vivek sekar

clear and cloudy skies during my vacation in Tamil Nadu, India.

i hit a creative rut, and that has always been a problem because of which i do not post consistently. to set things right i am going on a fast forward post, about the day in Prague (i already posted about the first 2 days ) during the easter trip in Europe. a comfortable sleep and refreshing bath later, we were down in the dinning hall waiting for the activities guide to pick us up. basic archery, shooting and paint balling were in the list, other than having to pay up close to half the remaining amount for the events i was more than eagerly waiting for this guy to turn up.

first up - archery was a let down, at least as far as the atmosphere goes. i had imagined a ground with target set some distance away, but what we got was a underground section of a casino running the formula 1 race on the tv sets, with a corner reserved for - archery for the drunkards :P. But as we progressed into the finer details of archery, the more complex and refined it looked.

shooting was taking place in some industrial area in downtown Prague, again in the underground section to reduce the noise. 3 revolers, 1 rifle with scope (sniper rifle ?), ak-47, m-16, czech version of ak-47, shot gun. several rounds later and with a score of 45 of 55, only one more event was left out. shooting was exhilarating, charged with responsibility and power and yet control was the key, something we would find out from the next event. not as dangerous as shooting, but equally scary at least when one is hit.

paint balling - guns, suits, helmet , gloves, but instead of bullets its paint pellets. after a quick fire session on the rules, we had a old dilapidated factory all for ourselves and it was ‘game on’ from there on. after close to 3 hours of playing in different team configurations and options, we closed of with me and ramesh having a one on one. it all ended with each other shooting at each other without any pellets in stock.

after some in-car sight seeing and walking around the river banks, we started our journey to Budapest. with a few noticeably funny moments sprinkled in between, coming next.

looking out at the alps, lit in orange and yellow by the setting sun. we make our way back from Italy via Austria via Germany to Czech. spring does not seem to have started as expected but the signs are visible from the early buds of spring, the mountains seems to be growing back to life, from just black white and brown to a more colorful season ahead. the back seat was meant for sleep and somehow i was not able to find sleep other than the occasional dose off, a complete sleep cycle was out of question.

from the plains to the alps and then back to the plains as we entered Germany, on the four lane highway the inner most lane saw all the high speeds. as dinner time beckoned a petrol bunk was the drive inn for us. and it had all sort of alcohol in offer - i found it strange that a petrol bunk had alcohol, it was more of a super market rather than some road side kiosk. after a pastry and some coffee, i was back behind the wheels, and next up was Prague.

the body started of with a slight shiver, as i was slowly letting loose the horses one after the other,we reached cruising speed of 160 and when the speed limits were off, acceleration… and a minute later the needle was hovering above 200 a little more and 220. sounds unheard of started, time to relax and let the car relax, back to a lowered 190 cruising speed in a near straight road. everything was becoming repetitive. for whatever speed i reached, i did not enjoy this drive as much as i enjoyed the Vienna to Venice drive. under the hypnotizing sodium lights, i honed in on the petrol bunk entrance in a vague blur, and a jerk later was back on track to reach the hotel in Prague.

a very unimpressive and uninvolved drive, the bed was ready to comfort my tiring head.

on a dark night, a small white blob appears then another appears and soon its snowing. we are heading to Venice, on a route that is takes us through the outskirts of the Alps into Italy. slowly as we pick up speed on the highway, the first of the many tunnels appears.

each blob of snow under the head lights of the car, transforms into thick long lines that swish past our car on a beautifully crafted inter weaving highway. creating an effect as if i am pushing the throttles of my inter-glactic x-wing to reach the speed of light, and instantaneous to what i meant, the roads became more engaging and interesting to drive on. the white lines swooshing by and i am busy on the wheel with alternate left and right turns, as we navigate into the alps. i burnt the midnight oil and it is close to 1.30am, not much of traffic to deal with, as the splendor of the alps lewdly visible on a snowy dark night, passes by. the pine trees covered in snow on the slopes, provide the grayish and shady but very familiar mountain scape, reminding me of what i have seen in countless Indian movies (even though the actors take the majority of the screen space). the jagged edges arranged in such a manner, as to guide the eye to the horizon filled with more mountains and in between there are streams and rivers flowing through.

Venice was in our plans because of the idea of driving in the alps, after having seen the Top-gear show about the worlds best driving roads, and an awesome drive it was, i enjoyed every moment of driving through the alps, even though technically we were no where close to the place/route suggested in the show. just as the snow was reducing, we were some 100kms from Venice and i had enough of having heard to my collection of trance music on the car’s audio system. a petrol bunk was the parking slot for my bed for the next 2 hours. the plan was to reach Mestre before it was 8, and then head to Venice for the remainder of the day.

after refreshing ourselves in holiday inn, we headed into Venice. armed with my camera and a thought that i will focus more on the people of Venice just as much as i will on the architecture, the ferry took us to the epicenter of Venice - St Mark’s Square. what followed for the rest of the day was more of a dream, and i was very much awake and clicking photos, but just as my conscience self was wandering along in the streets of Venice. i remember the sights and sounds that i experienced in Venice and yet i still feel like it had happened completely outside of me and as if i was completely unaware of the happenings, watching myself from outside.
Mescaline, It’s the only way to fly ?

 
Venice : a city were all the structures you have build in the air has been built, not with standing the only difference that its on water rather than air. a fairy tale land were opulence is visible in more than one way.

we ended the day a little early, as we were headed to Prague via Munich and wanted to be on th alps before sunset so as to see it under the sun rather than the moon. i was the passenger this time, taking some rest and preparing myself  for the night ahead.

next up - autobahn’s, speed racer and psychedelia