India trip

I wont deny the fact that I was looking forward to a trip to India. Sure Europe is fabulous and picturesque and every superlative but home is after all where the heart is..
Bangalore has always been my home.I have lived there all my life and in the process took so much for granted.The charming weather..the friendly people..convinient shops..'gaadi walas' selling fresh produce to your doorsteps..the maid who does your dishes for a few hundred rupees..the scrumptious fast food that makes life easy and so much more.
The two months vacation in India was a joy every moment.Though I travelled to Mangalore and Chennai to visit my grandmothers and extended family, I made sure I spent maximum time in Bangalore.The plan was simple,I just wanted to eat my favorite fast food ,relish my mom's amazing cooking,shop for luxuries to take back to germany {special food items again!}On most days I lay on the hammock in my mom's pretty garden under the warm sun munching on juicy sweet mangoes or just chatting with my parents ..cracking silly jokes with my brother.
There were a few grand functions thrown into my schedule so I had a chance to dress up and feast on traditional delicasies.Soon my husband joined me and it was double the fun.I love shopping with him as he is ever so patient and genuinely takes interest in my passion for fashion and books.We did spend a good many days buying books and cds for which we roamed around the city.It was then that the appaling traffic..bad roads dust.. garbage..killer buses..begging children and other sad sights got the better of us leaving us quite frustrated.
The least said the better.Suddenly I realised how organised Europe is and how much we had to learn .There is no doubt great potential in our country but unless we know how to organise , channelise energy and money in the right direction and better the infrastructure we are bound to collapse.
Bangalore has changed over the years no doubt but somehow the soul of bangalore can never change.Bangalore is not just another city ..it is my home and always will be.
It was time to board our flight back to Germany and I couldn't help but notice that the new airport was rather nice.Not comparable to airports in Paris with paintings in rest rooms ..but surely better than the HAL airport two months ago where I was welcomed by houseflies and straydogs at the very entrance .Perhaps its a sign of things to come,better things..

The many joys of being jobless!

In many ways my year in Germany has been a productive one.Initially I was a little skeptical about how I would spend time not having a job to keep me occupied and content.Everyone has a job right?
Not having a work permit, I felt ,was the worst thing that could have happened to me.There were times when I thought I would do any job I could lay my hands on.However slowly I realized that I don't need a job to keep me occupied or happy.Especially not a job that gives me no personal satisfaction.The concept of doing work you love has always appealed to me.

So I set out doing things I have always enjoyed but never had time for.Art has always been a big passion of mine,glass painting in particular.The brilliance of colors and the joy of creating something beautiful is a joy unparalleled.You don't have to be a great artist to experience the bliss of painting.Some find it therapeutic and I must agree with them because I tend to turn to art when I'm filled with extreme emotions ..ranging from melancholy to anger.This time however I seem to be filled with a certain feeling of contentment and peace urging me to create some thing beautiful.Perhaps the numerous trips and visits to museums filled with inspiring paintings has propelled me to start painting on canvass some thing I never dared to try before.

The local state library was another source of hidden treats.I stumbled upon some really great books and well made movies.Finally found time to watch some Hitchcock movies and read classics I always wanted to read.Discovered some really cute Korean movies online and satisfied my quest for the most romantic story lines ever!

I also discovered that I have a natural flare for cooking.I find that it gives me great satisfaction making new dishes and surprising my husband.His enthusiasm is infectious and soon I was making food I never thought I could make.It became obvious to me that creativity can manifest in several mediums and that in being creative you can discover inner joy.From arranging the furniture to making a perfect cup of tea...from cooking a new dish to making a painting.I have come to know the tiniest of things can be the source of great pleasure if only we open our eyes wide enough.Doing routine things in a new way may sound like a cliche but thats the way to go.

Staying at home also helped me to discover myself in more than one way.I had time to reflect upon my past choices and future plans.Time to introspect.The time to catch up on events happening in the world and update myself.
I have to admit that I was one among a few people who could take a lazy bubble bath hearing the birds chirping on a Monday morning or watch a movie as and when I please..chat with friends and gossip with mom daily..shop around without a care the whole day with friends on a weekday.Some people say my new found joy is the bliss of marriage,I agree to an extent, but I think its more about getting the time to do things you love and time to spend with people you love..

I sometimes wonder why I kept searching for that elusive little sprinkling of joy when it was all around me.Why did I feel I needed a job to make me happy?I wonder if I could have done half the things if I were caught up in the rat race!Indeed I'm blessed to have had this year just for myself...

Of love..cakes and valentines day

The hype of Valentine's day propelled me into doing puerile things.I felt compelled to do something fabulous and floor my young husband.Alright now,I have bought way too many gifts in the past and it doesn't make my hubby happy. He is way above the materialistic world.However it appears to me that, like for most men, food is his Achilles' heel and the time was ripe for me to exploit it.

I must admit that I have made quite a few attempts at stunning him with my culinary skills and have mostly ended up making a fool of myself.However this time it had to be impressive.After hours of contemplation I hit upon a thought.My husband Krishna has always resisted the temptation to eat cakes and cookies because of his conviction to vegetarianism.So inspired by his ideals I set upon my mission to bake an egg less cake!

Having browsed the Internet till my vision blurred,I stumbled on a goldmine of recipes.I found a recipe for egg less chocolate cake ,the kind of luscious goodness that would melt in your mouth.However I was skeptical about the outcome as I wasn't adept at baking.

So there I was,groping blindly with flour and baking powder dreaming wildly of the heavenly cake ,I would soon conjure from the sticky mess in the bowl.Soon the gluey liquid was baking in my oven.I decided to take a break .No sooner had I sat down to relax than the oven billowed smoke ..I was exasperated ..I had diligently followed the instructions despite the incorrigible font of the website.Upon opening the oven I realized that it wasn't the cake ,but the charring crumbs from the baguette I had heated the previously!Relieved that the cake was safe ,I removed the other charred pan and continued baking the cake.

Thirty minutes later the fork I inserted into the cake came out clean.'Operation cake' was apparently a success.Later that evening when I presented my cake to Krishna,he was surprised.He told,he was touched by the fact that so much of love and thought had gone into the cake.{ehmm...no compliments on the taste}.
In fact I was disappointed that the cake wasn't as fantastic tasting as I expected it to be.Later when I told my mom over the phone about my little adventure.She reminded me that the its not the taste of the food that matters only the love that went into making it .Touche .

Friends?!

Today was the last day of my German language class.Despite it being the last day Meggi was trying to cajole us into revising the the lessons of our Tangram German book. I was however madly clicking photos and surreptitiously video taping Meggi while she animatedly discussed the grammatical points.Now Grammar is vital but its the most boring part of learning a language.With German having a gender for all the nouns,it is indeed a daunting task if your grammar is weak.On any other day I would have been my attentive self taking notes but not today.I had different things running in my mind..

All these people in my class are so lovable and I knew that I might never see them again.Sixty year old Maria ,oldest student of our class was unusually quiet today.Despite having moved to Germany she remains a Brazilian at heart. She loves showing us photos of her fruit farms and family in Brazil and talking about them in Spanish.Though I can't understand Spanish I listen to her nonetheless!
Then there's Jovi a sweet eighteen year old exchange student from Equador.Like me she too was busy with her camera.Jovi,an aspiring architect,is one of the boldest girls I have met and her artwork has inspired me to be more creative.As a parting gift she gave me a pair of beautiful silver earrings ,something I will always cherish.

Meggi having sensed the mood of the class declared an early break time.Soon we were all exchanging email addresses and sampling Maria's fruit cake.Its funny how people
become warmer when they realize it may be the last time they will be meeting someone!As I promised Carla,Aisha and the the others to keep in touch via Email,I realised that these six months of classes had fostered a bond of friendship.Was it because we all were 'foreigners'in a strange country?Was it because we had a common goal of learning a language? seeing each other everyday and had found it comforting?Or was it perhaps just a human emotion ,a need for companionship?Most importantly were we really going to be in touch with each other when the common denominators were removed!Only time will tell..

Im sure we all have made friends at different stages of life.Eventually perspectives and priorities change.The relevance of the friendship becomes vague.With time we lose touch and come to a stage where we are unable to relate with them anymore.Much as we might like to revive such a friendship,sadly it never feels quite the same.{when the desire isn't mutual}So it is perhaps wise to be grateful for the happy moments and emotions you shared ,make peace with the past and move on;for we live in an age where time is money and money is life and no one has time to spare..Its not a place for fools like me who consider friends as 'the extended family you get to choose'..

Childhood friendships are different.To this day I treasure them and try my best to keep in touch.The friends we make during childhood are forever special because they were made at an age of innocence.When we expected nothing from our friends..when we shared the joy of freedom ..shared our silly secrets..and trusted without a second thought.When we took for granted that friends would be elated with our success and luck as if their own.That they would solve our problems without a complaint. Friends who never let you feel lonely..Perhaps the blissful memories of the carefree days keeps us going back to our childhood friends.
But today ..this very day,how many of us can confide our worst fears with our friends..how many of us have friends who celebrate our success as if their own.How many of us have friends we can consider as 'family'?Have we lost our ability to trust or is it that we view friendship as an over rated emotion?Have we become so self sufficient that we can do without them?Do we really have friends or are the people in our Orkut friends list or Face book account there just to show that you are 'popular'?To satiate our ego perhaps or to fill a lacuna in life?No..?Why is it then that some of us feel so lonely and lost despite having hundreds of 'friends'?why are we so impoverished?
Perhaps we have answers we rather not be vocal about..perhaps the relationship of friends has gotten so diluted it's become rhetoric and soon will be obsolete.Perhaps we have forgotten to be human..

Life in Germany

I was never too keen about visiting Germany. Germany for me was always associated with war,violence and cruelty .It was as if I could not shake off the Nazi tag eternally linked to this country.Since my husband had a work contract in Germany I was emotionally blackmailed to stay in this country I so detested! All that ,was to change the moment I landed in Frankfurt airport.It was the first time I was traveling alone, out of country, but I did not face any problems.I had been warned that Germans did not speak English and things in that order but to my delight I found everyone from the taxi driver to the shopkeepers speak fairly good English!

Looking out of the taxi window on my way to the apartment, what struck me most were the vast green forests flanking both sides of the highway.The cityscape of Hannovar looked like a dream.It looked very much like a modern city but somehow had managed to retain the peace and quiet of a village.I for one have not seen such a delicate balance.Having lived all my life in Bangalore,India; this was a pleasant shock for me.That the traffic and road problems in Bangalore are 'nightmarish',would be an understatement!
My husband was waiting anxiously for me by the apartment parking lot and I was on cloud nine as I was meeting him after two long months.The taxi ride costed us a bomb {I always convert to Indian rupees}but the driver insisted he has discounted the price as he loved Indian films!Hmm...Im not so sure.

The apartment arranged for our stay by my husband's office was a pretty one.It had a balcony with views to the garden below and the hills beyond the apartment complex.The next couple of weeks went into exploring the city and I was delighted with the shopping street 'schuh strassa' which literally translates to 'shoe street'.After several bouts of shopping and the after effects,as in guilt..I decided to channelize my energy constructively and so joined German language classes.I had learnt the basics of German from my father-in-law and so was looking forward to the course.

That was indeed the best decision I took as it opened up a whole new side of Germany to me.My German language instructor Meggi is someone very lovable and within no time she won our hearts with her wit and humour.Our class has Chinese,Spanish, ,Malaysian,Arab and Indian students.The language class is fun as we initially had no way of communicating with the people whose English was not strong and we had to mime a lot.These days we have gotten really close and dread the last day of our course.This experience has given me a chance to know the German education system to an extent and I really enjoyed their method of teaching.Meggi has made learning so much fun,something my Indian teachers lacked skills in.

I have always feared racial discrimination but people here seem quite tolerant .Of course there are a few bad apples ..mostly young uneducated men who feel threatened about the idea that 'foreigners take over their jobs'.But then again the government seems to be taking measures to remedy this.Perhaps its a global phenomenon but most Germans try hard to make people comfortable and are quite friendly once they get to know you.Its an open fact that they are ashamed of their violent past and this became apparent when I spoke to a few Germans.I was touched when they said they wanted to be seen as a peace loving nation.However when I happen to meet some of my neighbours who are retired generals of the Nazi era I shiver.These men are well into their eighties and seem lonely and enjoy talking about their achievements with anyone who cares to listen!
However the people in my flat are young professionals who keep to themselves. Ocassionally when we bump into each other its customary to wish 'guten tag 'with a smile and I do it religiously as its a taboo if you dont !My husband ever smiling as he is ,happened to oneday get lost in thought and forgot to wish a fellow neighbour.He was asked what had upset him so much as to make him forget basic courtesy!
The Germans by and large are a hard working lot and some of the best technology is German.I have noticed that they get to work at 5.30 in the mornings even on the coldest wintery day.However they do not neglect work-life balance and come back home early and do things they enjoy like gardening and practicing music.This quality of maintaining balance in life is something we all must emulate.

The weather in Germany is another thing I like .It seems to change by the hour like my mood!So we have to dress in layers which is fun .However of late its been getting cold and the Germans enjoy traveling to sunnier pastures . Infact they spend almost two months a year traveling and their workplaces grants leaves just for traveling!
The Germans believe that experience gained through travel expands the horizons of the mind and equate it to a learning session.I couldn't but agree more with this and set off to Swiss,Italy and France with my husband.It was indeed an experience of a lifetime.Right from planning the places of visit ,booking flights and hotels to managing expenditure ,all helped me grow as a person.Perhaps the best part about living in Germany is the chance to explore the surrounding countries inexpensively!Living in Germany has made it possible not just to 'visit'places but experience the places of visit..

I feel my stay in Germany has enabled me to sample Europe beyond the touristy attractions but more so in in terms of the simple pleasures of day to day life.The choice of over fifty varieties of freshly baked bread ...cheeses of delicate flavours ...chocolates made in heaven ..immaculately tailored clothes ..buses with comfortable seats every ten minutes...lush green parks and lakes filled with swans..clean roads ...fresh air laced with the scent of blossoms and peaceful silence despite me living near a busy street.Some times great happiness can be ours if we only give new experiences a chance and not be baised.In retrospect Im glad I gave Germany a chance and it has not let me down..

My experience in a flea market !

On a cold wintery day I caught a bus to the area where a flea market was to be held.My husband had grudgingly accompanied me as his idea of a Saturday morning was not shopping.So there I was guilty and uncertain about my plans .
In India ,my home land, there are no flea markets as such.I had read about flea markets in books and they had facinated me.I read once in a book that flea markets owe their name to the flea circuses that once were famous in fairs.Fleas are tick like insects that can be trained to do tricks !In Germany these markets are called "flu markt"

Upon reaching the venue,which was a huge open ground,I saw a crowd of people and rows and rows of stalls.The stalls had an amazing variety of things on sale,like clothes and bags from Paris.These stalls were mostly owned by Bangladeshis and Pakistanis.Having discovered that we spoke Hindi they were full of smiles and offered discounts!

Some stalls had things the owners wanted to dispose off as in second hand goods.these were mostly crockery ,crafts ,paintings,books and an assortment of oddities which even my husband found very interesting .Most of the stuff were in pretty good shape and quite inexpensive.
There were things that captured the essence of Europe like dutch delftware ,wooden shoes from Holland,landscapes of Italy and France on silk,large cowbells from Switzerland ,wooden cuckoo clocks and dainty crockery from England .

Bargaining comes naturally to me and I had a fun time getting stuff for cheap.I also discovered soon that my attempts at speaking German (with my stunted vocabulary)was rewarded in terms of discounts.I also noticed that some stalls with old toys were taken care of by children supervised by their parents.I gathered that the parents wanted the children to learn from the experience in terms of the art of selling and handling money.

Personally this was an opportunity got to know the vibe of the Germans in a relaxed atmoshere and i treasured it.There was a section with rides for the children and stalls selling icecream.Despite the cold,apparently people still love their icecreams in Germany and so do I!.So licking a delicious'erdberry eis' my husband and I headed back home and taking with us memories of an unexpectedly lovely day..