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The Financial Express MARCH 18 l 2012 l 5 l F l O l O l T l L l O l O l S l E l Eric Weiner T RAVEL,LIKElife,isbest understood backward but must be experienced forward, to paraphrase Kierkegaard. After decades of wandering, only now does a pattern emerge. I’m drawn to places that beguile and inspire, se- date and stir, places where, for a few blissful moments I loosen my death grip on life, and can breathe again. It turns out these destinations have a name: thin places. It is, admittedly, an odd term. One could be forgiven for thinking that thin places describe skinny nations or perhaps cities populated by thin people.No,thinplacesaremuchdeep- er than that. They are locales where the distance between heaven and earth collapses and we’re able to catch glimpses of the divine, or the transcendentor,asIliketothinkof it, the Infinite Whatever. Travel to thin places does not nec- essarilyleadtoanythingasgrandiose as a “spiritual breakthrough,” what- ever that means, but it does disorient. It confuses. We lose our bearings, and find new ones. Or not. Either way, we arejoltedoutof oldwaysof seeingthe world, and therein lies the transfor- mative magic of travel. It’s not clear who first uttered the term “thin places,” but they almost certainly spoke with an Irish brogue. The ancient pagan Celts, and later, Christians, used the term to describe mesmerising places like the wind- swept isle of Iona or the rocky peaks of CroaghPatrick.Heavenandearth, the Celtic saying goes, are only three feet apart, but in thin places that dis- tance is even shorter. So what exactly makes a place thin? It’s easier to say what a thin place is not. A thin place is not neces- sarily a tranquil place, or a fun one, or even a beautiful one, though it may be allof thosethingstoo.DisneyWorldis not a thin place. Nor is Cancún. Thin places relax us, yes, but they also transform us—or, more accurately, unmask us. In thin places, we become our more essential selves. Thin places are often sacred ones—St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, the Blue Mosque in Istanbul— but they need not be, at least not con- ventionally so. A park or even a city square can be a thin place. So can an airport. I love airports. I love their self-contained, hermetic quality, and the way they make me feel that I am floating, suspended between coming and going. The question, of course, is which places? And how do we get there? You don’t plan a trip to a thin place; you stumble upon one. But there are steps youcantaketoincreasetheoddsof an encounter with thinness. For starters, have no expectations. Noth- ing gets in the way of a genuine expe- rience more than expectations, which explains why so many “spiri- tual journeys” disappoint. And don’t count on guidebooks—or even friends—topinpointyourthinplaces. To some extent, thinness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Or, to put it another way: One person’s thin place is another’s thick one. Getting to a thin place usually re- quiresabitof sweat.Onedoesnottyp- ically hop a taxi to a thin place, but sometimes you can. That’s how my 7- year-old daughter and I got to St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. Video camera in hand, she paused at each statue of the various saints, marveling, in a hushed voice, at their poses and headgear. She was with me, too at the Bangla Sahib gurdwara, a Sikh temple in New Delhi. The temple owes its thin- ness, in part, to the contrasting thick- ness amassed outside its gates: the press of humanity, the freestyle traf- fic, the unrelenting noise and, in gen- eral,thecontrolledanarchythatisur- banIndia.Westeppedinsidethegates of the gurdwara and into another world. The mesmerising sound of a harmonium wafted across a reflect- ingpool.Thewhitemarblefeltcoolon my bare feet. The temple compound was not devoid of people, but this was a different sort of crowd. Everyone walkedtotheedgeof thewater,drawn by something unspoken, lost in their solitaryworlds,together. At the gurdwara, time burst its banks. I was awash in time. That’s a common reaction to a thin place. It’s not that we lose all sense of time but, rather, that our relationship with time is altered, softened. In thin places, time is not something we feel compelled to parse or hoard. There’s plenty of it to go around. Not all sacred places, though, are thin. Freighted with history, and our outsized expectations, they collapse undertheweightof theirownsacred- ness, and possess all the divinity of a Greyhound bus station. For me, Jerusalem is one of these places. I findtheairsothickwithanimosity,so heavy with the weight of historical grievances,thatanythinnesslurking beneath the surface doesn’t stand a chance. Walking through the walled Old City, with its four segregated quarters, I feel my muscles tense. Thankfully, Rumi’s tomb, in Turkey, has not met such a fate. It is very much alive. People from around the Muslim (and non-Muslim) world visit the tomb, in the central Turkish city of Konya, to pay homage to Is- lam’s poet laureate. Rumi’s coffin is draped in a green carpet, with a cylin- drical black hat, the kind worn by dervishes, sitting atop. His 13th-cen- turypoemsbrimwithanecstaticlove of Allah,andhisrestingplacereflects that. People are encouraged to linger. Some curl up in a corner, reading Ru- mi. Others lose themselves in silent prayer. I noticed one woman, hand over heart, walking slowly on the car- peted floor, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. Perhaps the thinnest of places is Boudhanath, in Nepal. Despite the fact that it has been swallowed up by Kathmandu, Boudha, as many call it, retains the self-contained coziness of the village that it is. Life there re- volves, literally, around a giant white stupa, or Buddhist shrine. At any time of the day, hundreds of people circumambulate the stupa, chanting mantras, kneading their mala beads and twirling prayer wheels. I woke in Boudha each morning at dawn and marvelled at the light, milky and soft, as well as the sounds: the clickety- clack of prayer wheels, the murmur of mantras, the clanking of store shutters yanked open, the chortle of spoken Tibetan. There are restau- rantswhereyoucansipadecentpinot noir while gazing into the All-Seeing Eyes of Buddha. It is a rare and won- derful confluence of the sacred and the profane. Many thin places are wild, un- tamed, but cities can also be surpris- ingly thin. The world’s first urban centres, in Mesopotamia, were erect- ed not as places of commerce or em- pire but, rather, so inhabitants could consort with the gods. What better place to marvel at the glory of God and his handiwork (via his subcon- tractors: us) than on the Bund in Shanghai, with the Jetsons-like sky- scrapers towering above, or at Mont- martre in Paris, with the city’s Goth- ic glory revealed below. Bookstores are thin places, too, and,forme,noneisthinnerthanPow- ell’s in Portland, Ore. Sure, there are grander bookstores, and older ones, butnonequitepossessesPowell’smix of orderandserendipity,especiallyin its used-book collection—Chekhov happily cohabitating with Personal Finance for Dummies, Balzac snug- gling with Grisham. Yet,ultimately,aninherentcontra- diction trips up any spiritual walka- bout: The divine supposedly tran- scends time and space, yet we seek it inveryspecificplacesandatveryspe- cific times. If God (however defined) is everywhere and “everywhen,” as the Australian aboriginals put it so wonderfully, then why are some places thin and others not? Why isn’t the whole world thin? Maybe it is but we’re too thick to recognise it. Maybe thinplacesofferglimpsesnotof heav- en but of earth as it really is, unen- cumbered. Unmasked. NYT W ARM WEATHER is ap- proaching and it is time to ponder upon what you’ll wear during the balmy days of spring and summer. As nice as they may be, this is the time to cast off your fine suits and don a more cheer- ful wardrobe. However, a challenge accompanies this change as you seek to either discretely cover up or boldly show off your body. Let’s discuss where to find the clothes that have the style, fit and quality to help you strike the right balance, no matter what your goals. This spring is all about bold, colour- ful fabrics so do not be afraid to build a wardrobe that contrasts with your more conservative work- week wear. These designers will keep you in fashion: SHIRTS: BottegaVenetaisknown best for its leather goods, but this sea- sontheywillbeasleeperhitforshirts. Their pin-striped fabrics are particu- larly appealing. You’ll also do well with Zegna Sport’s spring collection, which has improved dramatically in recent years. Finally, seek out Color Plus, an Indian brand whose linen quality meets or exceeds Zegna. TROUSERS: This is perhaps the most overlooked spring and sum- mer item in a gentleman’s wardrobe. Don’t just wear a pair of winter slacks with your great new warm weather shirts you’ve purchased. Seek out trousers by Paul Smith, whose British take on casual style is inimitable, de- spite many attempts. Zegna Sport and Loro Piana also do well with trousers that are more classic and, well, Italian. For something special, seek out Etro for their straight leg cotton twills. TIES AND ACCESSORIES: Etro should also be your choice for colourful ties that show you are as bright as a summer day. You might also compli- ment your wardrobe with a classic checked silk tie or a lightweight striped cotton scarf—either of these will make you truly stand out. SHOES: Your wife probably has (or covets) a pair of shoes by Christ- ian Louboutin. Why? The heels, of course, but also the bold colours. Follow her lead (on the colours, that is) and em- phasise shoes featuring whites, blues, and coloured checks. Avoid the grey, black and bland. For sneakers, a pairof whiteConverserepre- sent the best classic sneakers that fit a variety of outfits and are great value. Stepping up in formality, you should have, at least, one pair of loafers. Try something from Tod’s or Gucci that have a splash of colour. Finally, every man should have a pair of suede Derby shoes for more casual wear. T-SHIRTS: Here is where most summer fashion faux pas occur. Even if it is for casual family time or an outing with friends, there is no reason to wear a t-shirt advertising your last visit to Disney World. Get a proper one from Louis Vuitton, Loro Piana or Polo by Ralph Lauren. Spring is the season of rebirth. I’velostsomeweightandthathasgiv- en me both the necessity and motiva- tiontoreinventmywardrobe.Butthe real reason is to make sure I have the bold colours that are appropriate for a joyous and bold season of work and travel. Those colours are also appro- priate for next week’s discussion of one of the world’s most exciting des- tinations: Cuba. That is a country, many of us feel, ready to burst onto the world travel stage with the inten- sity of a new summer day. Deepak Ohri is CEO of lebua Hotels & Resorts. He can be reached at [email protected] DEEPAK OHRI This spring/summer, do not be afraid to build a wardrobe that contrasts with your more conservative work week wear This spring is all about bold colours (Clockwise from top) Boudhanath, Nepal; Bund, Shanghai; Bangla Sahib gurdwara, New Delhi and Montmarte, Paris Thin places, where the distance between heaven and earth collapses, can relax us and transform us—or, more accurately, unmask us TRAVEL TO THIN PLACES DOES NOT NECESSARILY LEAD TO ANYTHING AS GRANDIOSE AS A ‘SPIRITUAL BREAKTHROUGH,’ WHATEVER THAT MEANS, BUT IT DOES DISORIENT. IT CONFUSES. WE LOSE OUR BEARINGS, AND FIND NEW ONES. OR NOT Where heaven and earth COME CLOSER DELUXE
Transcript of [OR? R ORV 9RE VES RV? UR>< ;ESR?>
The Financial Express MARCH 18 l 2012 l 5
l F l O l O l T l L l O l O l S l E l
Eric Weiner
TRAVEL,LIKElife,isbestunderstood backwardbutmustbeexperiencedforward, to paraphraseKierkegaard. After
decades of wandering, only nowdoes a pattern emerge. I’m drawn toplaces that beguile and inspire, se-date and stir, places where, for a fewblissful moments I loosen my deathgriponlife,andcanbreatheagain.Itturns out these destinations have aname: thin places.
It is, admittedly, an odd term. Onecould be forgiven for thinking thatthin places describe skinny nationsor perhaps cities populated by thinpeople.No,thinplacesaremuchdeep-er than that. They are locales wherethe distance between heaven andearth collapses and we’re able tocatch glimpses of the divine, or thetranscendentor,asIliketothinkof it,theInfiniteWhatever.
Travel to thin places does not nec-essarilyleadtoanythingasgrandioseas a “spiritual breakthrough,” what-everthatmeans,butitdoesdisorient.Itconfuses.Weloseourbearings,andfind new ones. Or not. Either way, wearejoltedoutof oldwaysof seeingtheworld, and therein lies the transfor-mativemagicof travel.
It’s not clear who first uttered theterm “thin places,” but they almostcertainlyspokewithanIrishbrogue.The ancient pagan Celts, and later,Christians,usedthetermtodescribemesmerising places like the wind-swept isle of Iona or the rocky peaksof CroaghPatrick.Heavenandearth,the Celtic saying goes, are only threefeet apart, but in thin places that dis-tanceisevenshorter.
So what exactly makes a placethin? It’s easier to say what a thinplace is not. A thin place is not neces-sarilyatranquilplace,orafunone,orevenabeautifulone,thoughitmaybeallof thosethingstoo.DisneyWorldisnot a thin place. Nor is Cancún. Thinplaces relax us, yes, but they alsotransform us—or, more accurately,unmaskus.Inthinplaces,webecomeourmoreessentialselves.
Thin places are often sacredones—St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican
City, the Blue Mosque in Istanbul—but they need not be, at least not con-ventionally so. A park or even a citysquare can be a thin place. So can anairport. I love airports. I love theirself-contained, hermetic quality, andthe way they make me feel that I amfloating, suspended between comingandgoing.
The question, of course, is whichplaces?Andhowdowegetthere?Youdon’t plan a trip to a thin place; youstumbleuponone.Buttherearestepsyoucantaketoincreasetheoddsof anencounter with thinness. Forstarters, have no expectations. Noth-inggetsinthewayof agenuineexpe-rience more than expectations,which explains why so many “spiri-tual journeys” disappoint. And don’tcount on guidebooks—or evenfriends—topinpointyourthinplaces.
Tosomeextent,thinness,likebeauty,isintheeyeof thebeholder.Or,toputit another way: One person’s thinplaceisanother’sthickone.
Getting to a thin place usually re-quiresabitof sweat.Onedoesnottyp-ically hop a taxi to a thin place, butsometimesyoucan.That’showmy7-year-old daughter and I got to StPatrick’s Cathedral in New York.Video camera in hand, she paused ateach statue of the various saints,marveling,inahushedvoice,attheirposesandheadgear.
Shewaswithme,tooattheBanglaSahib gurdwara, a Sikh temple inNew Delhi. The temple owes its thin-ness,inpart,tothecontrastingthick-ness amassed outside its gates: thepress of humanity, the freestyle traf-fic, theunrelentingnoiseand,ingen-
eral,thecontrolledanarchythatisur-banIndia.Westeppedinsidethegatesof the gurdwara and into anotherworld. The mesmerising sound of aharmonium wafted across a reflect-ingpool.Thewhitemarblefeltcoolonmy bare feet. The temple compoundwasnotdevoidof people,butthiswasa different sort of crowd. Everyonewalkedtotheedgeof thewater,drawnby something unspoken, lost in theirsolitaryworlds,together.
At the gurdwara, time burst itsbanks. I was awash in time. That’s acommon reaction to a thin place. It’snot that we lose all sense of time but,rather, that our relationship withtime is altered, softened. In thinplaces, time is not something we feelcompelled to parse or hoard. There’splentyof ittogoaround.
Not all sacred places, though, arethin. Freighted with history, and ouroutsized expectations, they collapseundertheweightof theirownsacred-ness, and possess all the divinity of aGreyhound bus station. For me,Jerusalem is one of these places. Ifindtheairsothickwithanimosity,soheavy with the weight of historicalgrievances,thatanythinnesslurkingbeneath the surface doesn’t stand achance. Walking through the walledOld City, with its four segregatedquarters,Ifeelmymusclestense.
Thankfully, Rumi’s tomb, inTurkey, has not met such a fate. It isverymuchalive.Peoplefromaroundthe Muslim (and non-Muslim) worldvisit the tomb, in the central Turkishcity of Konya, to pay homage to Is-lam’s poet laureate. Rumi’s coffin is
drapedinagreencarpet,withacylin-drical black hat, the kind worn bydervishes, sitting atop. His 13th-cen-turypoemsbrimwithanecstaticloveof Allah,andhisrestingplacereflectsthat.Peopleareencouragedtolinger.Some curl up in a corner, reading Ru-mi. Others lose themselves in silentprayer. I noticed one woman, handoverheart,walkingslowlyonthecar-peted floor, tears of joy streamingdownhercheeks.
Perhaps the thinnest of places isBoudhanath, in Nepal. Despite thefact that it has been swallowed up byKathmandu,Boudha,asmanycallit,retains the self-contained coziness ofthe village that it is. Life there re-volves, literally, around a giant whitestupa, or Buddhist shrine. At anytime of the day, hundreds of peoplecircumambulate the stupa, chantingmantras, kneading their mala beadsandtwirlingprayerwheels. IwokeinBoudha each morning at dawn andmarvelledatthelight,milkyandsoft,as well as the sounds: the clickety-clack of prayer wheels, the murmurof mantras, the clanking of storeshutters yanked open, the chortle ofspoken Tibetan. There are restau-rantswhereyoucansipadecentpinotnoir while gazing into the All-SeeingEyes of Buddha. It is a rare and won-derful confluence of the sacred andtheprofane.
Many thin places are wild, un-tamed, but cities can also be surpris-
ingly thin. The world’s first urbancentres, in Mesopotamia, were erect-ed not as places of commerce or em-pire but, rather, so inhabitants couldconsort with the gods. What betterplace to marvel at the glory of Godand his handiwork (via his subcon-tractors: us) than on the Bund inShanghai, with the Jetsons-like sky-scrapers towering above, or at Mont-martre in Paris, with the city’s Goth-icgloryrevealedbelow.
Bookstores are thin places, too,and,forme,noneisthinnerthanPow-ell’s in Portland, Ore. Sure, there aregrander bookstores, and older ones,butnonequitepossessesPowell’smixof orderandserendipity,especiallyinits used-book collection—Chekhovhappily cohabitating with PersonalFinance for Dummies, Balzac snug-glingwithGrisham.
Yet,ultimately,aninherentcontra-diction trips up any spiritual walka-bout: The divine supposedly tran-scends time and space, yet we seek itinveryspecificplacesandatveryspe-cific times. If God (however defined)is everywhere and “everywhen,” asthe Australian aboriginals put it sowonderfully, then why are someplaces thin and others not? Why isn’tthe whole world thin? Maybe it is butwe’retoothicktorecogniseit.Maybethinplacesofferglimpsesnotof heav-en but of earth as it really is, unen-cumbered.Unmasked.
NYT
WARM WEATHER is ap-proaching and it is time toponder upon what you’ll
wear during the balmy days ofspring and summer. As nice as theymay be, this is the time to cast offyourfinesuitsanddonamorecheer-ful wardrobe. However, a challengeaccompanies this change as youseek to either discretely cover up orboldly show off your body.
Let’s discuss where to find theclothes that have the style, fit andquality to help you strike the rightbalance, no matter what your goals.Thisspringisallaboutbold,colour-ful fabrics so do not be afraid tobuild a wardrobe that contrastswith your more conservative work-week wear. These designers willkeep you in fashion:
SHIRTS:BottegaVenetaisknown
bestforitsleathergoods,butthissea-sontheywillbeasleeperhitforshirts.Theirpin-stripedfabricsareparticu-larly appealing. You’ll also do wellwith Zegna Sport’s spring collection,which has improved dramatically inrecent years. Finally, seek out ColorPlus, an Indian brand whose linenqualitymeetsorexceeds Zegna.
TROUSERS: This is perhaps themost overlooked spring and sum-meriteminagentleman’swardrobe.Don’t just wear a pair of winterslacks with your great new warmweather shirts you’ve purchased.Seek out trousers by PaulSmith, whose British take oncasual style is inimitable, de-spite many attempts. ZegnaSport and Loro Piana also do wellwith trousers that are more classicand, well, Italian. For something
special, seek out Etro for theirstraight leg cotton twills.
TIES AND ACCESSORIES:Etro should also be your choice forcolourful ties that show you are asbright as a summer day. Youmight also compli-ment your
wardrobewithaclassiccheckedsilktie or a lightweight striped cottonscarf—eitherof thesewillmakeyoutruly stand out.
SHOES: Your wife probably has(or covets) a pair of shoes by Christ-
ian Louboutin. Why? Theheels, of course, but also thebold colours. Follow her lead(on the colours, that is) and em-phasise shoes featuringwhites, blues, and colouredchecks. Avoid the grey, blackand bland. For sneakers, apairof whiteConverserepre-sent the best classic sneakers
that fit a variety of outfits andare great value. Stepping up in
formality,youshouldhave,atleast,one pair of loafers. Try somethingfrom Tod’s or Gucci that have asplash of colour. Finally, every man
should have a pair of suede Derbyshoes for more casual wear.
T-SHIRTS: Here is where mostsummer fashion faux pas occur.Evenif it isforcasualfamilytimeoran outing with friends, there is noreason to wear a t-shirt advertisingyourlastvisittoDisneyWorld.GetaproperonefromLouisVuitton,LoroPiana or Polo by Ralph Lauren.
Spring is the season of rebirth.I’velostsomeweightandthathasgiv-enmeboththenecessityandmotiva-tiontoreinventmywardrobe.Butthereal reason is to make sure I have thebold colours that are appropriate forajoyousandboldseasonof workandtravel. Those colours are also appro-priate for next week’s discussion ofone of the world’s most exciting des-tinations: Cuba. That is a country,many of us feel, ready to burst ontothe world travel stage with the inten-sityof anewsummerday.
Deepak Ohri is CEO of lebuaHotels & Resorts. He can be reached
DEEPAK OHRI
This spring/summer,do not be afraid to
build a wardrobethat contrasts with
your more conservativework week wear
This spring is all about bold colours
(Clockwise from top) Boudhanath, Nepal; Bund, Shanghai; Bangla Sahibgurdwara, New Delhi and Montmarte, Paris
Thin places, where the distance betweenheaven and earth collapses, can relax us andtransform us—or, more accurately,unmask us
TRAVEL TO THIN PLACESDOES NOT NECESSARILYLEAD TO ANYTHING ASGRANDIOSE AS A‘SPIRITUALBREAKTHROUGH,’WHATEVER THAT MEANS,BUT IT DOES DISORIENT. ITCONFUSES. WE LOSE OURBEARINGS, AND FIND NEWONES. OR NOT
Where heaven and earthCOME CLOSER
DELUXE
