Last night, just after publishing the post on theContemporary Art Market, I got to know about the passing away of Frank Gehry – an architect and personality with a close connect to the contemporary art market. In the early 1990s, the Guggenheim Museum in NY decided to lend its name and collection to an outpost … Continue reading Frank Gehry’s Iconic Masterpiece
I’ve never been to Goa. If I had to travel all the way from Delhi to visit a state that has lush greenery, beaches, Portuguese monuments, good food and a rich history, I’d rather go home to Kozhikode and spend time with my parents. Goa is now a ‘destination’, a ‘vibe’, a ‘lifestyle’ and a … Continue reading I’m yet to visit Goa
Last week I spent three days in Nashik and managed to get a glimpse of certain aspects of this fine city. Nashik has many claims to fame — from being India’s largest onion producer to its robust industrial base, currency press, artillery training center, pleasant climate, iconic Misal Paav, and of course, its well-earned reputation … Continue reading Nashik Notes
I was in Jodhpur for the Independence Day weekend. Like any other city of Rajasthan, the main attractions are the fort and the palace. (The view of the fort from the city is its most impressive aspect.) I discovered that Christopher Nolan brought his entire crew to film a 40-second scene for Dark Knight Rising, … Continue reading Jodhpur Notes
My last stop before returning was Munich – the place where the Nazi party was birthed, where Adolf Hitler became something more than a petty local nuisance and where the groundwork for the ‘Final Solution’ were drawn up. As I had just a day in the city, I quickly checked out the main cathedral, the … Continue reading Munich Notes
Innsbruck, nestled in the Alps, was an unexpectedly pleasant town that we ended up in. I also managed to meet a schoolmate of mine after twenty-six years, who’s been in Innsbruck for more than a decade. Thanks to him, Sruthi and I received a crash course in Innsbruck history and a whirlwind tour of the … Continue reading Innsbruck Notes
An astonishing trivia about Vienna is that sometime in 1913, Hitler, Stalin, Freud, Trotsky and Archduke Franz Ferdinand lived in the same city. It’s irresistible to speculate if Hitler and Stalin had bumped into each other in a café or exchanged smiles while sipping an espresso or an Einspänner. Source Vienna was the most beautiful … Continue reading Vienna Notes
Prague was one of the few cities of Central Europe that was untouched by the destruction of the Second World War. During the Cold War, the city became synonymous with the Prague Spring – a series of reforms by the Communist Party to make communism more palatable - reduced censorship, more autonomy, decentralization of power … Continue reading Prague Notes
On a whim, I decided to go to Warsaw from Krakow and spent around six hours in the city (of which one was spent trying to figure out its tram lines). Warsaw is large, spread-out and has the ‘big-city vibes’ when compared to Krakow. The entire city was rebuilt after the Second World War. After … Continue reading Warsaw Notes
Polish Jews were the largest Jewish community in Europe before the war. Out of an estimated population of 3.3 million, close to 3 million were finished off by the Nazis. In Auschwitz, 1.1 million (of which Jews were a million and the rest Poles, Romas, gypsies, homosexuals and Soviet PoWs) were slaughtered between its establishment … Continue reading Auschwitz-Birkenau Notes
