Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai


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The night history (and fantasy) became solid

I’m stealing a leaf – or a post, actually – from my friend Claire’s blog, Scribblings.
A few days back she published her memories about the day history became something real for her, it became something happening around her.
Strong stuff.

We talked about it, a few nights back, and I came to the realization that for me, this sense of “My, this is history happening!” also clicked, more or less at her same age, but in quite a different circumstance.

It was on the night of the 26th of April 1986.
I was in Geneva – dreary town on a Saturday night – and it was raining.
We had spent – my school pals and myself – the day in CERN, and now most of the guys were either revelling in their hotel rooms, or having a wild night somewhere in Geneva.
I was alone, I was under the rain, and I had just learned the Chernobyl reactor had blown up that morning.
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[…] it’s very true that the East and the West have totally different perspectives on time. In the West there is a sense of importance given to time […]. But in the East inaction is as vital a movement as action. The East sees time more as a journey, completely separated from order. There is chaos in the journey – it is a big part of the journey actually.
[Fatima Bhutto]

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Small adjustments

Monday has come around again
I’m in the same old place, the same old faces always watching me
Who knows how long I’ll have to stay?
Could be a hundred years of sweat and tears at the rate that I get paid
[Supertramp, From Now On]

Ah, January 2014 is almost gone, and here I am again, trying to do too many things at the same time.

Karavansara’s been lingering in a twilight realm thes last few months – more of a PR media outlet about my writing than a true blog.
The first year of Karavansara has been good, but not exceptional – mostly because I think I was not often personally engaged with my posts. Continue reading