Vicky Cristina Barcelona and some more of Barcelona

Watching the movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona felt like a wave of calm soothing water wash over all my distress and anxiety. I chanced upon the movie in the video parlour and the thought of seeing a few glimpses of that memorable city was enough to make me pick it up.

And frankly I wasn't disappointed by my impulse decision. The movie cutting across two Spanish cities captures the essence and spirit of the their life very well. It creates an imagery of the laid back Spanish life that is so real - one can almost touch it.

While the story revolves around a sense of discovering oneself, of fulfillment, of carefree abandon, of love and lust - the backdrop is replete with images of the ecstasy derived out of art, the love of wine and the Spanish guitar and the good living that so much form a part of the life of the Spanish people - and which creates the atmosphere for the protagonists to wander fearless into territories uncharted by their society and its popular held notions.

This is the second movie I saw, the first one being L'auberge espagnole, which talks about the city of Barcelona making a lasting impact on the lives of people who live there for some time. I couldn't agree more having emerged much more surer and aware of myself after having spent a small part of my life there.

But I got so caught up talking about Barcelona that I completely left out in the cold the thought I had started with. Immersed as most of us are by our work - yet for me I have never felt that the work is a part of me - it always feels like I am swimming against a strong current as opposed to floating in a peaceful stream. I think any thoughts, any memories and any imaginations that we have about this calm, serene water transports us to a place where our mind, our heart and our conscious can't follow with its tough, unanswerable questions.