Snow....Snow...Snow.... Nochmal Sächsiches Erfahrungen!!

Snow fall on the alpine trees, temperatures hovering around -15°C, 400 km of adventurous ride in the autobahn completely covered with snow, yet another experience of Sachsen, East Germany with lovely Nötzold family and of course more importantly this time along with my honey :)

We were so lucky that it snowed a lot before some days when we arrived there. Snow on the alpine trees, sun shine on the snow...it’s definitely a treat to watch. It has been a tremendous experience for Anita with snow. Just recollected my memory how was the feeling when I saw snow for the first time in Germany. It is indeed definitely an awesome feeling for people coming from tropical climate. We did Snow walking for about 15 kms. Initially planned for a short walk but ended up in an adventurous venture with out knowing the way and later using Google maps in the mobile phones to find the way since everywhere it was completely covered with snow and completely white.

It has become a regular practice for me now to visit Mr. Nötzold’s family twice a year. One during peak summer when sun shines in the Erzgebirge and the other during Christmas time with snow capped alpine trees and Christmas celebrations in Sachsen and Erzgebirge region. Torsten expressed as a sense of humor that his parents normally visit only once in a year that you are visiting now twice a year ;) I am so privileged that I had a chance to rub shoulders with him both professionally and socially.

Various personalities came in my life and I portray certain characters as my role model and Torsten is in fact my role model who handles both his family and professional life in a cool and successful manner. Thanks Torsten, Angela and Lara for the wonderful time you gave us every time when we were in Chemnitz. I felt very homely, happy and emotional with every moment I spent with you guys. Torsten, Angela and Lara, you really taught us language, culture differences are never a barrier when love flies in the air :)

Cheers,
Sathish & Anita.

My first German wedding in a span of five years :)

One event which seldom happens in German society and the same event which happens quite often in Indian society. By now it must be quite obvious what I am referring to. “Germans getting married”. The society is so open and relaxed that teenager can even live with their partners separately away from parents with out getting married. Let’s argue the pros and cons later but now let’s get back to my experience of attending first German marriage.

Having lived here for five years, it was always my dream to attend one German marriage. Thanks to Kai and Isabel who gave a lovely opportunity to witness one of the cultural fest which I could experience in this part of the world. Kai and Isabel know each other and were in a relationship for almost eight years and then they came to a conclusion they were made for each other.:) The most important event in German marriage is “Polterabend” where all the family members, friends come for the function. They bring old Porcelain plates and cups and break them. The bride and the bridegroom clean up the place which will bring lot of luck for both of them. Nearly 100 people came for this function in the evening. Next day, bride, bridegroom, all the family members met in the Standesamt where the marriage was officially registered. The phrase “Letzte chance zum Rückzug” – Last chance to go back was painted in the Standesamt. Certainly a phrase which every partners would cherish before signing the official document of marriage in Germany. :D

After the Standesamt function, we all met in Kai’s house for a breakfast with lovely gifts and wishes being exchanged. Then we went for a religious Catholic wedding in the church. I really liked the ambience in the Church and of course the dress code of the guests. Then came the big party where only around 25 people attended the dinner. We are so privileged that Kai and Isabel invited us for the dinner where only family members were present. It was so perfectly organized in such a way that the seating arrangements were made well in advance and name plates were displayed for each of the guests where to sit down. This is something I could never even imagine in an Indian set up.

The function went on very smooth and soft where there is no chance of Chaos and mishap. I even realize why not Indian marriages have very little numbers and not very luxurious. The money being spent for one or two days can be used for the betterment of good life. Of course it doesn’t make sense to shake hands and give an artificial smile to the person in the marriage function whom I have never seen before. Having tasted both the cultures to the core, I can say it’s all the priority which people set to themselves. Driving a BMW or Mercedes can give pride to a German whereas inviting 1000s of people to a marriage function can give pride to an Indian.

All in all, it was a day to remember for me in Germany. It would have been an insatiate dream for me in Germany had I not attended Kai’s wedding. Best wishes to Kai and Isabel for a wonderful life together.

Thanks,
Sathish & Anita.

Mediterranean wonder, Mallorca, Spain

Germany consists of 16 federal states, that’s what I learned in Goethe Institute but my fellow Germans always informed me that Germany has 17th state (bundesland) near to Spain in the Mediterranean sea and that’s Mallorca. It was always my dream to visit this Mediterranean Island which actually belonged to Spain and I couldn’t find better time to celebrate my 28th birthday in Mallorca with my honey.

Logistically, Mallorca is strongly connected to different parts of Europe. As always, Ryan Air offered cheap prices from Lübeck, Germany and planned this trip well in advance. We rented a car for two days since Anita had International Driving license. After our trip, we realized with out car its impossible to explore the great landscapes of Mallorca. I have seen mountains, I have seen the coastline but combination of both was the biggest highlight in this Island. The high peaks of the mountains which gives a panoramic view of the Mediterranean sea with blue skies and blue colored water is something feast to the eyes.

After the trip, I realized why Mallorca is a paradise for Germans. Blue skies, good sun shine, scenic coastline, bikinis around, couldn’t ask for more in holidays. This Island has interesting landscapes. The North Western drive near Andratx, Estellencs, Valldemossa is a must in Mallorca. The southern drive to Cala Pi, Santanyi is a treat to watch as well. The capital city Palma has got some beautiful castles, nice restaurants and long coastline.

All in all, it’s a trip which will stay in my memory forever. Celebrated my 28th birthday with all peace, satisfaction and happiness with my honey and she gave me a wonderful treat of driving along the great landscapes of this Mediterranean Island. Mallorca, don’t miss this marvel if you are in Europe!

Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S

Lüneburger Heide, Germany

Having worked and lived in Lüneburg for a couple of years, I didn’t find the right time to explore the landscapes of Lüneburger Heide. The most striking feature of this place is the violet colored flowers spreading over acres of land. These flowers blossom only in the month of August and September and more importantly can be found only in this part of the world because of its unique soil composition.

Thanks to Matthias my colleague and his girl friend Bea who invited us to explore the landscapes of Lüneburger Heide. This trip was also accompanied by Bea’s mother who was the tour guide and Bea’s niece as well. The weather stayed perfect through out the day and it was ideal to do the walking in the heide. We walked for around 16 Kms to explore this violet based landscape and me and Anita were totally exhausted once we finished the walking. But Bea’s mother was the fit and fastest of all. She is very active at the age of 75 which is something I can not believe and think about it.

Once we finished walking, we went to Children’s fest in Bispingen and it happened to be International Children’s Day. All in all it was a great and lovely experience to explore Lüneburger Heide. A day to remember!

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Vattenfall Hamburger Cyclassics 2010

When I was a student in Technical University Hamburg, many of my fellow students prepared themselves and took part in Vattenfall Hamburger Cyclassics. I always thought to take part in such an event, one needs costly sports cycle and more importantly proper fitness to complete 55 Kms. Thanks to my company Werum Software & Systems who sponsored for the employees to take part in this event. I decided to take part in this event with my normal cycle and I did a trial run of 50 kms with my boss across the Elbe river and gained some confidence.

I always considered Hamburg as my second home town. It’s the city which gave me so many new experiences in life and more importantly nice friends and great social life. People talk about New York marathon, Tour De France and so many sportive events which are related to a particular city. Hamburger Cyclassics is one of the biggest Cyclassics event in Europe and I couldn’t find a better event than this to be nostalgic about Hamburg in the future. So I decided to go for it. The local residents near the suburbs of Hamburg through which we made our Bike tour motivated and cheered all the participants by chanting “Ihr Seid Helden” which is something which will stay in my memory forever.

Finally I finished 55 Kms in 2hours and 20 minutes at a rate 24Km/H. My goal was to finish the race. On the way I saw many accidents, some cycles got repaired, some people got tired and exhausted, I am glad that I completed 55 Km for the first time. This is something which I never imagined for in my life when I was young :) There are other ranges of about 100 Km and 150 Km which seems to be impossible now but you never know what’s in store in life :)

Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S

Zugspitze, Top of Germany

Having tasted some great peaks in Swiss, Austria and its time now to reach the highest peak in Germany – Zugspitze. This time I explored this scenic place in Alps with my honey and my school friend Naresh and his wife Srija. First we reached Garmisch-PartenKirschen by ICE, met Naresh and Srija there and climbed up to the top Zugspitze by ZahnRadBahn (Mountain train). It was a pleasant sight to watch from the top and one could get a panoramic view of other peaks nearby and Eibsee, the lake beneath the Zugspitze. Eating Indian Tomato rice on the top of Zugspitze is the highlight of the whole trip :D Travelling by mountain train to reach the Alps peaks is definitely a great experience even though they are unimaginably expensive ;)

Returned from the top of Zugspitze to Eibsee by cable car which was quite different from traveling by train to the top. Spent some time in the lake Eibsee which was very colorful from the top. Then we moved to Neuschwanstein Castle, which was in the voting for Eighth wonder of the world. The drive to Neuschwanstein Castle from Garmisch is a life-time experience with snow capped mountains nearby, lakes spreading across, lush green pastures. Exploring these places by car is an awesome experience since one has a chance to stop at the picturesque locations. The nostalgic days of my University trip to Neuschwanstein during my Master studies was lingering in my mind when I trespassed these beautiful locations.

Relaxingly, we traveled to Bregenz in Austria, the city which lies on the banks of lake Bodensee. Took yet another mountain cable car called (PfänderBahn) to reach the top of Bregenz. One could get a panoramic view of the city of Bregenz from the top. Then we were back to Friedrichshafen and did a boating trip in Bodensee. It was a sudden plan from me and Naresh to dive in to Bodensee. It was awesome experience to swim in the middle of lake and weather was pleasant to swim in the lake and both our wives were just mute spectators ;)

South Germany especially Bavarian Alps, Bodensee is definitely a great experience if you are residing in North Germany. Totally different landscapes and natural beauty when compared to the North which is mostly flat land and bordered by seas. Me and Naresh have traveled a long way together in our life right from our childhood. It was lovely experience to cherish some moments with our wives together. Recollected our school and childhood days and felt nostalgic in Bavarian Alps.

Life is beautiful!
Sathish Kumar S

Sächsich Erfahrung mit Herr. Notzöld familien

It has become a habit now that I experience Sachsen two times a year. One during the peak summer and another one during the Christmas time. Thanks to Nötzold family who provide this great opportunity for me to experience eastern part of Germany. This time it was with my honey to experience Sächsich. The weather turned out to be ultimate with sun shine through out the weekend.

Initially, we went to Erzgebirge to experience the making of perfumed Candles (Räucherkerzchen) which is used by Raucher Mann in Erzgebirge. Then we went to Greifensteine where one could get a panoramic view of Chemnitz from the top of the rocks. Then followed by historic match between Germany and England where Germany hammered England by 4-1. It’s the worst result for England in the history of world cup. Its really great time to be in Germany when Germans were playing awesome football.

Then went to Open Air Concert in the town hall of Chemnitz. It was totally a serene atmosphere with people bringing their own chairs to witness the Concert and finally with lovely fireworks to mark the end of the Concert for the summer. Next day tried to perform a sport for the first time – “Kletterwald” – Climbing up trees through ropes and chain. It was real fun to try this sport which Anita loved to the core. It was perfect weather to try this adventure and going back to our ancestral way of life of climbing up trees ;)

All in all it was a perfect weekend for us. Anita can’t ask anything more to experience German culture than spending time with Notzöld family. It was very pity that Torsten and his wife Angela couldn’t make up to our wedding because of Volcanic ash exactly during my wedding. The time which I spent with Torsten both technically and socially is something I need to script of my good old days in Germany.

Hats off to Notzöld family!
Sathish & Anita

Honeymoon with my honey in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India

Short synopses before I start narrating my honey moon experiences. When I was preparing for my 10th standard board examinations, I read in my history book that India’s freedom fighters were exiled to Andaman and Nicobar Islands in Cellular jail and Britishers used these islands as their holiday package ;) Well that’s history. Lets come to the conclusion at the end of this article. It was always my dream to include these islands in my traveling voyage and I couldn’t find better way to club it with my honeymoon with my Honey :)

Andaman is logistically favorable if you are from Chennai and Calcutta. Got some good offers from Kingfisher airlines. Should really thank Kingfisher who plays a great role in the Indian airline sector and they have really set some amazing benchmarks and standards in connecting different cities of India. Arrived at Port Blair, the capital of Andaman Islands in Veer Savarkar International airport named after India’s great freedom fighter Vinayak Savarkar. First we went to Carbyn’s cove beach with coconut trees nearby, young guys playing Cricket along the coastline, small mountains nearby, group of small islands in the foresight was a treat to watch.

Then we went to Wandoor beach, one of the highly serene beaches which we came across. The small boats in stagnant water with blue skies was simply breathtaking. The beaches in Andaman were very shallow, hardly any tides and more importantly one could see clearly the coral reefs beneath the water. People talk about Maldives, Hawaii, Caribbean, definitely Andaman Islands are on par with these tropical beaches. Tourism has developed only in the last few decades and it was always a prime importance for Indian navy. There are numerous islands where civilization has not yet reached and there are quite of lot of tribal people who are still separated from the rest of the world. Most of the islands got vanished because of Tsunami.

The most thrilling experience was a trip to Havelock Islands by a ship. Had a chance to go to Elephant Islands by Catamaran reserved only for us. The ride to Elephant Islands with my honey is something which I cherished to the core. We both wore binoculars and went inside the water to explore the coral reefs and the shells. That’s something which is worth doing especially in Andaman Islands. I was really surprised with the friendliness of the locals in those islands. Most of them were Tamil and Bengali settlers from the Indian mainland. I never ever felt unsecured or being cheated by the locals which is very unusual in many tourist locations. Visited Radha Nagar beach which is rated as the Asia’s beautiful beach by Times Magazine. Really a long stretch with good view of the coastline. Requested our tour manager to explore unmanned location in Andaman which turned out to be the best spots in our trip.

The highlight of this whole trip is a visit to Cellular Jail. Had a chance to see the light show which depicts the history of the jail and the hardships faced by various freedom fighters. They made a story in a way that the tree which was there for many decades explains all the barbaric acts committed by the British Army Generals. Really made us very touching and emotional. World has gone long way and times have changed and I am so happy that belonged to young generation of Indians where I could afford to make my honeymoon with my wife taking in to considerations of all the hardships which my ancestors suffered and to a state where our life style is on par with the western world. Traveling offers great satisfaction and joy to me and certainly this honeymoon trip with my Anita is something which will reside in my memory forever. Just a phrase from Netaji Subash Chandra Bose museum which inspired me a lot

“Forget not that the greatest curse for a man is to remain a slave. Forget not that the grossest crime is to compromise with injustice and wrong”. Grossest – German word…interesting to see in Netaji’s phrase.

Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S

Atlast I am Married... :)

Certain moments of life, I cherished to the core. Definitely April 18th 2010 will always stay in my mind forever simply it happens to be my marriage day with my honey and also my wedding reception. I just gave a small talk before the reception began to welcome all the guests and thank all my well wishers. Here it goes....

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome one and all for my auspicious Wedding Reception function. I take this opportunity to thank each and every person who have come here to share your time with us and make the evening memorable and everlasting. I just want to take few minutes of your time. Its not a political speech, its not a philosophical speech, its not religious speech, its just few words to express my happiness and feelings.

There goes a saying, always thank a person who have offered something in your life. There couldn’t be any other better person in my life who has offered everything and anything. That’s definitely my mom and dad. I am so gifted in my life to have such a mom and dad. The two personalities who stood in all my difficult times, gave all the support to have a smile on my face. They never insisted or pressurized me to do anything special. The sort of independence they offered me in Indian Society is something dream come true for any son .They never asked me to earn lot of money, they never asked me to become great Engineer or Doctor or Scientist, they never asked me to be a great Business magnet, but they always asked me to be happy in whatever I do and the end result is I am happy with whatever life has offered me.

After thoroughly enjoying single life, after traveling to 18 countries in Europe, after completing MS and MBA, after getting job satisfaction, I always asked what was missing… definitely my sweet heart with whom I can cherish, laugh, cry, fight to the core…I always wanted two important things from my partner.… one who loves me to the core and accept what I am…one who enjoys the company with my parents…I should say… I have got one in my life….ANITA. Are we really made for each other? Time should answer. I don't want to overlook now whats gonna happen after some decades when my heart says and throbs I love a person and that's Anita. I will be the most happiest person on this planet if I celebrate my 60th birthday with my Honey with funky Chicken on my hand. But Life doesn’t go as one expects. I am happy what life has offered to me till now.

Man is a social animal. Life can not be lead only with mom and dad. I wouldn’t have savored my life with out the company of my beloved friends. I also thank each and every personalities – friends, teachers who have made my days colorful and memorable. I take this opportunity to thank all my German friends who have come all the way from Germany to witness cultural feast on the other side of the planet. Germany gave me more than what I expected. In a society where I look so different, I don’t speak the native language properly, I don’t drink that much beer (hopefully) but I was accepted totally with warm regards. Vielen Dank Deutschland!

Having tasted both the cultures to the core, I always asked myself to which side I belong to and my heart says I am a mixture of Salad. Every culture has its own plus and minus. It was always my dream to see India as a developed nation. Having seen both western and Indian society, I always felt Indian society needs a drastic change in the mentality of the people. The traditional myths, superstitions, religious beliefs are the main hindrance for the betterment of this society. I hope and strongly believe that our future young generation will play a big role for this change to happen in the coming years.

Coming to the events. We will have a short game show. Please feel free to participate and win some prizes. Don’t feel shy. Followed by this event show, we will be happy to accept your blessings and wishes and more importantly your presents ;) In order to avoid confusion and rush in the stage, please feel free to finish your dinner first also and come to the stage. There is no hard and fast rule. As I said, it’s a evening to cherish and not a evening to make controversies :)

After all these, we will be happy if you could shake your body to the South Indian, Bollywood and English songs. Again please don’t feel shy. It’s a evening to cherish. I don’t want to take much of your time. I thank once again each and every person who have come here to shower your wishes and blessings. Have a great evening. Just want to finish in few sentences

Work Hard Party Hard
Life is short Live to the Maximum
World is Small
Friends forever

Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S

P.S. I also have the tamil version of this talk. If you are interested, please contact me.

Bachelor's party in Riga, Latvia

Where should I celebrate my Bachelor’s party in Europe? My friend Stefan invited me to Riga, Latvia during Easter holidays to celebrate my last laugh in the East European city of Riga ;). We had a group of 5 from Germany and 10 Finnish guys during the trip. Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia, a major industrial, commercial, cultural and financial centre of the Baltics. The weather didn’t help us a lot during our trip as it was raining cats and dogs.

The old town of Riga has got some wonderful scenic architectural buildings and Churches. Riga's historical centre has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the city is particularly notable for its extensive Jugendstil (German Art Nouveau) architecture, which UNESCO considers to be unparalleled anywhere in the world. It was none other getting up in the morning, having breakfast, go to pub, drink loads of beer, play darts, stuff once again, take a nap, again to the pub, gossip a lot about the same story and finally ending up in discothèques and sleep next day till afternoon and continue the cycle.

I should say Riga has some amazing night life when compared to other European cities. Probably one of the best dance floors I experienced in Europe and fitting time to celebrate my Bachelor party with Stefan and Benny. Thanks to Air Baltic and Ryan Air which offered cheap tickets from Germany to Latvia and could increase my count to 18th country in Europe. Riga happens to be the last city in Europe during my European Voyage with Bachelor status. Let’s see what my married life offers during my next voyage of Life.


Good Bye Bachelor Life!
Sathish Kumar S

Chennai Super Kings – Indian Premier League Champions 2010

It’s not Mumbai, it’s not Kolkatta, it’s not Delhi and it’s not Bangalore and it’s my Chennai who clinched the title and champions of Indian Premier League 2010. Thanks to Dhoni and his men who did an excellent job to come from no where to be crowned as Champions. Luckily I had a chance to watch an IPL match at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) vs Kolkatta Knight Riders with my brother in laws and at that time my future wife ;).

It was all along CSK who dominated the match and hammered Kolkatta to the core. The atmosphere in the stadium was electrifying with 50,000 people cheering for CSK. I still remember I got 50 rupees from my dad to buy a Test match pass in the local gallery and bunked my college to watch a Cricket match with my friends. It was definitely my dream to watch a match in Anna Pavilion or MCC Terrace. Dream definitely came true to watch a match with my girl ! Thank god Anita loves Cricket as well! I always enjoyed the atmosphere and ambience in Chidambaram stadium dating back to my childhood and college days. Who could forget the standing ovation to victorious Pakistan team after the historic innings from Sachin Tendulkar and it was Chennai crowd and I was in M.A. Chidambaram stadium.

After experiencing English Premier League, Bundes Liga, Champions League etc in Europe, I always felt why we don’t have a similar concept in a Cricket fanatic nation like India. I still remember some legendry players from England, Australia, New Zealand refused to tour India in the late 80s. Now every top player from western world is standing in queue to enter Indian Premier League.

I personally consider Indian Premier League as a symbol of “Rising India” and India’s supremacy in World Cricket. A perfect entertainment for the Indian crowd to savor their evenings after long day at work. Even from Cricketing point of view, the local players get a chance to rub shoulders with world class players. At the end of the day, it’s all about money in IPL. But I don’t mind if that money is generated in my homeland and benefits India’s economy. It was certainly a day to remember!



Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S

Bad Fallingbostel Indoor Cricket Champions 2010 :)

Gloomy weather, hard to see the sun shine, drizzling drops of water on the leaves of alpine trees, definitely not an ideal condition to play cricket outside. But off late I realized Cricket can also be played indoor with some great enthusiasm. Recently had a chance to represent Bad Fallingbostel Indoor Cricket Championship 2010 for my club Lüneburg. Twelve teams represented in the tournament out of which eight of them from British Army. Really asked myself why British army still exists in German soil? Hmm…NATO, Second World war…Uhgghghg….Big yawn…lets get back to Cricket ;)

We just formed a team just before two months and started to practice for fun once in a week. We got really hammered in North German Indoor Tournament 2010 by Göttingen. We never played as a team and many discipline aspects of the game were lacking. So went to the tournament as mere representatives to have fun during the weekend. I never even thought I would play a Cricket game against English guys. It was so fun to be surrounded by English guys and hear the sugar coated words of f**k f**k when facing the ball.

Fortunately or unfortunately, we ended up with the same points with another top team in our group. So SUPER BOWLOUT was used to decide the winning team for Semi-Finals. Each team has six balls to bowl to hit the stumps. The team with maximum number of hits qualifies for the semi-finals. If nobody hits the stumps in six balls, then its sudden death i.e. the team which hits first qualifies. It was so fun to be this situation. Both the teams didn’t manage to hit the stumps in six balls. So sudden death. Thanks to my colleague Faisal from Pakistan who managed to hit the stumps and we qualified for the semi-finals. Couldn’t control our emotions, we ran through the surface and grabbed the wicket and threw them away…Got a warning from the organizer…but who cares when you enjoy some moments of life…;)

Then comes semi-finals against Hannover. Hannover had lots of supporters especially quite a lot of Indian Chicks. Seriously a tough team to handle on and off the field ;). We made some good friends during the day with some English guys. So they supported us as well for Semi-finals and finals which made a huge impact on our game. It was so funny with a character named Geoffrey and slogans like “Come on Geoffrey” “Come on Lüneburg” made the day even more everlasting. It was a close match against Hannover and we managed to reach the finals which we could never believe for a moment.

So finals against Göttingen. The funny memories of lambasting and harassment before one month by Göttingen were lingering in our minds. But I always heard from Sir Geoffrey Boycott “Cricket is a punny game, anything can happen” with Yorkshire accent in TV commentaries when I used to bunk my college days to watch Cricket ;) We won the toss and elected to bat first. We made a good start making 90 for no loss and finally ended up with 106 all out …heheheeeee

It was easy chase for Göttingen by taking in to considerations of the quality of players they have got. They lost wickets at regular intervals and finally it reached a situation. 6 balls 8 runs and one wicket remaining. Our great leg spinner Mr. Henner Jung, a German who has great passion for the game had to bowl the final over ;) It was indeed lollipop for Göttingen to finish the game in great style. Finally it came 2 balls 4 runs needed. There was misunderstanding between the batsmen and finally Göttingen lost the final wicket under pressure. Oh my god, who were the champions. Is it Lüneburg? This is something which we couldn’t believe ourselves. Really great moments! Definitely a weekend which would reside in my memory forever. Thanks to Faisal, Ali, Rizwan and Sri, with out them we wouldn’t have cherished this victory.

At the end of the day, “Cricket is a punny game” as referred by funny Yorkshire men 

Ich mag nicht Kricket, Ich liebe Es!
Sathish Kumar S

Sachin - The God of Cricket

Very few personalities in this planet can win the hearts of millions..one can easily count them with our fingers..Sachin Tendulkar definitely comes in the list of great sporting personalities under the likes of Micheal Schumacher, Diego Maradonna, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Don Bradman which this planet has ever witnessed...I was so lucky that I grew up during his prime time and can say to my grand children that I belonged to Sachin era ;) I am pretty sure Sachin has silenced all the critics from Cricketing pundits and he has nothing much to prove to anybody...India definitely needed such a hero in the present day world and he has instilled lot of passion and pride in the minds of millions of youth...How many glorious and happy days you should have given to millions and millions of Indians...and this 200 in ODI is finally the tip of the iceberg...What amazes me about this great man is sheer humbleness he shows in on and off the field...Oh Sachin...whatever you score now in the future is extra honey for all of us...You are indeed great ambassador for the game of Cricket and more importantly for a proud Cricketing nation INDIA!

"Great men can't leave this earth with out achieving what they want in their life... Thats our man 'Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar'..Hats off Genius"

Sathish Kumar S

Cricket in Germany

Narrow streets, Bicycles and mopeds passing by, targeting neighbor's glasses...this was the gally cricket which I was used to right from my school days...I never really got a chance to play with proper cricket kits in a lush green grass when I was in India even though Cricket happens to be my favorite sport...Recently got a chance to play with proper stumps, gloves, pads, bat and ball...Thanks to International Cricket Council (ICC) who sponsors non-cricket playing nations like Germany to promote the sport...Had a chance to represent Lüneburg in the North Deutschland Indoor Cup...I could hardly see any German in the tournament...it was all Indians, Pakistanis, SriLankans and bit of English and Aussies...It was a great day to remember with lots of fun in the indoor stadium even though we lost two matches... ;)

Sathish Kumar S

Devastating winter, - 20°C

Out of five winters which I experienced in Germany, 2010 should be one of the worst and devastating winter. Temperatures were fluctuating at around -20°C through out January. The famous lake in Hamburg, the Alster was frozen to the core. Thousands of people were playing in Alster lake...really picturesque sight to watch...The minimum temperature which I experienced in my home town Chennai was not less than 20°C :) To live in -20°C is a lovely experience....I always read about four seasons in my school books...never had a chance to see four seasons in Chennai...it was only summer and rainy season...Hamburg has got lovely four different seasons....Hard winter, Romantic Spring, Sexy summer, Picturesque Autumn...Looking forward for some sunshine soon!

Sathish Kumar S