As it is with a dear companion and soulmate, so to speak, I keep coming back to Penang—the place I have seen the most of in Malaysia, but cannot yet claim to ‘know’ the most about. Every trip to this city opens my eyes to new wonders, and that too in the most unlikely of ways.
For example, who knew that even walls could speak? But come to Penang, and the variety of murals across town are as charming as they are eye-catching. The best known among them are on a bucolic back lane known as Armenian Street, where the artist Ernest Zacharevic is famous for putting life into walls in the form of paintings which carry both a feeling and a meaning. They are now on the itinerary of ‘Instagram’ tours where one just must be ‘seen’ to be striking a pose against one of these displays of art.
Needless to say, I have yet to visit this area, loath as I am to be anywhere near crowded spots, fighting for an inch of the wall. So I prefer to just wander as my feet would take me, and come by such astonishing gems as the ones I found on a sqaully afternoon landing at Penang airport on my way back from another trip. The installations here are less well known perhaps, but no less fascinating, and come with the bonus of adjoining architecture, a lot of which is reminiscent of my second home in Pondicherry, India.
Here’s to walking the streets, in a sublime way!
