The tour started on a serious note. In fact, serious is a definite understatement. I would rather call the experience solemn. How else would you describe a place which has been the point of the Crusades for centuries, where all the three People of the Book go to pray within 500 metres of each other, a place whose religious diversity would shroud the entire region’s polity for an eternity? Climbing up the stairs of old city, I took the same path that Jesus Christ had taken en route to the Church of the Holy Sepulchur where he was crucified. Amid the frenzy of the faithful gathered all around, I managed to kneel down and touch the stone on which the Pilate drove the nail in. That touch proved to be fateful, setting the mood of my trip. While quick visits to the Wailing Western Wall, holiest place for Jews, and the Dome of the Rock, holy to both Jews and Muslims, only added to the heavy weather forming within myself, I did not have recourse to a load of feni to take care of the faith overdose. There was the lovely Kosher wine from the Golan Heights but I will come to it later.
I was in Jerusalem, a city where history and faith, civilisation and myth, ethnicity and religion make an incendiary broth.
The city exacts an opinion about it. I found it thoroughly captivating but eerie, maybe the present-day political situation of the region adding to the tension in the air. There is something extreme about this place; it never lets you relax even if it be an endless stroll through the Arab or Jewish quarters.
The next day turned out to be a whole lot different. It involved a visit to a kibbutz, Israel’s equivalent of a commune. Today, socialism has been totally replaced by nationalism and community interplay by private ownership. Well, one could argue if Zionism was a desired conclusion of the community experiment but this isn’t the proper forum. Just a stone’s throw from Kibbutz Ein Gadi, was the Dead Sea, lowest point on earth. The proverbial dunk in the mineral-rich waters proved to be refreshing, while being afloat all the way.
Masada, the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the complex of palaces and fortifications built by King Herod, stands on a horst on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert. The place was scene to a two-year-long siege by Roman forces during the First Jewish-Roman War. At the end of the two years, the Roman garrison went for an all out offensive, leaving the 900-odd Sicarii rebels with the only option of surrender. The rebels opted for mass suicide and the Romans occupied the City of the Dead. Till date, the opulent baths, storage houses and the hanging palace of Herod stand firm, beautiful witnesses to a horrific and heroic act in defence of faith. This was a heavy experience too. Today, members of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) hold their swearing-in ceremony on the top of Masada. It ends with the pledge: “Masada will not fall again.”
I was in Jerusalem, a city where history and faith, civilisation and myth, ethnicity and religion make an incendiary broth.
The city exacts an opinion about it. I found it thoroughly captivating but eerie, maybe the present-day political situation of the region adding to the tension in the air. There is something extreme about this place; it never lets you relax even if it be an endless stroll through the Arab or Jewish quarters.
The next day turned out to be a whole lot different. It involved a visit to a kibbutz, Israel’s equivalent of a commune. Today, socialism has been totally replaced by nationalism and community interplay by private ownership. Well, one could argue if Zionism was a desired conclusion of the community experiment but this isn’t the proper forum. Just a stone’s throw from Kibbutz Ein Gadi, was the Dead Sea, lowest point on earth. The proverbial dunk in the mineral-rich waters proved to be refreshing, while being afloat all the way.
Masada, the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the complex of palaces and fortifications built by King Herod, stands on a horst on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert. The place was scene to a two-year-long siege by Roman forces during the First Jewish-Roman War. At the end of the two years, the Roman garrison went for an all out offensive, leaving the 900-odd Sicarii rebels with the only option of surrender. The rebels opted for mass suicide and the Romans occupied the City of the Dead. Till date, the opulent baths, storage houses and the hanging palace of Herod stand firm, beautiful witnesses to a horrific and heroic act in defence of faith. This was a heavy experience too. Today, members of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) hold their swearing-in ceremony on the top of Masada. It ends with the pledge: “Masada will not fall again.”
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine
IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM B-School Detail
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine
IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM B-School Detail
