Buongiorno !
“Metro, job, sleeping”, this common routine-refrain can’t quite fit those days : the main public transports are on strike since November 14th, followed by a civil servants general protest-movement on November 20th, and it’s continuying today, HHHAAAaaahaaaaa (sorry, hand on mouth, reminiscences of a short sleeping night).
Drivers and most of the users of public transports remain patient, but are tired : strikes are pushing them to beat new records or perform exploits everyday since more than a week. Wake up earlier, pass hours on roads (by all means : long walks, bicycle rides - with traffic also(toh!), trotinnette, rollers…), be pressed like lemons in the few buses and trains available, wait for those rare ones, leave work later, get back home much more later. Some has even choose to camp at their job places, or less crazy, pass nights at hotels or comprehensive friends near their working place.
Medias are nearly unanimously (this is suspicious) evilizing strikers, focusing on normal people’s GALERE, the hammered word that we’ve heard since last week.
In public transports, they’re on strike because of the retirements reform that would suppress their specific status, without taking in account their working conditions.
Amongst civil servants, the demonstration had been planned since long because of their status that is also under a reform project, but without having solved the lost of their wages compared to the cost of life since many years (la baisse du pouvoir d’achat).
Each side has its reasons, but it seems that compromises will have to be done, strikes cost a lot to everyone : global french economy is suffering, but also the strikers who aren’t paid while striking. The exit is still unclear, but looks like the strikers won’t gain. The only solutions that seem to appear are the perspective of other negociations, to gain time probably, and weaken their movement, so this is not satisfying for them and strike goes on…
Ecco for the context ! Now, since I can’t move so easily to go here and there, my Armenian observations are few but still there ! ;o)
Before strikes I’ve heard of a successful Classic music concert (orchestra, tutti quanti). It was in Cannes, with the genius violinist
Sergey Khatchatryan who obviously enchanted all the audience performing Armenian pieces, amongst which an apparently brilliant brand new concerto for violin & orchestra composed by Arthur Aharonian, an Armenian composer and piano player, living now in France. Names to remember !
I’ve also read a lot recently since I had so much time to kill, and often around Armenians… It’s not an obsession, but it looks that it all together converged in my hands by coincidence !
Edgard Hilsenrath,
The Fairy Tale of the Last Thought, about the genocide. The author is a survivor of the Holocaust, and had already wrote about it. This book about Armenian is not new and was published in 1989 when Armenian genocide wasn’t so talken about. Full of details about Armenian traditions, and also full of cruelty which is here shown very directly. This book is really heavy (I had to stop reading after the 1st part, and come back later when more cheered up!). It has a strange construction, with the voice of a soul-taler called the Meddah, presented as the Last Thought of a dying man who believes himself to be an Armenian orphan, born during the genocide. I can’t tell that it was a pleasure reading it, but it is certainly a strong book, deserving. Here’s
a long comment about that novel to give you an idea of this UFO-book.
Zabel Essayan,
Gardens of Silidhar, about the author’s childhood. Very interesting to know more about Armenian life at that time. And also remarquable because at her time woman-author were rare, and more rare has been her fate : born in Constantinople in an Armenian family, she left the country very young (aged 17) for studying in Paris, where she wrote and was even published. See a biography
here. I found this book at the public library of Clamart, surprised to see it here, translated in French. If you know little about how strict can be Armenian traditions in Turkey than you know how amazing has been her life, for her time : she was born in 1878… Unfortunately the 2 following volumes haven’t been translated, I’ll have to find the originals.
Levon Shant,
The Chained. Needless to present I suppose, I had to read it since long. It’s a theater’s play, taking place in Ani during the last moments of its glorious time. But in fact, it is much more universal because of it’s philosophic topic : man’s chains are in himself, his revolutions and fights against tyran are vain, since his pride is his own first dictator. As long as each man hasn’t overcome his own tyranny, new tyrans succeeding to overcame ones won’t disappear. It's probably better to see this play live, on stage !
I know today’s French mess can’t be compared to tyranny… but all this feeds long meditations !
STAY AWAKEN, MIND AND BODY !! ;o)
Ciaooooo
