First name of dad becomes surname for the kid... Do you know this?

Recently I had complication to get the right surname in the birth certificate for my son in Lueneburg, Germany. Normally in South Indian culture, the first name of the father becomes the surname for the son. For e.g. my first name is Sathish and my son gets the surname as Sathish. This concept of naming seems to be totally new and weird for Germans in the Standesamt (Birth Certificate office). Because in Germany, the kid gets the surname of either mom or dad. So in our case, my surname is Shanmugam and Anita’s surname is Muruganandam. So my son will get the surname as either Shanmugam or Muruganandam.

In the first instinct, I was kind of ok with this rule and sort of proceeded to have Shanmugam as surname for my son. But my wife was very adamant that it’s quite unusual to have grand father’s name(Shanmugam) as surname for our son. I can totally understand her position and wish. So I thought I should fight it out with the local authorities to get Sathish as the surname. I took the example of my other Indian friends in South Germany who had the similar situation and they didn’t have similar problem with their local authorities to have father’s first name as surname for their kids. I scanned those birth certificates with the similar situation and went to the concerning officials in Lueneburg.

I had to argue with them if other Standesamt (Birth Certificate office) in Germany can give father’s first name as surname for Indian kids, why not Lueneburg. The lady was arguing that according to the rule of names in Germany for Indian kids, it’s not possible to give that way and I can only go by the phrase in the rule book of names for Indians. What was surprising for me was she said, Indians don’t have the concept of first name and family name and we just have names written together. I was shocked to the core with her statement. If that’s the case, why in Indian passport we have first name and surname. She reiterated that only because of internalization and global mobilization, Indians have agreed to the naming conventions according to western rule.

I said, I can even get a letter from Indian Embassy in Hamburg stating that it’s acceptable to have first name of father as surname for the kid. The lady was so adamant that she will go only by text books and she can not change her mind. I can agree to the lady if my son is given German passport and nationality, then it makes sense to abide by the rules of German naming convention. If the kid is Indian, I thought why I should be submissive with my approach to her. I said, I will go to press if she carried with this approach. If other offices in Germany can give such birth certificates with out any fuss then why not Lueneburg. She got frightened after I said I will go to press.

She gave me a work around to get Sathish as surname for my son. Since the kid is born in Germany, the kid can be named according to German naming convention but the parents won’t be given any surnames. It’s the birth certificate of my son, what’s important is the first name and surname of my son and it totally doesn’t matter if the dad’s and mom’s name is written as one full name or split in to surname and first name. So I finally agreed with this solution after discussing and arguing for nearly two and half hours.

The kids can also get international birth certificate in Germany. I requested is it at least possible to get surname and first name correctly for the parents. She argued international birth certificate is an exact copy of German birth certificate and she can only issue as it is in German birth certificate (Geburtsurkunde). I asked her to show the rule where it’s stated that International birth certificate is an exact copy of German birth certificate. She said she will get back to me in few weeks finding this rule ;)

I made great experiences with different sections of people in Germany but not definitely with the government office people. They have a different attitude towards foreigners. Had it been before some years, I should have just accepted what she said. But this time I thought I should fight it out to practice my German and pass time with bureaucratic snobs ;) I felt it as a total waste of time just for the shit paper works. There are so many issues and problems to concentrate in life but sometimes people in government offices are bogged down with petty things.

Conclusion: My son's first name: Anish (Anita + Sathish) Kumar
surname : Sathish

Isn’t it a nice feeling in the future when somebody calls my son Herr. Sathish (Mr. Sathish) and not Herr. Shanmugam (Mr. Shanmugam).

Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S

Istanbul - West meets East

After one spent considerable amount of time in Germany, at least one time or other, one should have gone to Turkish shop to eat the famous Döner Kebap or Durm. After hearing about all the stories about Turkish culture, food and historical cities from our Turkish friends in Universities, Istanbul was always in my list of European voyage. Thanks to the cheap air tickets by Condor Airlines from Hamburg to Istanbul. If you are having Indian passport, one can get on arrival visa by showing the hotel bookings and return tickets for two weeks.

Istanbul is a sandwich city between Europe and Asia and so is the culture of Istanbul with the conglomeration of east and west. One side you see the tall skyscrapers, modern outfits and western style and on the other side one sees the traditional Mosques, Bazaars and trademark Islamic buildings. The lovely Bosphorus bridge connecting Europe and Asia and one of the busiest bridges in the world is a treat to watch especially with lights in the night time.

Had a chance to rent a car to explore Istanbul and near by places. Driving in Turkey is more or less similar to driving in India. Hagia Sophia, Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Basilica Cistern, Dolmabahchi Palace which shows the richness of Ottoman empire are some of the must see places in Istanbul. The Grand Bazaar is the oldest and one of the largest covered markets in the world and strolling across this Bazaar is definitely a life time experience.

A cruise ship on the Bosphorus on a sunny day is a must in Istanbul. The same cruise ship on the Bosphorus in the night with belly and Turkish dance and Turkish cuisines on the ship is yet another great experience ;) Had a chance to go to Sile, a small beach located by the Black-Sea shore and is just 45 minutes drive by car from Istanbul. The most fascinating aspect of Istanbul is the restaurants. They have marvellous and huge varieties of Turkish food and sweets which one can savour to the core.

Thanks to Özge and Ismail, my good Turkish friends in my University hosted us in a traditional Turkish Restaurant and their hospitality was simply awesome. It’s a special feeling to catch up with friends with whom you rubbed shoulders in German Universities and to meet them in their homeland. Thanks to my good friends Prabu and Aishwarya who accompanied with us for the trip and we had loads of fun with both of them and they gave a great company. Prabu made excellent pictures with his SLR camera and the ladies as usual posed for the pictures ;)

All in all it was an excellent trip which will reside in my memory for long time. After exploring Istanbul, I should say Turkey is no way developing country, it is indeed developed nation. Probably the same quality of life is not to be seen in other areas of Turkey. By far, in my opinion, Istanbul looked grand and rich in all aspects. Istanbul must see place in Europe. Oh I am sorry in Asia Oh no Europe and Asia ;)

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Insurance - Way for quality life

During my student time, I always cursed myself of paying certain amount to the medical insurance. It even got aggravated once I started working that the amount got increased considerably. Whenever I used to say to my friends working in different parts of the world like India, Dubai, USA that here in Germany we pay nearly 40% taxes, they were shell shocked to the core. Even I felt the same that the amount of tax deductions here in Germany was very high and totally needless. I never understood the concept of Insurance since I was brought up in Indian society where spending to a doctor is a waste of money and we never had a situation in our society where monthly contribution was given to health system.

But I really understood its significance and importance only during the time of pregnancy of my wife. She has to be in the hospital for nearly two months and all the expenses were taken care by the health insurance. I never felt at one instance the financial stress during this tough situation. Thanks to the medical insurance system here. It was a good learning curve for me regarding Insurance because as one grows older and older, more and more complications can occur in body and during that time, one can not afford quite a lot of money for medical expenses from one’s own pocket.

I really feel this system should also be introduced in Indian society where part of the monthly contributions goes to Medical Insurance system and when dire straits arrive in one’s life, no need to worry about the financial situation to treat the patient. I feel insurance should also be introduced in various fields which definitely make the quality of life much more cherishing and happy.

Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S