Jumping into the Water (Prague Trip-1)

Franz was a married guy and had a daughter. He was fed up with his marriage but he had a little respect for his wife. He respected 'a woman' in his wife. 'He saw his mother- a poor, weak creature that needed his protection- in his wife.' This goes on for twenty years. And one day he leaves her and his old life for another woman: Sabina. He reaches the place where she was supposed to be but she is gone. He sees no trace of her. She is lost in blue. He realizes that he did what he really wanted to do after so long and got rid of his all false moral obligations. He is on his own now. He can do whatever he wants. There is no one to guide him or morally force him for anything. That's when he feels this unbearable lightness of being.

I have been in Franz's situation more than once. I thought I was feeling the same unbearable lightness of being. Trip to Prague was kind of escape from that situation.

When I was reading 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' by Milan Kundera, I put myself in every male character's shoes. Sometime I was Franz and the other time I was Tomas. They both sacrificed a lot for their love. Franz travels to Cambodia thinking that Sabina would have loved him for that and Tomas comes to Prague to live with Tereza loses his job of a surgeon, starts cleaning windows and finally shifts to a countryside.

I was kind of looking for Tomas and Tereza's love in Prague. I was looking for the traces of Czech women who were protesting by kissing Russian soldiers against their invasion in Prague. I wanted to see their belief in love and feel it somehow.

They wanted to defeat their enemy through love. I wanted to understand that love. I wanted to get back my lost faith in love.

Rockstar, a bollywood movie

Prague was in my wishlist since I watched a bollywood movie ' Rockstar'. Janardan had chosen to see his Heer (after her marriage) in Prague.  Heer whom he had loved so much that he didn't even care to lose his stardom just to be able to see her. The stardom which he has wished so much that he was even ready to go through any sort of tragedy to get it.

Terrace of Getty Museum, LA, USA

 

I had seen pictures from Prague in Getty Museum in Los Angeles as well. Josef Koudelka's pictures were in exhibition there. He had photographed Russian invasion in Prague. Photographers too had played vital role in making world aware of the situation in Prague. 

There were many reasons for Prague.

I planned to hitch-hike to Prague. There are some private travellers who offer ride to people in some nominal charges. I chose to trust them. I was pretty nervous all day long. I didn't know if my plan would works at all. I somehow managed to stay in the office till 3 and then left.

Normally, it's risky to travel in a private car. Sometime they cancel an hour before the departure. The rooms in hostels also are to be booked at least a week or two weeks earlier. I got super cheap bed a night before my arrival: 19 Euro for two nights. Then the ride to and from Prague costs you 60-80 by bus. This is the cheapest you can get. I paid total of 45 and that was it. I was scared if I will run out of money in Prague. But like I mentioned before, I was lucky. My salary was there in my account before I left.  If everything goes well, this was going to be the self planned super cheap trip of my life. I remembered a quote from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, "If you want something truly then the whole existence conspires to make it come true" Prague was my true love. 

On my way to Prague, the guys riding with me were super cool and told awesome stories. Most interesting was about the Czech women, "Czech women are the most dangerous ones. Never fall for them", the driver warned me in a serious tone. He backed up his statement by a story of his foreign friend who got into trouble by marrying a Czech girl. "I will never marry". He said. "Laws related to divorce in Europe are so set for foreigners that once they get trapped, they can never come out. NEVER!" 

The girl had first said that she doesn't want kids and later was pregnant. She pressed the guy for a marriage and he approved without a big drama and signed everywhere.

"She had all planned." he said with surety.

Their marriage didn't last long. After divorce the dues he was supposed to pay were so high that he couldn't keep paying.

 "Kidnap your son and leave the country" lawyers suggested.

He obviously couldn't do that. And one day, he left Prague alone and never came back. 

"Therefore, never marry a Czech girl and never sign any papers" he concluded and we all laughed. 

I later realized that one of the guys travelling with us was a Czech. And we had just generalized that Czech women are dangerous.

'Prague has become tourist destination for sex and alcohol. I don't like that.' the Czech guy said.

I asked about the political situation. He agreed that it was better than before but yet it was not so good. I think no one is ever cent percent satisfied with their politicians.

Subway station, Prague

We reached Prague earlier than planned. The names of stations and street were not so easy to find and people didn't easily understand English. Everything was in Czech. I felt like Alice in wonderland: completely lost. The driver was so nice that he helped me reach my hostel. He even gave me the ticket for subway. I reached my hostel after wandering here and there and asking several people.  

As soon as I reached the hostel, the party had already begun. All the room-mates were around the big dining table. The table was full of booze and cigarettes. After finding my bed, I came back to them. I hesitantly agreed to join the night walk. I had to see as much as I can and to walk alone in a strange city was not the best idea. 

We walked along the street, drinking beer and looking for the best club we can find. There were many people with flyers in their hand approaching us while we walked in the Wenceslas Square.

"Do you want sir? Cheap sex!" they would say each time. We simply ignored them and kept walking.

Our hostel was 5 minutes walk from the square. It is famous for prostitutes and strip clubs in Prague.

"I will take you to the best club in Europe: Roxy" one guy announced. We simply followed him. We reached the club after asking many people. There was this girl on white costume dancing the erotic dance. She had a little dark toned skin and always looked away to avoid eye contact.

"It will cost us 900 Czech koruna", One of the guy said.

We all hesitated to go in. We rather chose an Indian club with free entry. It was pretty crowded and when you are sober, clubs are boring. I just stayed in a corner and watched others enjoying the party.

It was already 2:00 am in the morning and I was too tired. With no luck at Roxy, we decided to return back.  I went to bed with many mixed feelings. Coming to Prague was way easier than I expected. I wish the time I spend here will be good and I can safely return back.

When I go to swimming pool, I sometime dive from 5m high ramp. I am not always so comfortable with the height. I simply walk to the end of the ramp and tell myself, 'Stop thinking. Just jump!'  My fear stays just till I jump off the ramp. Splash! The only thing that remains then is the joy of being able to overcome fear. Decision to visit Prague was similar. I was thinking and planning it since long and never had guts to jump. This time I jumped. And then I was in the water enjoying my joyous moments.

..... to be continued