A sneak peek of Austria: stepping into dreamland (Part 1)!

What is essential in life is to be happy. With all aspects taken care of – money, status, friends, fame, to name a few – life still needs that one thing, and that is happiness. The famous author R.K.Narayan, in his renowned story collection “Malgudi Days” mentioned time and again the importance of this aspect; the simple fact – that happiness is a choice, and we must consciously want to make that choice at every stage of life.

One of the choices I make to get myself instantly happy is to travel. Not far and wide, but close-by. It is rather important for me to be on my budget, stay on my terms and to be on my own mercy to enjoy a travel. As the famous Frank Sinatra once sang, “I travelled each and every highway/And more, much more than this/I did it my way”, you must find your own way that suits you. Perhaps, someone wants to indeed go the far. That is perfectly fine. I came to know of a couple in Europe who had spent most of their romantic life motorbiking through large parts of Latin America. In fact, given the chance, they want to do it even today. The bottom-line therefore is to make a travel, open oneself up during the travel, and in the end, through the process, feel happy.

My nephew lives in a beautiful Austrian town called Villach, some hundred kilometres from Southern Germany, where I live. It was a matter of pride for me to visit him. A brilliant mind, with a sharp sense of wisdom, he is working as a researcher there. My journey was on a buss. I liked to see when traveling, that is why I preferred not to drive myself. And I did really see enigma in front of my eyes. I had heard of mountains before, had seen a few hills on a long drive from Stuttgart to Munich once, but nothing like what I saw this time. The great Alps was majestic, not just because it was large, expanded and high, but also because it was inspiring. The peaks and troughs were not rugged, they were smooth. They were like small pencil scratches with shades and emotions drawn by a pair of skilled creative hands. They were covered with green grass, and large trees – some of whom I had never met before!

There were occasional castles and chapels. There were layers of the mountains and there were houses in those layers. Amazing pictures they created which got caught in the mind and heart. If we have appreciated nature for so long, how and why are we forgetting that? If we say commercialization has a negative impact, no problem. Let us make these spots more attractive for tourist and think of promoting nature! Is not it a good idea?

Entering Villach at the start of the night was again a beautiful experience. Europe had stood for freedom, and individual liberty. Austria stood out in the list of one of the most accomplished countries in the world when it came to robust GDP per capita, substantiable median wealth and relatively less inequality. An evening on a small town at the arm of Alps and Drau River was serene, and there was a gentle wind blowing through the both of us. Me and my nephew spent a good amount of time chatting and catching up on each other’s daily business. While we talked, the gush of air stayed with us. In fact, this gentle breeze kept blowing through us on all the days.

My hotel was at the City Centre, but I had a hard time to make myself believe what part of Villach was not a “City Centre”. It felt like every corner was special and central to everything, every small alley was offering a gentle hug, every house was a joy for the eyes. The people were so nice and warm that it felt as if the city came together to sing the famous Rabindranath Tagore song “Eso eso amar ghare eso” which roughly translates to “Come, come to my house, stay where I stay”!

If the first evening was a trailer, the next morning was a beautiful poetry session. I woke up when Alps woke up, exactly at the early hour of the day. The hotel room had a large window and through it I could see her. What a beauty it was! Night light had not allowed me to see those magnificent houses at the hill tops. On the morning, they revealed themselves. In fact, there were many of them. I wondered how beautifully the artisans had created those designs and how they had planted them on the adjoining layers of the hills. The icing on the cake was the tiny, white cloudlet which hovered on top of one of the hills. It reminded me of the couplet of Shelly “I am the daughter of Earth and Water, /And the nursling of the Sky; “.

[To be continued....]