istanbul 01

istanbul/ 0.1

[Notes from Istanbul trip, Dec 25-28]

Istanbul/bridge I remember the time an uncle brought back a device

called the View-Master from a U.S trip. I must have been all of seven

or eight then. With the Viewer came a set of "reels", that you could

pop in and see exotic images of far-away lands. Boy, was I hooked! I

would pop in the "New York City" reel, and look at the sepia-tinted

pictures (color reels came a little later). Central Park. Brooklyn

Bridge! I oohed and aahed dutifully; truthfully though, I couldn't

have told the difference between that and any other bridge back then.

This treacly bit of nostalgia came floating by when I sat down to

write about our recent Istanbul trip; when I try to sort through the

collision of images and memories in my mind's eye and come up with a

singular vision that is representative of the city, I realize it is

hard to pick one. One could conceivably put together a dozen images of

the city, enough to fill up a View-Master reel, that would have the

viewer scratching his or her head in befuddlement. Those narrow lanes

near the shore, with views of the Bosphorous...couldn't that be

Venice? The kebab vendors on the dusty streets of Old Istanbul would

remind you of Delhi. That childhood confusion when it comes to

identifying bridges surfaces once more - the Bosphorous Bridge, from a

certain angle, could pass off for the Golden Gate in San

Francisco.There is even a vision, when you walk on the Galata Bridge,

of a distant snow covered peak which looks so much like Mount Fuji .

The last one, of course, is faux memory - I have never been to Japan.

But welcome to Istanbul anyway - it will play tricks with your mind,

and you can project whatever fantasy place you want on to it. The city

doesn't mind. How could it? It is way too busy straddling two

continents.

***

"Charter flight", I have come to realize, is travel agent-speak for

"flight with leg space and service comparable to flights that

originate from Guantanamo Bay, shepherding prisoners to illegal

detention centers in Eastern Europe". The flight that we take has been

stripped of any first/business class seats, and instead crammed with

the maximum legally allowed number of economy class ones. Our flight

departs after a 2-hour delay, and we reach Antalya at 1:00 am. A bunch

of tourists get off, to enjoy the sun and sand on the Mediterranean

coast here, I suppose. After a brief stopover, we eventually fly out

to Istanbul, and reach at an unearthly 4:00 am. It is flurrying

lightly, and the tarmac is frozen, so we tip-toe on to the bus that

herds us to the terminal. I wish I had got off at Antalya.

***

Istanbul/skyline If you take a ferry across the Bosphorous to �sk�der,

which is on the Asian side, and then look back at the fast

disappearing promontory of Old Istanbul, you will be greeted with a

sight that is most wondorous, at once exhilarating and mysterious,

like something out of a fairy tale. You will see an army of minarets,

seemingly suspended in air and soaring heavenward, yearning to be in

communion with God.

Other cities boast of skyscrapers, all new and shiny. Istanbul has its

minarets; the older the better. The "New Mosque" along the waterfront

at Emin�n� is more than 400 years old. It might take a couple of

centuries before it loses its New Kid on the Block status. Consider

the competition though - the venerable Aya Sofya, one of Istanbul's

top attractions, was built way back in 537 AD. It was our first stop

on Day 1.

The Aya Sofya, in its current incarnation, was built by Emperor

Justinian (two pre-Justinian versions were destroyed in riots). It was

the grandest church in all of Christendom until the Byzantine conquest

in the 1450s, when Mehmet II converted it into a mosque. When you

enter the place, the inner dome, which is 30 meters in diameter, takes

your breath away. When you look up, and you most assuredly will, the

mosaic portrait of Madonna and Child will be visible near the ceiling.

The Ottomans, who came after the Byzantines, had their own additions,

like the low-hanging chandeliers that dominate the lower level.

Istanbul/view from Aya Sofya Large medallions with Arabic letters with

the names of Allah and some earlier caliphs were added on, and occupy

pride of place now. The intricate mosaic work on the first level, from

the Justinian era, were covered up as it is (was?) against Islamic

tradition to display people in art. They survive to this day - in

damaged condition though. When you peer out the windows on the first

level, you have a view of - what else, more awe-inspiring minarets -

of the "Blue Mosque" this time, which was commissioned by Sultan Ahmet

(ruled: 1603-1617) specifically to rival the Aya Sofya.