Celebrating Sin

As they say, 'Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas'.

We went to vegas over the July 4 weekend. Firstly, I find it so surprising that Americans call their Independance day just July-4. It is almost as if by doing that they defrock it off all its importance, all their patriotism, all feelings. Somehow, coming from a country which got its independance only a few decades back, and which is still struggling with its destiny, you are starkly reminded of the "Happy Independance Day" even before the "Good Morning" on August 15. Somehow, it seems like a more natural and a more meaningful way of being gratified by one's independance, than wearing your national flag as your undergarments.

Anyway, as I was saying, I had been to Vegas over the "July 4" weekend. It had been a long and tiring week at work, and here I was, starting my vacation, with not a sparkle but a 20 Kg weight in my eyes. The Vegas air port itself, was a culture shock -- slot machines as soon as you get down from the flight. I was amazed about how desparate people could get over gambling - especially considering the fact that most end up losing money most of the time!

So, we took a shuttle to the hotel (err, a hostel - a hotel would be a fort in comparison), and we found these "booklets" on the seats - something like a city guide. And what a way to make it - on the cover a seductively posed woman with diaphanous apparel -- Cosmopolitan would be a "family" magazine in comparison. We were obviously curious about what lay ahead of us!

After dumping our luggage, we started out tour of the famous Las Vegas Strip, with the hotels - Stratosphere, Circus Circus, Sahara, Alladin, Bellagio, MGM Grand, New York-New York (sic) and lots more. And as you enter most of them -- rows after rows of slot machines, people playing cards, and unique shows called the Cirque de Soleil, which according to me was the best thing around! It is a grand mix of circus and aesthetic choreography! I had been highly recommended this, and even though the charges were steep, I would believe that was money well spent.

We went for a particular show called Zumanity, at New York-New York [I believe that the conscious repetition can be attributed to copyright issues, but I couldn't be sure!] - a very beautifully portrayed union of the sexes. Even though it seems to lean towards the lascivious, I would say that the choreography was in great aesthetic taste - far removed from what people would expect it to be.

However, the way the various hotels have been designed is definitely spell-binding. So, whereas we had a complete microcosm of New York at NY-NY [with a Brooklyn Bridge and a Statue of Liberty!], you had a live tiger in MGM [it actually was walking on the glass portico above us!], you had a completely medieval theme in Alladin, with the ceiling brilliantly blue, with clouds to add to the effect! Everything was so immaculate, so well-designed! It definitely seemed like the place for people who believed in "What is money for? To throw away and get back something good in return." [Quoting verbatim a lady I overheard in a shop].

The next day we went to watch Grand Canyon -- one of the most equisite pieces of natural beauty in the world [I will write about this in some other post], the driver was talking about how he believed that Vegas was the best place on the planet, I just got thinking, how the hell did his children go to school with pimps distributing flyers of saleable girls openly in the streets, and free "Yellow Pages" available every 100 metres! Or perhaps, he had left them to fend for themselves by now...