High on a bullet train

It's eleven in the morning,the train station of Santa Maria novella is crowded with tourists. It's not a very large station but is noisy and busy. Yet it's clean ,people walk off the trains and exit without a fuss. There are no large families crowing around meeting and greeting . The sign boards are clear. Our train is a high speed one to Roma termini and will go at a speed of 225 km/ hour. The countryside goes past ,large tracks of grassland mountains in the distance thick forests of pine and local trees. Tunnels abound on this stretch. People  toil on the land and it's currently sunny and hot. The train itself is far better than the etihad flight we came on. There is enough leg room ,air conditioning works, and it's soundless and fast. The husband is already comparing it to India,wondering if such a train can run between Bangalore and madras. I have to gently remind him that in India bullet  trains are the stuff of election campaigns and slogan shouting. It takes political will and a sense of duty to ones people to provide such facilities. In my lifetime I would be surprised if we saw anything like this. Ordinary people travel on this train. In our country if and when it did happen it would be out of reach of the common man. I decide that this is a futile exercise and concentrate instead on enjoying the journey. After all it isn't every day that I travel across Italy on high speed trains. 

My geography lesson

Geography,the study of regions and terrains was a favourite subject but as one grows up,it's impact on the humans living in different regions can't be emphasised more. From food to culture to attitudes geography plays a vital role. In lush green surroundings people are are passionate about gardening,growing their own vegetables and fruits,the convert excess to wines,liquor and all manner of vinegars. If winters are harsh,meat is cured,fruits preserved and vegetables pickled. The harsh winters makes for a robust physique. Most often than not the harsh winters makes people speak out exciting sport,skiing,mountain climbing,snowboarding and others. Their cultures are different too. Mountain people tend to stay close to each other knowing that the elements can change their lives in minutes.

Move over to the deserts. Flying over endless miles of sand dunes it comes to me that this endless brown arid terrain without a trace of vegetation can drive anyone crazy. The sand is fine and treacherous. It's misleading,distances become mirages and people can die in intense heat. Searching for water is the biggest obsession and when they find it then life starts. 

Brown and green,white and blue seem to be the predominant colours of geography. The Mediterranean on the other hand is all shimmering blue and rich in vegetation. Sometimes I think they have the best of everything,mild temperate climate,and vegetation that can grow in sunlight and rain and mild winters. Small wonder then that they claim to have the best diets. Talk of balance.

Then the Pacific. A large continent like Australia is a totally different place altogether. It has it all,the sea,the desert the island feel the outback and a small population so far away from the rest of the world that they are a law unto themselves. Laid back ,happy outdoor people,with the occasional headaches of migrants and boat people.

My reflections are all limited to my small holidays taken abroad. They have no factual strength but I was never strong on facts. To me watching people,connecting them to their environment,observing their lifestyles teaches me lessons that no geography class ever did. I combine my learning of geography with my study of psychology and the combination is fascinating. Listening to Europeans who lived at the time of the wars,to understand what it's like to be bombed,to watch refugees struggle to escape and then find that they have jumped from the fat into the fire,it reinforces that our perceptions move us to places,places where we think we will have a life,places closer to our homelands but entirely different and I wonder....would I have the courage to uproot myself ever from my comfort zone or does war and famine and repression render people choice less....I keep wondering and learning