foreign
[Music]
thank you
[Music] hello yes you hello
I am talking to you from a city more specifically from a non-descript hotel room
foreign
overlooks the city it's raining now
I can see the old buildings the Metro train cars and Street vendors drenched in this thunderous
tropical storm [Music] I am comfortable my room is dark and cozy I'm sitting in my bed
looking at this dreamlike mysterious being sprawled to Infinity
what does it think of its citizens I know it doesn't think but I do so allow me this
Indulgence what does it think of its masses its people huddled together hustling selling
being sold to being lied to being loved keeming helping hurting just living together in this
silent entity
I never feel lonely in the city
I always feel a part of it not a separate sentient being but a cell in its incomprehensible
intelligence
this I don't feel outside of the city in the countryside and towns I feel very much my
own man I know I am part of nature but I don't feel it city city is different
[Music] I used to hate Mega metropolises never-ending spread of neighborhoods Sky scratching glass
buildings and Relentless hustle and bustle used to intimidate me
I wanted to run back to the peace and familiarity of my Village but all of this changed one
day [Music]
it was my first day in Hong Kong the king of all Mega metropolises I had to work on
my first day I entered the high-rise at 9am and didn't leave until 6 30 pm when I came
out of the office it was almost dark which was a surprise I started walking and soon
disappeared into the crowd of Kowloon it started to rain
slowly at first but soon it began boring that's when I saw something breathtaking what I saw
would alter my perception forever from the midst of the crowd all I saw were some thousand
heads walking and moving in unison when droplets fell to the ground almost instantly everyone
took out their umbrellas and opened it almost all of the umbrellas were transparent once
in different colors thousand heads were replaced by thousand see-through umbrellas with droplets
falling on them the puddle by the side of the road reflected the classic neon signboards
of Hong Kong that was the moment I changed it awoke something in me an observer who was
long dormant an observer who saw cities for what they were sentient entities silent observers
the obvious beauty of that city was all around me tired workers eating on the side streets
neon lit Street Food Shops with steaming buns and noodles bespoke Tailors and massage girls
yelling across the street to get your attention the big red public bus passing through distant
Mountain Lights and skyscrapers everything seamlessly became part of this one entity
that night I walked for hours passing my Subways Bridges escalators Malls phone stores brothels
100 year old restaurants canals and boats I couldn't get enough I was no longer lost
and lonely I was part of something magnificent when I got back to my hotel room I didn't
switch the lights on immediately I pressed my face against the huge glass window of my
room or looking several islands of Hong Kong and the Glorious Victoria Harbor lined with
hundred story buildings with thousand Windows Office Buildings and apartments I stood there
for quite a while that night I lay in my bed looking at the distant City Lights which never
slept but I did eventually [Music] this realization doesn't just apply to Hong Kong I am now a
keen observer in any City I happen to travel to about 10 years ago a city had created a
similar impact on me not to the extent that Hong Kong did but it did something quite similar
I was living in Canada at the time one of the worst Winters had come to an awful conclusion
a mix of snow and freshly sprouted greens were all over my neighborhood life wasn't
good I had no money and my living situation was toxic to put it mildly [Music]
thank you my friend and I saved a couple hundred dollars between us and ran off to Montreal
early in the morning we negotiated a deal with a newspaper van heading to Montreal we
set off surrounded by thousands of newspapers and the smell of mold we passed by sleepy
Northern towns and forests some seven hours later we found ourselves in Montreal an old
French city in Canada we managed to secure a place in 16-person room in the hostel filled
with bunk beds I didn't mind any of the inconvenience the noise the shared washroom everything was
new and exciting back in the day I used to have a small MP3 player with me at all times
remember those with the soundtrack of the film Midnight in Paris Landing in our ears
they began exploring the city by foot the Victorian lamps and the cobblestone streets
of Old Montreal transported us to an ancient another world that's also one of the first
time I thought about the timelessness of a city especially those cities that remain unchanged
in its Soul even after going through hundreds of Wars famine floods and kingdoms that's
one of the reasons why I always wanted to visit Istanbul an ancient Metropolis along
the Bosphorus Strait I've always felt this special connection with that City almost like
I've lived there in some previous life I know it sounds stupid previous life what am I thinking
but to stand in those Stone Laden streets and looking at something like Hagia Sophia
must be amazing just the knowledge that billions of people across ages have witnessed the same
mesmerizing site it's nothing short of incredible I feel the same sense of ah when I visit the
ancient cities of India such as Sri Lanka Martin are cities in China such as Beijing
or Nanjing foreign
[Music] go to school go to dinners go on dates fall in love and grow old and just for doing
something ask mundane as living Our Lives we are part of History these cities have seen
millions and billions of lives such as ours and it might see a billion more
foreign
one of my favorite things to do in the city is to go on night walks and night rides past
those so-called normal people's bedtimes I once used to live in an island city where
the sound of the crashing waves was never far away I used to go for jogs and bicycle
rides well past 12 am the bustling streets bars restaurants and side stores would often
be loved into a quiet sleep my only companions were distant houses a lone dogs bark and flickering
street lights traffic signals and an occasional passing car late night city streets offer
me a certain Comfort Clarity and this beautiful inner peace [Music]
back to where I am now I am now in a mega Metropolis I find myself in a hotel room with
a huge window overlooking the city much like the one in Hong Kong I lie in my bed looking
at the city drenched in rain
I see people far down in the roads like insects some are smoking outside CD bars
some are closing up shop some are hurrying to get back to the Comforts of their home
and some lie on the sidewalk
I watched them all from my window and it is inevitable that someone else is watching me
from their window for the city is filled with millions of them
I am never alone in the city as all of us form a silent Bond this Bond of the Observer
and The observed is what makes a city sentient [Music]