Lost in Rome

Debi Mukherjee (India, 04/06/07)

The year was 1979. I was on an FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) study tour to five western countries, namely, Canada, Sweden, The Netherlands, UK (United Kingdom) and USA (United States of America). The subject was “Food Safety and Quality”. There were a total of four fellows representing India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Rome (Italy), being the, Head Quarter of FAO, was the meeting point of all the fellows before commencing the study. It was also the first as well as the last halt for briefing and debriefing respectively.

This was my first trip outside my homeland, that too all alone. Briefing given to me before departure included the following:

·         Be cautious about the belongings specially the travel documents and cash.

·         Lira (plural-Lire) is the official currency of Italy. In those days one hundred lire was equivalent to one rupee. Payment was in US dollar ($). One US $ was Rs. 12.00. It was often joked that if one can not become a millionaire in India, she/he could easily fulfill the dream of being a millionaire in Italy by virtue of possessing innumerable number of lire while exchanging US $. 

·         Asking for “Coffee” will give you strong black decoction of coffee, bitter in taste. Better ask for “Cappuccino” so that you get espresso coffee with milk.

The flight was “Japan Airlines” from New Delhi leaving after midnight. It reached Rome well before dawn. I was provided with details as to how to reach the city center by bus from the airport followed by hiring a taxi to the hotel where accommodation has been booked by the officials of FAO. The main problem was language. None could speak or understand English. Even the police people who are the watchdogs for safety and security for all including foreigners would have a standard reply to any query “No English”.

Anyway on arrival at the city center, a cab was hired. That was my first encounter with a high tech radio taxi, that too in a foreign land. Continuous exchange of words was going on between the driver and central control point in a language which could hardly make any sense to me except making me nervous. On showing the paper inscribing the name of the hotel and its location, the driver could safely reach me to the destination.

On completion of briefing with the FAO officials, time was available in the weekend for sight seeing in Rome and adjoining places of interest. The main attraction is Vatican City, officially State of the Vatican City. It is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome. At approximately 44 hectares (109 acres), it is the smallest independent nation in the world. It  is a non-hereditary, elected monarchy that is ruled by the Bishop of Rome — the Pope. The highest state functionaries are all clergymen of the Catholic Church. Vatican City can be said to be the governmental capital of the Catholic Church.

The Vatican City is itself of great cultural significance. Buildings such as St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel are home to some of the most famous art in the world, which includes works by artists such as Botticelli, Bernini and Michelangelo. The Vatican Library and the collections of the Vatican Museums are of the highest historical, scientific and cultural importance. One can take a round  of the Museum in a fixed route depending upon the time he or she can spare say  two, three or five hours and tickets are issued accordingly.

In 1984, the Vatican was added by UNESCO to the List of World Heritage Sites; it is the only one to consist of an entire country.

Somehow Vatican has a special attraction for me. May be because of my upbringing in a family where each religious festival used to be celebrated with reverence. We used to go to the temples/mosques/church/Gurudwara whenever respective festive occasion used to arise.

My first trip to Vatican along with other sight seeing places by a tourist bus costed me 90,000 lire which means nearly 900 rupess in Indian Currency. Later on I learnt that Rome's metro line A passes about 10 minutes walk north of the Vatican. The cost for going to Vatican and back was only 1400 lire; equivalent to only 14 rupees.

I never missed the opprtunity to pay a vist to Vatican during  my next three visits to Rome in connection with official meetings in 1980s  and 1990s. One noticeable change was that the people in Rome specially those working in restaurants/eateries were gradually picking up English language to cater to the needs of the foreigners.

During one such trip, I boarded a bus for going back to the hotel after close of the meeting. While enjoying  the outside scenario from the moving vehicle  I was getting little apprehensive about the route of the bus journey. By chance a gentleman resembling persons of Asian Subcontinent was also travelling by the same bus. On showing the address  of the hotel as inscribed in the card given to me by the Front Office Manager, the gentleman informed me that I was travelling in the opposite direction. The hotel was far off from that place. It was getting dark.

My co-passenger understood my predicament. He was very kind to help me to alight from the bus and accompany me to the hotel for ensuring my safety and security.

It was learnt that he was from Pakistan. Though his destination was just in the opposite direction in a far off place from my hotel, his brotherhood feeling to a lady from the Subcontinent prevented him to leave her alone insucured in a foreign land haunting for the right direction.

I will always chreish the memory of this Pakistan-India brother-sister relationship!

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