the old, all-male, sailing ships. It had nothing to do with the sewers.

Asides from the sewage systems, which came in the existence only in last few centuries, manhole covers were in the use thousands of years ago, mainly to cover ‘access ports’ of water supply conduits. Either large slabs of wood or stone could be found on such aqueducts. The size may have varied, but the basic design of the slabs remained the same from Roman times until approx. the 18-19th century. Prior to sewage systems, many pre-18th century houses made use of cesspits underneath their homes - or simply let their waste flow directly on the street. The open channels on the sides of the streets then transported the waste to the closest body of water. For practical reasons, sewers were the convenient choice to transport waste out of the resident's way. The word itself - sewer - derives from the old French "seuwiere” meaning "to drain”. They were created underneath the streets in an effort to keep the waste away from the structures, and allow it to flow away from the residential areas. However - there was no easy street access to the conduits, meaning the workers would have to either dig their way down, or most likely, enter through the actual toilet hole. The toilets themselves thus became manholes. Extensive studies over many years were conducted to ensure that sanitation workers would have easier access to the system for maintenance. Street level channels would lead to the waste conduits, giving access to the sewers. These channels - or manholes - needed obvious covers; easy for workers to access, yet hard for residents to accidentally fall in or steal.

Cultural influence on Design Manhole cover design varies greatly from city to city. The emerging layout definitely depends on the city corporation’s budget and art consciousness. Some American cities, such as Seattle, opted for a clever street map design on their covers; others went with city logos or seals. Most, though, choose a simple grid pattern, or checkered design. The reason behind a pattern or design on the covers is simple - traction - both for pedestrians, as for vehicles. Round, cast-iron manhole covers were an efficient choice over square for a few simple reasons. Another reason was transportation and installation. Rolling covers could make maneuvering easier. Then - the shape could assist preventing the covers from falling in the manholes once removed (although additional ledges under the covers keep them in place). As of late, manhole cover design is no longer something to tread on lightly. Cities like New York and Tokyo have decided to pursue commissioned designer covers, giving their cities more than just a curiosity and still more beauty. In competitions to find the best designs, these cities have their communities actively participating in waste awareness, while simultaneously promoting a livelier city.

Manhole Covers -as Works of Art

Who would have thought that such mundane objects as manhole covers would ever be regarded as works of art? A quick tour of the internet shows that several of the world's great cities have made a feature of these essential pieces of road furniture, and encourage artists to suggest new designs. They're proud of their manhole covers, which are found with a wide range of patterns. The idea for artist-designed manhole covers in Seattle came from that city's Arts Commissioner after she admired hatch covers (US term for manhole covers) in Florence, Italy in the late 1950s.

Vail, in Colorado even offers replicas of its manholes for sale. Its official website says "The custom cast iron manhole covers resemble the real ones, but are slightly lighter. The two-foot diameter, 52-pound version retails for $295. Suggested uses include end tables, patio or driveway inlays, garden conversation pieces, landscaping, etc. The smaller version, an eight-inch, six-pound gate valve cover sells for $65, with possible uses to include hot pads, deck pieces, decorative wall pieces (inside or out), etc."The ‘Art Underfoot’ competition was launched in April 2004. It invited anyone who lived, worked, or went to school in Vancouver to submit design ideas for new manhole covers, the lids that mark the entrances to our underground network of sewers. The Public Art Program received more than 640 entries from Vancouverites of all walks of life and ages.

In 1998, the Sewer Museum of Paris (Musée des Egouts de Paris) held a Sewers art exhibition which displayed prints in relief created and derived from nearly 100 manhole covers from some of the world's largest cities “We want to show people the beauty at their feet." Two graduates of Stroganova's Industrial Art Institute in Moscow have set up an interesting Moscow Collection, comprising 3052 images of manhole covers from 71 countries, entitled "Sewers of the World – Unite!”

Lions are a symbol of God’s ever-present guardianship over Jerusalem. Lions are mentioned 150 times in the Bible, and the biblical name of Jerusalem is “Ari-el” – Lion of God. These Lions are even engraved on manhole covers. Ms. Diana Stuart often used to conduct tours like "Historic Cast-Iron Artwork", in lower Manhattan in late nineties and the information on this page has been taken largely from the article in New York Chronicle November, 2000.

This statue of manhole entry, in Bratislava [Slovakia] known as ‘Cumil’, maybe the coolest statue ever! Cumil means “peeper” in Slovak .He is an underground sewage worker peeking out of a hole in the ground. Bad rumors say that Cumil looks under women’s skirts! Dotted around the old town, near by this Cumil or the Peeper, are two other bronze sculptures called The Frenchman [Napoleonic soldier] and The Photographer [paparazzo].

Warsaw. The Monument of ‘ Resistance fighters’.

The sculpture showing a resistance fighter hauling himself out of a manhole commemorates those who used the sewer system during the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944. This sewer system remained the domain of the Polish underground fighters for the duration of the Warsaw Uprising and was used as the transportation for the military and the civilian population, as well as a place of their combat. More than 7000 civil population of the Old Town disappeared through the sewer system under the eyes of the German occupiers at the end of August 1944. General von dem Bach took some time to recognize the usefulness of sewers as a means of transportation and communication but “sewer paranoia” soon developed among the German forces in Warsaw who lived in constant anxiety that ‘resistance fighters’ might come out of the sewers unexpectedly and strike at German positions from the rear. Germans resorted to counter attack by throwing grenades down the manhole covers. At places, they also pumped poisonous gas into the sewers.

Risk of Flying Manhole Covers

These curious phenomena were reported in many American cities, as seen in seen in this article of NY Times [June 17, 2000]

Sent aloft by underground explosions, manhole covers have shattered a toilet inside a home near Minneapolis, dented cars parked at Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and knocked over a sanitation worker and a parked car in Manhattan. The phenomenon of flying manhole covers had been seen increasingly over the late nineties in many cities, the result of aging underground infrastructures that sizzle, leak, flame, spark and sometimes explode and pop like deadly pressure cookers

In major Manhole events- ‘Explosions ‘happen when an electrical spark, from the damaged underground wires, ignites a gaseous underground mixture in the sewers and sends cast-iron lids [weighing 50 to 150 kg]–at least a foot in the air.

Manholes- as death Traps!

When searched on the ‘net’, I found the blogs written by few, who had been the victims of the mishaps of falling into these gaping holes on the roads. The gross negligence or the greed to steal these cast iron covers, especially when the prices of the metal soars high- has resulted in great casualty, not just injuries but even the loss of limb or life. There is no dearth of news articles related to such accidents, not in our country, but the world around. Following are two examples, on successive days in the most developed countries, just six months back.

1] Newsweek Web Exclusive- May 19, 2008; USA

Rising Rip-offs ~ Three weeks ago 12-year-old Shamira Fingers from South Philadelphia, while walking down a city street near her home, suddenly fell into an open sewer hole. Frantic witnesses called 911, and rescue crews rushed to the scene, pulled her out and took her to Children's Hospital, where she was reportedly treated and released. Investigators say she was very fortunate to escape serious injury or even death after falling six feet into an open manhole, the cover of which had been stolen. In the last year a staggering 600 manhole covers have been swiped by thieves in Philadelphia. 2] BBC news-Tuesday, 20 May 2008 ; UK

Manhole covers theft- safety- risk ~ Drivers are being warned to take extra care after a spate of manhole and gully cover thefts in a County Durham town… In the past few days, 66 covers have been stolen from roads in Darlington and a minor accident was caused when a car drove into an uncovered gully.

FOOTNOTE The Daspark hotel features 'hotel-rooms' inside the concrete sewer pipes. This , Sewer Pipe Hotel, is the new concept, introduced for the first time in Linz in Austria . http://www.dasparkhotel.net/

*Why is it better to have round manhole covers than square ones? This is logical rather than cryptic, but it is a good puzzle that canbe solved by lateral thinking techniques.It is supposedly, used by a very well-known software company as an interview question for the prospective employees.

[A square manhole cover can be turned and dropped down the diagonal of the manhole.A round manhole cannot be dropped down the manhole.So, for safety and practicality, all manhole covers should be round.]

'CUMIL'- in real life !!

Houseum~as reflected in 'Ahmedabad Mirror'

"Hiren Shah is a doctor by profession, collector by passion. His Houseum at Satyagraha Chhavni has a rare collection of priceless architectural works and artefacts that reflect the breathtaking grandeur of India as it once used to be." By Ojas Mehta- Posted On Tuesday, November 25, 2008

That was 22nd Nov. 2008. Debashish Nayak,Chief Advisor,Heritage Cell of Ahmedabad, was to visit 'Houseum',as a part of Heritage week celebration,which also included exploring personal/ home museums.[In addition to heritage walks/talks and workshops/seminars related to preservation and restoration of old monuments,and making common people participate actively in such a noble cause.] Actually, it was planned that Ojas Mehta, Sr. correspondent from AM will cover this whole incidence live, and report the first-hand views and observations of Debashish.It would have been intersting to see 'Houseum' thro the eyes of this internationally famous historian, restorer and UNESCO approved advisor on Heritage issues of many Indian and foreign cities.He mentioned that Houseum must be one of the very few 'Live-in Museums'. His comments was quite inspiring and encouraging. However, instead of that interview ,the final article printed in AM turned out to be a photo essay, which is also quite impressive,and definitely more expressive .....

After all, one picture speaks more than thosand words!

It was quite a coincidence that on the same day,in another popular newspaper, Mr. Nayak's profile was portrayed as an individual who made the great impact in the community. Thus, 'the loss' was compensated, atleast to some extent!

http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=3&contentid=20081125200811250410242302545416e&sectxslt

Eastern Europe~Night Life !!

Don’t get misled by the titillating title or this provocative picture of ‘topless bar’ signage in the neighborhood of our ‘apartment-hotel’ in Budapest, Hungary. Neither have we gone inside, nor will you find similar images ‘inside’ the following slide-show, SORRY!

'LIGHTS & NIGHTS’- comprises of the images of architectural highlights of Eastern Europe’- my attempt to synchronize ‘aperture’ and ‘speed’ on the ‘tripod’; and give a serious try to ‘Night Photography’.

Please visit again, here-on this site, for ‘Tips for Night Photography’. You will ‘click’ with me- it is not difficult at all!

'Puzzling' in Picturesque Prague

‘

“A journey is better measured in friends, rather than miles.”-

We landed in Prague to see a couple of hundred puzzlers, befriended since last year’s IPP at Australia. This, 28th World Congress about mechanical puzzles, is aptly called ‘International Puzzlers’ Party’ where participation is by the invitation only and there is nothing formal except serious parlance of puzzles. We were hooked to these mind boggling ‘ingenious inventions’, and equally lured by the fellowship of these intellectuals from some 30 countries.

Our thirty minute drive from the airport to the hotel was enough to caution us that next five days won’t be sufficient to explore this city of thrilling collage of past and future. The iconic trams-from vintage T-3 models to aerodynamic Skoda-Porsche of 2.3 million $ each- plying in tandem were as if conveying that this fast developing Capital of Czech Republic and one of the most exciting cities of Europe craves to maintain its medieval character intact. Few ‘rabbit-hut’ apartments on the way reminded us of 40 years of communist rule which Czechs had discarded some two decades back and started adapting to Capitalism.

The first thing we did was to purchase a five-days-pass, our freedom to access any bus, metro and boat. On the same evening we reached to Old Town Square, where the twin Gothic spires dominate the wide open space. The main attraction here is the intricate Astronomical Clock which attracts the floods of tourists every hour, when a skeleton appears and chimes the bell, followed by the parade of twelve apostles.

Next evening we had Founder’s Reception, a chance to see old friends and make new ones. But before that we did a day trip to a very unique world heritage site- some sixty kms away-Kutna Hora- a place of fourteenth century silver mine and mint. But it is more famous for that Sedlac Ossuary, where 40000 human skeletons were put to use to decorate the monastery with chandeliers, bells and garlands of different bones. Anatomy was learnt in a real hard way, once again!

Hradcany or the Castle District on the west bank, houses the largest ancient castle in the world, along with the unique Strahov Library, and St. Vitus cathedral, which looms large on the city. We started our group sightseeing tour there in mid noon. Climbing down some 900 steps, en route, we had panoramic views of hundreds of spires, as if emanating out of colorful domes and brick red roofs. We reached the Charles Bridge, the oldest of 15 bridges which connects two banks of Vlatava River. But what make it more than just a crossing are the 30 sculptures, countless painters, musicians, puppeteers, vendors and of course tourists like us.

The banquet was in one of the famous buildings of East Europe during Communist era-Slovanic House. With echoing sounds of ’pivo prosim’[beer please],and resonating band of Classic Czech music, we had chance to savoir-faire authentic Czech menu-the main dish being Goulash, along with ubiquitous potatoes and breads. The other evening, we had The Black Light Theatre, the Prague cultural specialty which involves an expressive artistry of dance, mime, puppetry and acrobatics of the performers creating remarkable spectacles.

We tried to balance between ‘puzzling’ with ‘cubes’ and exploring the ‘maze’ of ‘jig-sawed’ cobble-stoned streets to unfold the mysteries of Cubism, unique post modern art movement of Prague. We attended talks and workshops related to puzzles and with the same friends we had walks and visits to puzzle shops. Puzzles were posed and solved, demonstrated and debated, swapped and sold - on the ‘exchange tables’ in conference halls, during the bus rides and even on the River Cruise! Five days stay was like a difficult ‘packing trick’.

We had with us our close friends -Anil and Tanuja Relia, art connoisseurs, with whom we were to explore other Eastern European capitals like Bratislava, Budapest and Warsaw during next fortnight. Together, it was quite relishing to explore street-side cafes for Mohitos, Margaritas and local brews; to learn about those enigmatic Alfred Mucha, Joan Miro and Salvador Dali in the galleries beyond was also equally ravishing with them. And quite puzzling too!

Lock ' Tock '

This broadcast on TV was on 15th September,2008, the foundation day of Door Darshan.It is the first episode of the serial, launched on that day-'aa shokkh chhe Shaaandar' [this Hobby is Grandiose!],of course, in Gujarati. It shows the glimpses from my collection-"Doc'sLocks". However, the main showcases are not in the pictures, and show ends abruptly. Any way.....

remembering 11th September...

That was morning of 23 June, 2000.We had taken a ferry from Battery Park on the south tip of Manhatten in NewYork to Ellis Island.After braving up the long queues and climbing a cork-screw narrow staircase to the top, upto the crown of the 'Statue of Liberty',we 'spiraled' down and got out for a breather at the pedestal level platform of the statue.But we were left more breathless by the breathtaking views of New York skyline, from that altitude with the perfect angle, especially on that clear and sunny day.After having shot many panoramic frames with my Minolta XG-2, now a vintage analogue SLR camera,I changed to '70-300 Sigma tele lens, much to the annoyance of my wife, Namita.[We were already late, and far behind our planned schedule]. I took this particular picture, standing some 30 ft away from our set of twins-Shamol & Shanil and zoomed in to bring closer those 5 miles away Twin Towers and fitted them within the frame. I never knew that this will turn into one of my 'most published'photographs. After almost one year, 9/11 disaster happened. At that time,I wanted to mount this picture, now a historical one,in my hospital, and was playing with the words to form a catchy caption . Interestingly,this excercise ended in this set of quartets and the poetic pledge took shape.Incidentally this picture with the poem got published in Times of India,Ahmedabad on 19 Sept.2001,by one of my photographer friends.[Of course,a small print of that poem was pinned on my hospital board for quite a while.The big poster of 4x6 ft.size of "Twins' Pledge"still hangs in Loyola High School,even after 7-8 years of the incidence.Quite out of a blue!]

THE 'BERLIN WALL' - WALK

.. IN BERLIN: WE WALKED THE WALL WHICH WASN’T!!

That was the sunny summer of June,2003.After about a week in Switzerland, we crossed the border to reach Freiburg in Germany- to see my friend Frederick von Knorre. Touring in the picturesque Black Forest in his 1958 Ford-‘Thunderbird’ vintage, he suddenly pulled out near the historical town of Grunwald and showed me weirdly painted concrete slabs grounded vertically on the road side. He asked to guess about those edifices. Had he given me even hundred choices, I would not have been anywhere near the answer as “pieces of dismantled Berlin Wall”. Related stories ignited our interest. We were in Germany to participate in ‘European Lock Collectors Meet’ in historical town of Velbert, near Dusseldorf. Though we had two-weeks- Eurail pass, and intended to travel to neighboring Austria also, visit to Berlin was like detour to Delhi in South India’s tour. We resolved this by taking night train from Cologne to Berlin with shortened Rhine cruise, and return from Berlin, again by DB NachtZug [Deutsche Bahn-night train] to Vienna. We were to get two days there [and save some precious Euros for two nights hotel stay!]

In main tourist office of Berlin near Zoo station, desk person asked us- Fun, History or Zeitgeist? Trying to understand the meaning of the latter [‘intellectual and cultural climate of that era’] we realized that we have to define our preferences precisely. In this city of contrasts and extremes with 172 museums, we opted to combine Royal Prussian past and dark evils of Nazism, but back in mind that curiosity to discover the scattered bits of broken Berlin Wall and to put them together like jigsaw puzzle to solve the mystery of post world war history.

We’d done our home work seriously and ‘studiously’--after Germany’s defeat, each of the victorious powers occupied separate zone of Berlin-USA, Britain and France on West and Soviets on East. This was the beginning of Cold war as the rift between two worlds of Capitalists and Communists was literally DEEP-Dreams, Employment, Exuberance, Prosperity in the West and Despair, Emptiness, Extremism, Poverty in the East. Naturally- more than three million people had fled from East Germany to West Berlin between 1949 to1961. The long wall, encircling about 160 kilometers perimeter of Berlin, started taking shape from 13 August 1961, in a bid to stop such a massive exodus to Berlin. This divisive landmark, for next 28 years, split not only the German capital and nation, but also an entire generation.

We were on feet, strolling along the avenue -Unter den Linten [ literally meaning ‘beneath the Lime trees ] and marveling those historical monuments-Berliner Cathedral, History museum, National Gallery, Reichstag [ parliament ] and ultimately reached the landmark Brandenburg Gate; the most beautiful and only surviving of 18 city gates built in 1789. It was the symbol of ‘divided city’, as one section of the Berlin Wall had sealed the gate. It was rightly said-"The German issue will remain open as long as the Brandenburg Gate is closed”. Under the pressure of east German people in a peaceful revolution, Soviets gave in and the Wall fell on November 9, 1989.The ‘Pariser Platz, empty square on eastern side was flooded with citizens as the gate was opened two days later. In the days and weeks that followed, people came to the wall with sledgehammers to dismantle it, while cranes demolished lengthy parts of the wall. Since then, the same Gate, till to date, stands as the emblem of the reunification of Germany.

We were standing in front of an international beauty pageant, in which an Indian contestant was prominently ‘standing out’-adding glory in the glamour of this grand gate. My camera kit and a foot long telelens gave me an easy access to the group photo session and unique opportunity to shoot.., but I could imagine what it would be all those 30 years of cold war, when every day, every single soldier was positioned to aim and shoot...to prevent those possible attempts to cross the wall. Early successful escapes involved people jumping the initial barbed wire or leaping out of apartment windows along the line but these ended as the wall was fortified. Later successful escape attempts included digging the long under ground tunnels, or taking a hot air balloon during the favorable winds, or sliding along aerial wires, and even flying ultra lights. However there were 133 confirmed killings during such escape efforts to West Berlin.

To give some rest and respite to our sore feet, after almost six hours of walking around with back packs, we took a train to Orienberg.That was a place of infamous concentration camp -Sachsenhausen. This silent site of Nazi Holocaust rather inflicted more pain and strain to our numb minds.

We returned to Potsdamer Platz in central Berlin. During 1920s it was one of the busiest traffic junctions of the world! The damage during world wars, added by this division of the city, transformed such popular and populous square into no man’s land with ‘death-strip’ and ‘the wall’ ran right through the square. The circle turned full in next eighty years, as it regained its past glory- now one of the largest building sites in Europe and a fascinating spectacle of modern technology and innovation. We could spot few segments of preserved wall, giving us dramatic photo opportunities. The location of the whole length of former wall is now marked by a row of cobblestones in the street. We walked on that particular stretch, as if walking the Berlin Wall, and returned back for the dinner, to call it a day.

Next day morning-we visited Potsdam and its world famous Castle Sans souci [ meaning free of anxieties, in French] and then Charlottenburg Palace , again a wonder of Old Prussia . However we wanted to rush for that most talked and photographed place of the cold war- Checkpoint Charlie. We took U-bahn train and got down at ‘Friedrichstrasse’. Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie was just in front of us. It’s been claimed as the first museum of international ‘nonviolent protest’. Their exhibits rightly include Mahatma Gandhi’s diary and sandals, along with related knick-knacks. “The world is so well built that against every injustice there are stronger, vanquishing forces. ...From every injustice arises justice, from every untruth emerges truth, from darkness comes light...” – the words of Mahatma Gandhi were flashing boldly in another display.

The plaque on the cross roads read---‘the separation of the world began and ended at the checkpoint Charlie, the best known border cross point between West and East. That is where American and Soviet tanks confronted each other in October 1961 when the U.S. defended fundamental rights of the Berlin status. The world held breath…’ I also held breath and inhaled deeply, while posing for the photo in front of ‘US soldier’s poster’, to hide that unsightly bulge on tummy [that was the money pouch with passports, hidden on body!]

We managed to find main three of major remnant sections of the Berlin wall. We walked the length of it- this symbol of war and hate and division. How could people in the modern world believe such instance to imprison a group of people behind a wall? It was real, not mythical. With closed eyes in that night train from Berlin to Vienna, I was imaging the guard towers, searchlights, barking dogs and Kalashnikov shots that once made the wall the global symbol of the Iron Curtain. Recollecting those scenes of movie- The ‘Mauer-Spechte’ [Wall woodpeckers] - tens of thousands of people sledge hammering the wall, breaking through the border crossing points – stunned and crying for joy, and celebrating… Suddenly it was interrupted, as if by the popular commercial break on television- ‘Bhaiyaa, Ye Deewar tootati kyun nahi? [Why this wall is not coming down/ is it too strong to break it off ?] And I thanked, on the behalf of German brethren that Berlin Wall was not made of that famous Indian Ambuj.. Cement !!