And A Long Cherished Dream Comes True...

                                       

The high point of my trip to Amsterdam - The 'Achterhuis' (meaning 'back house' in Dutch) or The Secret Annexe - now The Anne Frank House.

On that balmy summer evening, when I stood by the Prisengracht canal, I almost felt I was taking a journey back in time. In fact, that was the overwhelming feeling when I entered the Anne Frank house. Within those walls, time stands frozen and Anne is still a beautiful young girl with dreams in her deep,dark eyes.

My first introduction to Anne Frank when I was probably in the fifth or sixth standard, through a Bengali children's magazine. Then,later on, I read the the annal in its entirety and the moving foreword by Eleanor Roosevelt.
Life, seemingly ,turned a full circle for me on 22nd June 2012,when holding the entrance pass (picture above) in my hand I stood at the entrance to the Anne Frank House and Museum.
Though I was initially a bit disappointed to know that photography was prohibited inside the house, once inside, I realized that these are images and emotions to be carried within one's heart, nothing else would do justice to the experience.
There is a quiet solemness inside the house, almost an air of reverence. 
Though we are all familiar with Anne's story, and books and internet have ensured that the Secret Annexe is no longer a secret to us, yet, as I stepped inside, there was this inexplicable feeling, a quiet numbness, as if not knowing what to expect next.
Portraits, maps and quotes from the diary line the walls of the house. There are models of the buildings and notes explaining the architecture,detailing the story of precisely how and where the Frank and the Van Pels families along with Fritz Pfeffer were in hiding for over two years, what strict measures they took not be seen or overheard by the employees at the warehouse during the day time, how Miep Gies and others valiantly helped them all through.
The walls of Anne's room are dotted with her precious movie star posters, Greta Garbo and Ray Miland still stare out of the walls. And for a moment, she is not 'the' Anne Frank, she is just a young ,adolescent girl who adores the beautiful and glamorous screen stars, much like we all have done.
One of the most poignant places in the entire Secret Annexe is the attic, whose little window was Anne's only outlet to the world outside, a world she yearned desperately to be a part of once more.
It was through this window that she could see the changing colors of the sky, the sprouting of branches in spring, the twitter of birds. And her free spirit longed for the day when she would be treated as any other normal human being and not stigmatized as a Jew.
For such a bright, vivacious young girl, it must have been unimaginably painful, to see the world around only through a tiny square opening in the attic, unable to venture out, breathe the free air, live her dreams.


The tour to the Anne Frank House is akin to a pilgrimage, a moment of self-exploration and introspection, a cruel reminder of the inhumanity that shrouds the senses when driven by jingoistic emotions, a pledge to never let it happen again.  It is also a journey to celebrate the indomitable human spirit, to cherish the dreams of a radiant young girl who wished nothing more than to be free and spread her words around the world.


Like our beloved,impish Peter Pan, Anne Frank will be forever young. 
Her saga lives on as an undying testament to the truth that a single flame of humanity rises higher than the ravaging fires of hatred, and revives our faith in the innate beauty and strength of the human spirit.