Sarajevo

Sarajevo je da se voli, ne toliko da se u njemu živi. Najhumanije bi bilo, možda, iseliti čitav grad, sve dati na izdavanje turistima, da sav grad bude muzej.

Ako je Sarajevo za nešto krivo, krivo je što nas nikad nije sve potpuno istjeralo. I pod opsadom je bilo onih koji u njega ulaze, umjesto da izlaze. 
Ako je sarajevo nešto krivo, krivo je što nas nije ranije izbacilo. Trebalo nas je kao dobra majka, čim se na nogama učvrstimo, poslati sa sokom i sendvičem na izlet van grada. Da je moglo sve tako da nas otpravi, svima bi nam lakše bilo.

Ako je reći za Sarajevo da je mahala i da se proseljačilo, red je reći i da je od mahale postalo, i da je mahala uvijek bilo. To što je doživjelo Hagadu ili Olimpijadu, ili Ajfelov most, ne čini Sarajevo posrnulim plemićem, već povlaštenim mahalašem. Nije Sarajevo nikog tjeralo da od njega previše očekuje, štaviše, taj se grad zajedno sa svim prigradskim naseljima i užom okolinom oduvijek trudio naglasiti svoj papanluk i malograđanštinu.

Ako je reći nešto za Sarajevo, a ne ogriješiti dušu, onda je to da se u njemu mogu sresti najčarobniji ljudi na svijetu. Sresti, upoznati i zavoljeti. Zato što to od njega može dobiti svako, pa i onaj koji se najmanje nada, to je ipak grad za sve ljude.

Imajući na umu samo to, i nesebično emitovanje nadprosječnih po planeti, Sarajevo je kozmopolitska mahala.

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If we complain about Sarajevo being famous for denying any above-average personal achievement, perhaps we should also be grateful. If it wasn’t for its depreciation skills and keen ability to kill your spirits, many exceptional Sarajevans would never leave it.

But they have, and now they can spread their wings someplace else, nobody will mind. You might as well win a Nobel Prize, just don't mention it when you visit your hometown… When in Rome…relax and enjoy casual conversation about betting tips and odds, or memories of some dude from the hood. Just relax, on the verge of a strange vortex mixing up your past, present, and future, you as a child, and who you are now, and melancholy, in more forms than you knew existed.

Sarajevo is something to love, rather than live. Perhaps it would be good to just move everybody out, turn it into B&B and a museum.

If Sarajevo is to be blamed for something, it's its failure to kick us all out. Even under the siege, there were people getting in instead of getting out. 

If Sarajevo is to be blamed, it is because it didn’t send us off as soon as we learned to walk. Like a mother sending her child out of town with a lunchbox. Had it been like that, everybody would have been better off.

If we complain about how Sarajevans of today lack urban skills, and how they redneckalize the city, we should be aware it has always been like that. The settlement where traders, craftsmen and farmers mingled for centuries is just what Sarajevo is, no question about it. Yes, it hosted the Olympic games, and still hosts the sacred book of Haggadah, and the Eiffel’s bridge, but that shouldn't serve as a reminder of how great Sarajevo once was, but seen as a privilege unexpectedly laid upon an unsuspecting amateur. Nobody has ever been encouraged to expect much of Sarajevo, on the contrary, the city and its outskirts have always proudly demonstrated their rough edges.

If we want to say something true about Sarajevo, it's a place where you find the magical people, locally grown or from all over the globe. You get to meet them, know them, love them. The fact that anyone, even the least expecting one, can experience that proves it is a city for us all.

Having that in mind, and how selflessly it broadcasts exceptional people to the world, Sarajevo is a cosmopolitan small-town city.