Walking the one kilometer Omotesando street is a great
experience. Known as Tokyo's Champs-Elysees, it is a zelkova tree lined avenue, featuring numerous fashion flagship stores.
Omote being ‘frontal’ and Sando being ‘approach’, it has been serving as the
main approach to Meiji shrine since the Taisho era. Nowadays the broad avenue
stretching from the Meiji shrine entrance all the way to Aoyama Street sees
millions walking its pavements to shop at the luxury brand stores.
The narrower, winding back streets of Ura-Harajuku on either
side of Omotesando are also interesting. In these streets, we find many not so
branded stores yet charming clothing stores, themed cafes, and some of the best
Japanese restaurants in Tokyo.
But even if we are not in Tokyo to shop, just walking along
Omotesando is refreshing, enjoying the atmosphere, and observing the distinct architecture
of the buildings designed by Japan superstar architects such as Tadao Ando, Toyo
Ito, Jun Aoki, Hiroshi Nakamura and Norihiko Dan.
Tadao Ando designed the shopping mall Omotesando
Hills, with 250m facade made along the street, each floor was built along a
slope to create a continuation from the street, giving additional public space.
A garden was made on the rooftop, to continue the atmosphere from the zelkova
trees along the street.
Photo: Wikimedia
Toyo Ito designed the building especially for
Tod’s, famous Italian shoe and handbag brand. With the L-shaped and a narrow frontage, the concrete wall gives
the impression of a row of zelkova trees in relation to environment in
Omotesando. Where many luxury brand
boutiques have been built, by selecting concrete as a material the designer daringly
proposed a substance and strength in contract with the surrounding glass buildings.
Photo: Wikimedia
Jun Aoki designed the Louis Vuitton building in
the image of a stack of trunks, as Louis Vuitton is famous for its luggages and
bags . The trunks, each representing a unique room, are connected with
corridors between trunks. The building with the soft texture of the metal
fabric on the facade representing fallen leaves from the zelkova trees in front
of the building.
Photo: Wikimedia
Norihiko Dan’s Hugo Boss eight-story building is
surrounded by Tod’s L-shaped building. Thus, he designed it trying to loosen the
influence of the Tod’s building by creating vertical shapes combined with
circular floors. This seems to accentuate the adjacent Tod’s building, and
creates a symbiotic harmony. The building’s structure is composed of columns
made from steel with a wood-like texture.
Photo: Wikimedia
Another shopping mall, Tokyu Plaza, has emerged
as a fortress of fashion. The unique structure was designed by Hiroshi
Nakamura, an award-winning architect. It officially becoming the home base for big
fashion retailers, as well as a host of smaller domestic Japanese brands. The
front elevator walled with mirrors looks attractive from far, but when we climb
the elevator it is quite dizzying to see all the reflections on the mirrors. It
is like walking inside a tunnel with walls of discotheque glittering ball. Fancy,
but not something for the minimalists.
The cathedral, at the banks of Fiume Adige in
the northernmost point of Verona, is just a short walk from the Ponte Pietra
bridge. It is actually a cathedral complex, since it includes the San Giovanni
in Fronte baptistery, the church of Santa Elena, the remains of the first
paleo-Christian basilica built, the Cloister of the Canons, and the Capitoline
Library.
The cathedral Santa Maria Matricolare, is a
fantastic mix of Veronese Romanesque with Gothic elements. The interior of the
cathedral mainly represents a Romanesque church, divided into three naves by
pilasters from red Veronese marble supporting Gothic arches.
When we enter the cathedral, the first
thing to strike you are the richly decorated side chapels, featuring works of
art produced over several centuries of Venetian control. In the first chapel to
the left hung a picture by Titian of the Assumption. It is a grand painting, showing
the apostles kneeling and staring at Santa Maria floating in towering clouds.
This painting was taken off to Paris by Napoleon I during his reign, but
restored to Verona after he had left Europe.
The sanctuary is enclosed by a curved choir
screen made by Sanmicheli and decorated with a Crucifixion by Giambattista da
Verona. The sanctuary itself has frescoes by Francesco Torbido, based on
drawings by Guilio Romano.
From the back of the cathedral we pass into
the adjoining small church of S. Giovanni in Fonte, which served in past times
as the Baptistery. The baptismal octagonal font located in the middle of the
church was carved from a single block of marble. It was created by the Veronese
sculptor Brioloto.
Next to the baptistery we will find the
church of Santa Elena. On the facade of the church of Santa Elena a Latin tablet
indicates the poet Dante Alighieri who here in 1320 presented his
"Quaestio de Aqua et Terra", an important issue in medieval cosmology.
In the altar of this church there is a
painting by Felice Brusasorzi depicting the Madonna on the throne with Child,
St. Stephen, St. Zeno, St. Giorgio and St. Elena.
A church dedicated to Saints George and
Zeno was built on the site and consecrated between 842 and 847, but was
destroyed in the earthquake of 1117. The current church is the result of the
reconstruction of the destroyed church, which was completed in 1140.
The title of his famous book is Crime and Punishment does
not suggest that this book is a novel, rather it sounds like a philosophical or
social political book. So, at first it did not interest me as there are already
so many books written about this topic. But as I read a review about this book it
looked interesting and compelling to read it, although I expected philosophical
discussions about this topic in the book.
Indeed, there are some discussions like that, but it is written like ordinary
discussions between students. It is not hard to digest.
So, after reading such an exciting book, I took a train from
Moscow to St. Petersburg in winter to meet this great writer. We met at the apartment
in the corner of 19 Grazhdanskaya Street where Raskolnikov used to stay. At first
glance, Fyodor looked like a timid, pale, introverted writer, and he moved so clumsily
and jerkily. But his sharp grey-blue eyes gave the impression of a strong
character, looking at me intensely as if trying to look into my soul and judge
me.
Actually, this man is known for his bravery and strong sense
of justice, criticized corruption among officers and helped poor farmers. I would spare asking him though about a traumatic
incident in his life, as many people might had asked about that already. Many people knew about what happened on December
22, 1849, as the young Fyodor was sent to Semyonov Square to meet his fate – to
face the firing squad, as a punishment for his engagement with Petrashevsky
Circle a literary group considered subversive by the Tsar and the Church. When the
firing squad started pointing their rifles to this group, a messenger came into
the square waving a white flag at the very last minute. He declared a pardon
from the Tsar Nicholas I, in a “show of mercy.” But, this was not a show of
mercy, but rather a staged way of terrorizing the group, a twisted form of psychological
torture. He wrote about this experience in his novel The Idiot. In fact, his
whole life story by itself can be written into a novel, a great novel it would
be.
But this time I rather talk with him about the criminal in Crime
and Punishment, so, wasting no time I started asking him:
“The protagonist, Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, a
23-year-old man, a former law student murdered an old woman for her money, by
two blows of the blunt side of an axe. Listen:
‘He pulled the axe quite out, swung it with both arms, scarcely conscious of
himself, and almost without effort, almost mechanically, brought the blunt side
down on her head.’
It was a contemplated, planned, bloody murder, yet he thought
it was not a crime, listen to this: ‘When he reached these conclusions, he
decided that in his own case there could not be such a morbid reaction, that
his reason and will would remain unimpaired at the time of carrying out his
design, for the simple reason that his design was ‘not a crime….’
How on earth he thought his horrific murder of a helpless
old woman was not a crime? “
Fyodor:
“The old woman, Alyona Ivanovna, was a pawn broker, who
sucked the blood of poor people such that she was described as ‘No more than
the life of a louse, of a black-beetle, less in fact because the old woman is
doing harm. She is wearing out the lives of others.’
While Raskolnikov lived in extreme poverty in a tiny rented
room in Saint Petersburg. ‘It had a poverty-stricken appearance with its dusty
yellow paper peeling off the walls, and it was so low-pitched that a man of
more than average height was ill at ease in it and felt every moment that he
would knock his head against the ceiling. He was crushed by poverty.”
I said:
“When Raskolnikov was a student he wrote an article titled
‘On Crime’, which in the words of his best friend Razumihin: ’There is a
suggestion that there are certain persons who can … that is, not precisely are
able to, but have a perfect right to commit breaches of morality and crimes,
and that the law is not for them. A right to crime? But not because of the
influence of environment?”
Fyodor said:
“In his article all men are divided into ‘ordinary’ and
‘extraordinary.’ Ordinary men have to live in submission, have no right to
transgress the law, because, don’t you see, they are ordinary. But
extraordinary men have a right to commit any crime and to transgress the law in
any way, just because they are extraordinary. But, Raskolnikov did not contend
that extraordinary people are always bound to commit breaches of morals, as you
call it. In fact, he doubted whether such an argument could be published. He
hinted that an ‘extraordinary’ man has the right … that is not an official
right, but an inner right to decide in his own conscience to overstep … certain
obstacles, and only in case it is essential for the practical fulfilment of his
idea, sometimes, perhaps, of benefit to the whole of humanity.”
I said:
“Despite his perceptions about crime, Raskolnikov found
himself racked with confusion, paranoia, and disgust for what he had done. He
struggled with guilt and horror all the time and confronts the consequences of
his deed. The psychological conflicts were written very well in the book, I think
it is the most interesting part of the novel, as it is very intense, full of suspense,
about the murderer’s struggle with his inner thoughts. You described how Raskolnikov struggled with
the crime even from the first time he conceived the idea to murder the old
woman.”
Fyodor, citing the first Chapter of Part 1:
“When he was in the street he cried out, ‘Oh, God, how
loathsome it all is! and can I, can I possibly…. No, it’s nonsense, it’s rubbish!’ he added
resolutely. ‘And how could such an atrocious thing come into my head? What
filthy things my heart is capable of. Yes, filthy above all, disgusting, loathsome, loathsome! — and
for a whole month I’ve been….’
And in another moment he cried: ‘Good God!’ Can it be, can
it be, that I shall really take an axe, that I shall strike her on the head,
split her skull open … that I shall tread in the sticky warm blood, break the
lock, steal and tremble; hide, all spattered in the blood … with the axe…. Good
God, can it be?”
I said:
“And the nightmare he had about him as a young boy
witnessing the graphic killing of a little mare was horrific : ‘Take an axe to
her! Finish her off fast,’ shouts a third... The nag stretches out her muzzle,
heaves a deep sigh, and dies... ‘Papa! What did they...kill...the poor horse
for!’ In his dream he sobs, but his breath fails, and the words burst like
cries from his straining chest.”
Fyodor:
“However, it did not stop him, a trivial conversation he had
overheard from a student with an officer strengthen his intention to carry out murder.
The student casually said: ‘Kill her and take her money, so that afterwards
with its help you can devote yourself to the service of all mankind and the
common cause’... ‘Of course, she doesn’t deserve to be alive. Besides, what
value has the life of that sickly, stupid, ill-natured old woman in the balance
of existence! No more than the life of a louse, of a black-beetle, less in fact
because the old woman is doing harm.’
Raskolnikov thought about how much similar they thought
about this woman and related to his extraordinary man theory, he thought that
this all cannot be just co-incidence, why must he listen at this particular
moment to that particular talk and those particular ideas. As though there had
really been in it something preordained, some guiding hint, it made Raskolnikov
think he is the chosen person to kill the woman.”
I said:
“Then you wrote how he planned to murder her, the way and
the timing to murder the woman. How he prepared for a noose to hide the axe inside his coat
so it could not be seen from outside, how he stole the axe, how he diverted the
attention of the old woman for a time, to gain a moment to swing the axe, what
was in his mind when he walked from his apartment to the woman’s home, climbing
the stairs to the flat. He was out of breath and his face became pale. For one
instant at the door the thought floated through his mind ‘Shall I go back?’ ‘Am
I not evidently agitated? She is mistrustful…. Had I better wait a little
longer … till my heart leaves off thumping?”
Fyodor:
“But he did it. He dealt her another and another blow with
the blunt side and on the same spot. The blood gushed as from an overturned
glass, the body fell back. He stepped back, let it fall, and at once bent over
her face; she was dead. Her eyes seemed to be starting out of their sockets,
the brow and the whole face were drawn and contorted convulsively.”
I said:
“Then unexpectedly her half sister came home and saw the
dead body.’ She was gazing in stupefaction at her murdered sister, white as a
sheet and seeming not to have the strength to cry out.”
Fyodor:
“He rushed at her with the axe; her mouth twitched
piteously, as one sees babies’ mouths, when they begin to be frightened, stare
intently at what frightens them and are on the point of screaming. And this
hapless Lizaveta was so simple and had been so thoroughly crushed and scared that she did not even raise a hand to guard her face,
though that was the most necessary and natural action at the moment, for the
axe was raised over her face. She only put up her empty left hand, but not to
her face, slowly holding it out before her as though motioning him away. The axe
fell with the sharp edge just on the skull and split at one blow all the top of
the head. She fell heavily at once. Raskolnikov completely lost his head,
snatching up her bundle, dropped it again and ran into the entry.”
I said:
“It was very tragic Fyodor….. I think Raskolnikov punishment
started when he had to murder the innocent Lizaveta for being at the wrong
place at the wrong time. This thought appeared in his mind: ‘It’s strange
though, why is it I scarcely ever think of her, as though I hadn’t killed her?
Lizaveta! Poor gentle things, with gentle eyes…. Dear women! Why don’t they weep?
Why don’t they moan? They give up everything … their eyes are soft and
gentle….! Gentle!”
I saw Fyodor sharp grey-blue eyes softened, he was immobile,
silent … his pale, thin, earthen-colored face covered in dark red spots. Then
we said “Прощай” (good bye) warmly.
THE END
This is an imaginary
interview in memory of Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Source: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor
Dostoyevsky
I didn’t know about Alexander Calder till I saw his
exhibition at Musée Picasso in Paris, his art works were displayed together
with Picasso’s works. Alexander Calder is known for inventing wire sculptures
and the mobile, a type of kinetic art which relied on careful weighting to
achieve balance and suspension in the air. He didn't limit his art to
sculptures; he also created paintings, jewelry, theatre sets and costumes.
While residing in France between 1926 and 1933, he cleverly
constructed three-dimensional art works
using wires which give impression of
‘drawings in space’, he turned out charming representations of birds,
cows, elephants, horses, and other animals, including the extraordinary Romulus
and Remus of 1928 that depicts the mythical founders of Rome being nursed by a
she-wolf.
He also created intricate tableaus of circus
performers, but Alexander Calder particularly recommended himself with his sensational
full-body portraits of jazz-era dancer Josephine Baker and bust portraits of
many in his Parisian artistic circle, such as Miró, composer Edgard Varèse, and
socialite Kiki de Montparnasse.
Photo: Wikimedia
With seemingly inexhaustible energy, Alexander Calder
expanded the repertoire of forms in his mobiles from spheres to discs to
organic shapes adapted from plants and animals. The World War II years saw
shortages of sheet metal, and Calder turned toward bits of wood, shards of
glass and ceramics, tin cans, and other refuse he found on his Roxbury
property, creating a series dubbed Constellations and some of his most-beloved
works, including Finny Fish, 1948.
During the walkaround in Le Marais in noticed a street
direction to Musée Picasso….., wow the Picasso Museum of Paris is here ?! Certainly
not something to be missed. Hurriedly I followed the direction to the museum
thorough the cobblestone streets lined with chic cafés and galleries to reach
rue de Thorigny where the Hôtel Salé wherein the Picasso museum is located.
Set in the great 17th century Hôtel Salé, Picasso’s masterpieces
hang on the walls of bright, spacious exhibition rooms. It contains many of
Picasso’s paintings, drawings and sculptures. On the day I visited the
exhibitions were mixed with the works of Alexander Calder, which was also very interesting.
Pablo Picasso was famous a Spanish painter,
sculptor, regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. He is known for co-founding the Cubism, a
revolutionary style of modern art in response to the changing modern world.
Some people say that Cubism is like looking in a cracked mirror everything
becomes disorientated. The artists used multiple points of view to fracture
images into geometric forms. Figures were depicted as dynamic arrangements of
volumes and planes where background and foreground merged. Picasso did not feel
that art should copy nature and did not like the more traditional artistic
techniques of perspective, he said: “If the subjects I have wanted to express
have suggested different ways of expression I have never hesitated to adopt
them.”
Les Demoiselles d'Avignon - Wikimedia
Women play an essential role in Picasso’s paintings
expressing emotion, psychological insight and the drama of human existence.
Known for being a playboy, he had two wives, six misstresses and hundreds of
lovers throughout his marriages. His romantic relationships provided
inspiration for countless paintings,
drawings and sculptures. Each lover he painted can be seen to correlate
with a different moment portraying a fascinating individual stories – sometimes
joyful, defiant, or tragic in their endings.
The most famous of his women included those of Fernande
Olivier, Olga Khoklova, Marie-Thérèse Walter, Dora Maar, Françoise Gilot and
Jacqueline Roque.
While his lovers were such a valuable inspiration to his
art, they seldom emerged from their relationships happily. Jacqueline Roque,
his second wife, and Marie-Thérese Walter, mother of one of his daughter, committed
suicide, and Olga Koklova, his first wife, and Dora Maar, his private muse, became somewhat insane.
On the second day of
our free time from office, I and my colleagues went to Bastille and other parts
of Le Marais. We thought we would see the historical Bastille prison raided
during the French revolution on July 14, 1789, but there is such prison there. The
prison has been demolished and in place instead a column symbolizing peace was
erected on the site and still stands there today. The name of the Column is Colonne de Juillet,
the July Column. It measures 47 meters in height and comprises 21 cast bronze
drums that sits on a white marble base with ornamented bas reliefs, designed by
the architect Jean-Antoine Alavoine under the orders of King Louis Philippe.
The square is now
known as the Place de la Bastille and is an official historical monument of France.
On the south side of the place there is a large curved and reflective building,
it is the Opéra Bastille. It was built by the architect Carlo Ott, and was
unveiled by President Mitterrand for the 200th Anniversary of the French
Revolution on the eve of July 14th 1989, The Bastille Day.
Over the years this
district became one of the most famous places in Paris. The night-life here is
well-known, there are many bars and nightclubs laid between the Rue de Lappe,
the Rue de la Roquette and the Faubourg Saint-Antoine.
Walking on the left
side of Boulevard Beaumarchias, going away from the Place de la Bastille, at the
second street we came to Rue du Pas de la Mule. After a left turn, in a few steps we noticed
the red-bricked buildings that make up the Place des Vosges. This mansion,
built in the early 1600s, is a square composed of 36 houses with an arcade that
runs the perimeter of the square. The park in the center of the Place des
Vosges is called Square Louis XIII. Often, the grassy areas are available for
use here.
Walking down an arcade
with columns and a vaulted ceiling of the Place des Vosges, it felt as if we
had just entered the 17th century. Directly ahead, past the fine cafés and art
galleries, at the corner of this arcade, is the house addressed 6 Place des
Vosges, Maison de Victor Hugo, the house once lived in by Victor Hugo. It is
now a museum, opens every day, except Mondays and holidays.
That day Oriana came out of her room wearing a violet
pantsuit, greeted me and sat on a chair in front of a window, resting one of
her foot over the thigh of the other. In her right hand she held a Virginia
Slims cigarette and smoked continuously. Although she is tiny, perhaps five
feet one and around 90 pounds, her posture gave the impression of a confident,
self-assured, and assertive woman. Her interviews with famous leaders of the
world confirmed it all. This is the woman who dares to ask political leaders “brutal
questions” in her interviews. This is the woman who dared to remove her veil
while interviewing Khomeini, dared to ask Nguyen Van Thieu “How corrupt are
you?”, and dared to accuse to Yasir Arafat “You don’t at all want the peace
that everyone is hoping for.”
Her most popular book “Interview with History” compiled interviews
with 14 political leaders, with a cover inserting Rolling Stone magazine quotation
“the greatest political interviewer of modern times.” During my student time I
read a few of her interviews that made her famous, with Henry Kissinger,
Khomeini, Yasir Arafat and I was fascinated. Only recently I found this book
and was even more fascinated by interviews with the less popular Shah Iran,
King Hussein, General Giap and even a rather “not well known” Alexandros
Panagoulis. Before reading them, I had no idea how interesting the interviews were,
they gave fresh views and opened up windows to the personality of these
politicians.
So, I came to her apartment in Florence through the famous
Ponte Vecchio and sat with this vivacious woman to talk about this book. She
answered the questions with a husky voice, Italian accented, and with a lot of
arm movements. Despite her temperamental reputation she seemed to me a caring and sweet person.
Then I shot the first question:
“Generally speaking, journalism emphasizes on objectivity in
the writings in order to portray issues and events in a neutral and unbiased
manner, regardless of the journalist opinion or personal beliefs.
While you are internationally renowned for your impassioned,
confrontational approach. You became a celebrity because of your interrogative
interviews, the imposing questions that made Shah Iran shared his religious
view, made General Giap to disclose his military game plan for defeating the
Americans in Vietnam, and made Nguyen Van Thieu sometimes had tears in his
eyes. “
Oriana:
“I do not feel myself to be, nor will I ever succeed in
feeling like, a cold recorder of what I see and hear. On every professional
experience I leave shreds of my heart and soul: and I participate in what I see
or hear as though the matter concerned me personally and were one on in which I
ought to take a stand.
So I did not go to these fourteen people with the detachment
of the anatomist or the imperturbable reporter. I went with a thousand feelings
of rage, a thousand questions that assailing them were assailing me, and with
the hope of understanding in what way, by being in power or opposing it, those
people determine our destiny.”
I said:
“In your interview with Shah Iran you indeed assailed him,
it was like boxing, you threw punches to him, he defended himself and even
threw uppercuts to you. “
Oriana:
“He is a character in which most paradoxical conflicts merge
to reward you for your pains with an enigma. He believes in prophetic dreams,
in visions, in a childish mysticism, and then goes on to discuss oil like an
expert, which he is. He governs like an absolute monarch, and then refers to
his people in the tone of one who believes in them and loves them, by leading a
White Revolution that would seem to be making effort to combat illiteracy and
the feudal system. He considers women as simply graceful ornaments incapable of
thinking like a man, and then strives to give them complete equality of rights
and duties. Indeed, in a society where women still wear the veil, he even
orders girls to perform military service.”
I said:
“Did you ask him whether he is a dictator?”
Oriana:
“He said he wouldn’t deny it, because in a certain sense he
is. Then: ‘But look, to carry through reforms, one can’t help but be authoritarian.
Especially when the reforms take place in a country like Iran, where only
twenty-five percent of the inhabitants know how to read and write. You mustn’t
forget the illiteracy is drastic here- it’ll take at least ten years to
eliminate it.
Believe me when three-quarter of a nation doesn’t know how
to read or write, you can provide reforms only by the strictest authoritarianism
- otherwise you get nowhere. If I hadn’t be harsh, I wouldn’t even been able to
carry out agrarian reform, it would have been stalemated. Once that had
happened, the extreme left would have liquidated the extreme right within a few
hours, and it’s not only the White Revolution that would have been finished. I
had to do what I did. For instance, order my troops to open fire on anyone
opposing the distribution of land.”
I said:
“You said in the book that he was cold during the interview,
stiff, his lips were as sealed as a locked door, his eyes as icy as a winter
wind, stared at you rigidly and remote.
Yet he was so different when he talked about oil. He lighted up, vibrated,
focused, he become another man.”
Oriana:
“He thought he knows everything there is to know about oil,
everything. He said: ‘It’s really my
speciality. And I tell you as a specialist that the price of oil will have to
go up. There’s no other solution. But it’s a solution you Westerners have
brought on yourselves. Or, if you like, a solution brought on by your
overcivilized industrial society. You’ve increased the price of wheat by three
hundred percent, and the same for sugar and cement. You’ve sent the price of
petrochemicals skyrocketing. You buy crude oil from us and then sell it back to
us, refined into petrochemicals, at a hundred times what you paid for it. You
make us pay more for everything, scandalously more, and it’s only fair that
from now on you should pay more for oil. Let’s say…. ten times more.’
I will never forget him curtly raising his forefinger, while
his eyes glared with hatred, to impress on me that the price of oil would go
up, up, up ten-fold. I felt nauseated before the gaze and that finger….”
I said:
“Many of the political leaders you interviewed in this book
had socialism view, Golda Meir, Willy Brandt, Indira Gandhi, Pietro Nenni to
Helder Camara. But their socialism has many different colors, from mild to
liberal. Are you a socialist Oriana?”
Oriana:
“No, I am not. Socialism as
it’s been applied until now hasn’t worked. Capitalism doesn’t work too. I
better quote what Indira Gandhi said in the interview:
‘I don’t see the world as something divided between right
and left. Even though we use them, even though I use them myself, these
expressions have lost all meanings. I’m not interested in one label or the
other--- I’m only interested in solving certain problems, in getting where I
want to go. I have certain objectives. They are the same objectives that my
father had: to give people a higher standard of living, to do away with cancer
of poverty, to eliminate the consequences of economic backwardness. I want to
succeed. And I want to succeed in the best way possible, without caring whether
people call my actions leftist or rightist.
It’s the same story as when we nationalized the banks. I’m
not for nationalization because of the rhetoric of nationalization, or because
I see in nationalization the cure-all for every injustice. I’m for
nationalization in cases where it’s necessary.
We realized that the banks had not done any good, the money still ended
up in the hands of rich industrialists or friends of the bankers. And we did
nationalize the banks, without considering it a socialist gesture or an
antisocialist gesture, just a necessary one. Anyone who nationalizes only so as
to be considered on the left to me is a fool.
The word socialism now has so
many meanings and interpretations. The Russians call themselves socialists, the
Swedes call themselves socialists. And let’s not forget that in Germany there
was also a national socialism. Socialism to me means justice. It means trying
to work in a more egalitarian society.”
I said:
“One of your remarkable interviews is with General Giap, the
North Vietnam General during the Vietnam war. He was famous for his cruelty,
the French had fallen into his traps full of poisonous bees, his pits full of
snakes, or they were blown-up by booby traps hidden corpses abandoned by the
wayside, and in 1954 he defeated French at Dien Bien Phu. He was also feared by
the Americans, for his courage Ho Chi Minh used to call him Kui or Devil.
When you met him, did you find him to be a frightening
person?
Oriana:
“I was astonished first of all at how short he was, less
than 5 feet, and his body was fat. His face was swollen and covered with little
blue veins that made him look purple. No, it was not an extremely likable face.
Perhaps of the purple color, perhaps because of those uncertain outlines, it
cost you some effort to keep looking at him, where the things you found were
scarcely interesting. The huge mouth full of tiny teeth, the flattened nose
enlarged by two huge nostrils, the forehead that stopped at the middle of his
skull in a mop of black hair…. “
I said:
“Did he boast about his fighting strategy?”
Oriana:
“He said that the Americans underestimated the spirit of the
people that knows how to fight for a just cause, to save its homeland from the
invader. The war in Vietnam is not a question of numbers and well-equipped
soldiers, that all doesn’t solve the problem. When a whole people rebels,
there’s nothing you can do, and there’s no wealth in the world that can
liquidate it. Their enemies aren’t good soldiers, because they don’t believe in
what they’re doing and therefore they lack any combat spirit.
Oh, this
isn’t a war that you resolve in a few years. In a war against the United States,
you need time, time….. The Americans will be defeated in time, by getting
tired. And in order to tire them, we have to go on, to last…. For a long time: ten,
fifteen, twenty, fifty years. Until we achieve total victory, as our president,
Ho Chi Minh, said. Yes! Even twenty even fifty years! We’re not in a hurry,
we’re not afraid.”
I said:
“Your interview with General Giap caught Henry Kissinger’s
attention, thus he invited you for an interview. Very rarely does he grant personal
interviews, he speaks only at press conferences arranged by the administration.
What did he say about the Giap’s interview?”
Oriana:
“He didn’t speak about General Giap, instead he asked me
about Giap, Thieu and other Vietnamese generals. He even asked me: ‘What do I
think will happen in Vietnam with the cease-fire?’ On Vietnam he could not tell
me anything much, and I am amazed that he said: that whether the war to end or
go on did not depend only on him, and he could not allow himself the luxury of
compromising everything by an unnecessary word. He said: ‘Don’t ask me that. I
have to keep to what I said publicly ten days ago… I cannot, I must not consider an
hypothesis that I do not think will happen, an hypothesis that should not
happen. I can only tell you that we are determined to have this peace, and that
in any case we will have it, in the shortest time possible after my next
meeting with Le Duc Tho.”
I said:
“Did Henry Kissinger say whether the Vietnam war was a
useless war?”
Oriana:
“He said he agreed: ‘But let’s not forget that the reason
why we entered this war was to keep the South from being gobbled up by the
North, it was to permit the South to remain the South. Of course, by that I
don’t mean that this was our only objective…. It was also something more…. But today
I am not in the position to judge whether the war in Vietnam has been just or
not, whether our getting into it was useful or useless.
After all, my role, our role, has been to reduce more and
more the degree to which America was involved in the war, so as then to the end
the war. And it must be ended in accordance with some principle.
In the final analysis, history will say who did more: those
who operated by criticizing and nothing else, or we who tried to reduce the war
and then ended it. Yes, the verdict is up to history.”
I said:
“Now, the last part of your book is an interview with
Alexandros Panagoulis, a Greek politician and poet, who actively participated
against the Greek military junta, also known as the Regime of the Colonels. He became
famous for his attempt to assassinate dictator Georgios Papadopoulos on 13
August 1968, but also for the torture to which he was subjected during his
detention.
Reading this interview, the readers couldn’t help but to
notice that you highly admired him, even an amorous way.”
Oriana:
“That day and night in Athens, just two days after a general
political amnesty had resurrected Alexandros Panagoulis from prison, I met him
for this interview and fell in love with him. “
I said:
“Panagoulis was the real thing: A hero who had been
condemned to death for attempting to assassinate a dictator. He only regretted
having failed. Do you see him as a hero?”
Oriana:
“He said:’ I'm not a hero and I don't feel like a symbol . .
. I'm so afraid of disappointing all of you who see so many things in me! Oh,
if only you could succeed in seeing in me only a man!’
I said:
“And you asked him: ’Alekos, what does it mean to be a man?”
Oriana:
“He said: ’It means to have courage, to have dignity. It
means to love without allowing love to become an anchor. It means to struggle
and to win. . . . And for you, what is a man?’
I answered him: ‘I would say that a man is what you are,
Alekos."
And so did the interview end. Arrivederci Oriana….
THE END
This is an imaginary interview
in memory of Oriana Fallaci.
I and a few colleagues used our free day after a business meeting in
Paris to go Le Marais district. Coming out from the Hotel de Ville metro
station, we were struck by the huge Hotel de Ville directly in front of the
metro station. I was wondering how
expensive it would be to stay in such a grand Hotel. But actually, it is not a
hotel, it is a Municipal Building. After some googling I found that in French ‘hotel’
could mean home, building, residence, so it does not always mean hotel as the
place to rent rooms to stay for tourists. Nowadays, in addition to its city administrative
function, Hotel de Ville is also a place of art and culture. There are many
interesting exhibitions inside the building and the at the square in front of
the building.
Hotel de Ville, the largest Municipal Building in Europe, is located on the
banks of the Seine river and the edge of Le Marais district. The streets lead
us to the fashionable district, full of lovely shops, cafes and art galleries. Today,
Le Marais is one of the best districts in Paris, a mix of medieval architecture,
trendy shops, cultural sights and lifestyle that is unique. A district of
narrow streets on the right bank of the Seine river, where you can enjoy this
historic place, the aesthetic buildings and the French culinary.
Eight hundred years ago, Le Marais was a swamp. The French word ‘marais’
literally translates to ‘swamp’ in English, thus this place was called Le
Marais because of the swampy quality of the land on the banks of the Seine. To
provide new agricultural space, the swampy areas were turned into commercial
gardening. For a long time, this area fell in and out of style due to changes
in the fertility of the land and the difficulty of building on the swampy area.
In the 16th century, king Henry IV dried Le Marais and the place became
the favourite area to build prestigious mansions, where most of the greatest
aristocratic French families lived. The golden age of Le Marais continued till
the 17th century, making
it a center of artistic and cultural life. The nobles built their
mansions (in French: ‘hotel particulier’) such as Hotel de Sens, Hotel de
Sully, Hotel de Beauvais, Hotel Carnavalet, Hotel de Guénégaud and Hotel de
Soubise. The mansions were decorated magnificently, with refined furniture and
some luxury items from this golden period.
Following the up and down of the Bourbon monarchy, the economic
depression, the French revolution, the restoration of Paris, Le Marais also
went up and down. It was raised in the 16th century, destroyed
during revolution and wars, reserved by André Malraux in 1962, then renewed by
the municipal council in 1969.
Strolling through Le Marais today we can appreciate the aesthetics of
the area as it became a popular commercial area, and hosting one of Paris’ main
Jewish communities. It also became a fashionable district, most of the mansions
turned to museum, libraries and schools, surrounded by the best clothes and food
shops, and modern art galleries.
Bangkok is one of
those places where at the moment the day slowly progresses to the night you
still have enough to see as long as you are not tired. The scenic spots, the
palaces and temples, are best visited during the day, but at night, Bangkok takes
on a whole different face. Parties, night markets, nightclubs, street food and unique
shows come to life luring the visitors to experience the night in the city.
Street shopping by day
is exciting despite the heat of the sun in this city, but as the day cools down
in the evening, the night markets opened up like blooming night flowers
offering so much more than the day markets, clothes, shoes, handicrafts, fake
designer goods, accessories, beachwear, souvenirs and of course snack and
drink. In the narrow alleyway brightly lighted with portable neon, you can see
row upon row of stalls lining the street markets. Colorful goods are displayed
on the stalls as attractive as possible, and energic vendors raise their voices
to promote their goods. When buying, don’t forget to bargain, generally you can
get a merchandise somewhere between 25% and 50% cheaper than the first price offered
by the vendor. So don’t hesitate to bargain and bring home some memorable
souvenirs from here.
Many of busiest night
markets are located alongside the popular red-light district, such as the Silom
Night market. It is in the middle of the Patpong district, a famous red light featured
in the movie The Deer Hunter and in James Bond Goldfinger movie. Patpong is two
parallel side streets, between Silom and Surawongse Roads, occupied with shady strip
bars offering adult shows and pole dancing. As the evening turns into night
those bars come alive with the start of loud dancing music. You can see through
the open doors the girls started gyrating at the poles and dancing, under
violet neon lights. The loud voices of the street vendors are replaced with the
whispering touts offering everything from “ping pong show” to “massage”.
Undoubtedly the face
of this Patpong contributes to the name of Bangkok as the Sin City. Prostitution
may take place in many places in Bangkok, massage parlours, restaurants,
saunas, karaoke, go-go bars or beer bars. The names to the bars are so bold,
such as Pussy Collection, Super Pussy, Pink Pussy… hard to miss. The original “discreet”
or “underground” nightlife in Patpong doesn’t seem to exists anymore. The go-go
bars at the backdrop of the night market even became a tourist attraction.
So what happened to
the face of Bangkok which name means City of Angels, where orange robed monks
wander the streets in the early mornings with a bowl in their
hands, where mothers since more
than 2,500 years ago have been cooking meals to give to the monks, where there are thousands of temples inside the
city, and there are altars in every crowded corner of the city to placate the
spirits….?
Does Thai Buddhism tolerate
such widely spread prostitution by not correcting the attitudes toward women
whom are regarded as inferior and even dangerous to men, or does the religion
contribute to the view that women are viewed as inherently impure and therefore
not eligible for enlightenment, and are thus locked into degraded positions
ranging from sex trade laborers to nuns as a means to generate merit for
themselves and their family?
Although Buddhism has
played a significant role in shaping law, cultural frameworks and social life
in the kingdom of Thailand, I think many factors contribute to the wide spread
prostitution, let’s say the World War 2, the Vietnam War, the poverty in the
country where prostitutes can get 10 times more than the minimum wage, and not
to mention the corruptions, the lack of law enforcement, and the Mafia that is also involved in the political parties.
Despite the wide
spread prostitution here, it is actually prohibited under Thai law. But karaoke
bars, go-go bars and massage parlours can be registered as normal, legal
businesses. Police usually treat the prostitution at such premises as an
exchange between the prostitute and the client, an exchange to which the owner
of the business was not a party. So in
practice it is tolerated, sometimes because local officials have financial
interests in the prostitution. Some corrupt Thai authorities may turn a blind
eye on this USD 6 billion industry, involving some 2 million women in Thailand.
What more to say about
the Grand Palace of Bangkok, there are so many things to see and photograph, statues
of animal-like humans, sparkling golden tiled walls and roofs, gardens, paintings,
soaring spires, golden stupas, the endless row of gold Garudas, and not to
mention the highly venerated Emerald Buddha. No wonder that the Grand Palace
has been the center of Thai art and culture for centuries and regarded as the
model of every branch of Thai art. The palace is considered the reflection of the
Thai identity.
When King Rama I
ordered the move of the capital to the Phra Nakhon District in 1782, he
established the Grand Palace as the new center of the kingdom. He drew
inspiration from the palace in Ayutthaya , the former capital of Siam, destroyed
by the Burmese in the 1767. The Grand Palace was strategically placed next to
the Chao Phraya River to emulate the palace of Ayutthaya. The layout of the
Grand Palace, which covers 213,677 square metre space, also emulates the old
palace in Ayutthaya with separate courts, walls, gates and forts. These
different zones within the palace complex include the Outer Court, the Central
Court, the Inner Court and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. In order to find
the necessary material for the construction of the Grand Palace, King Rama I instructed
his people to go to the destroyed Ayutthaya, to dismantle and remove of bricks
and stones which were painstakingly towed downriver to form the new palace.
Part of the Grand
Palace complex, Wat Phra Kaeo (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) is the holiest
Buddhist temple in Thailand and home to the Emerald Buddha. Chaophraya Chakri, who
became King Rama I, brought the Emerald Buddha from Vientiane when he captured
the city in 1778. He built the temple and enshrined the Emerald Buddha there as
a symbol of Siam's regained nationhood.
The mythical and
historical past of the statue created an important belief surrounding the
Emerald Buddha. It is believed that it protected a monarch, their city or
capital. If a king was dethroned or defeated in battle, the Emerald Buddha was
taken as a hostage and kept in the capital of the victor. It is thought to have
spiritual power and is an extremely important icon to the Thai people.
But I was surprised to
see the legendary Emerald Buddha looked so tiny, 66 centimetres in height, perched
high on a nine-metre pedestal that reaches almost to the ceiling of the temple.
The Emerald Buddha, carved from a single piece of grey-green jade, is elevated
above the heads of visitors as a sign of respect. You also must sit with your
feet pointing away from the Emerald Buddha as a sign of respect.
I found the most
breathtaking aspect of the Emerald Buddha Temple is its decorated outer walls.
The walls are covered with 178 colorful mural panels painted during the reign
of Rama I showing scenes from the Ramakien, which is Thailand’s version of the
Hindu epic, Ramayana. In the Ramakien, names, dress, customs, weapons and even
the topography all relate to the Thai kingdom. Rama being incarnated from the
Hindu god Vishnu, in Ramakien he is a reincarnation of the Buddha. His kingdom Ayodhya
in the Ramayana epic is changed to Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand.
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