So what’s with Vienna?

I’ve just realised that I’m living in this wonderful city and haven’t really mentioned it. Another wonderful Indian summer day. Vienna is not just Mozart and pastries. A young friend who came through a few weeks ago remarked on how young and cool the city was. This is a far cry from when I lived here in my student days when a man landed on the moon. It was old and closed then and I thought it would suck me down. It’s changed a lot and I’m glad to be back.

We’re revving up for elections and there’s some scandal in and out of every party’s closet; but this is the new face of democracy and it seems to be everywhere. I wonder if it was always like this? Maybe it was. Maybe it was just that secrets were kept. Now nothing is confidential anymore, thanks, I guess, to ICTs. What we’re up against now is the spindoctors.

I digress. Vienna has the most terrific public transport system and students travel free in the school holidays. Vienna has a dialect that’s a language in itself and reflects the whole gammut of hopes, fears, loves and hates of this city. Deep down though, there’s empathy and a sort of skewed humour and that’s probably why I like it here.