Just a short wittiness: When I first landed in Hamburg airport for the first time, I had to pay 50 cents to take the trolley for my luggage. My mind said should I have to pay 30 rupees (50 cents) to use the trolley instead I can take the luggage by hand but once I came out of the airport my friends told me that one can get the 50 cents back lol. From that day till now, it has been a tremendous and challenging journey for me in Europe. I can not imagine myself that I am a German nationality now when I am writing this article.
Unfortunately, India doesn’t support dual citizenship. So for acquiring German citizenship, I need to give up my Indian citizenship. It was certainly not an easy decision for me to give up my Indian nationality. So what made me to go for German citizenship? There were quite a number of reasons which prompted me to go for this decision. The first important advantage of possessing a German passport for me is traveling becomes easier. For example, if I want to visit my cousin who is doing his Phd in New Zealand, I just have to book the tickets and fly directly to NZ. Same holds good for US, UK, Australia and other Asian countries. I had to face quite a lot of bureaucratic procedures for applying tourist visa to US, UK or UAE. Especially for travel freaks like me, it’s definitely a handy feature to have German passport.
I really thank god that I was given the opportunity to experience both the European and Indian culture to the core. Even though my roots are Indian, I should honestly admit that German society is one of the more idealistic Utopian societies after I witnessed around twenty countries in the European Union and which I read about in my history books. The most striking feature about this country is the health insurance. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is completely insured by the state for his health. Even giants like United States are not in a position to offer this luxury to its citizens.
Next striking feature is the School and University education. I always feel money shouldn’t be a barrier for somebody in their lives from pursuing their dreams of higher education. You can send your kids to the same school where Einstein went but you don’t pay extra money for it. Same holds good for pursing higher education and pursuing research. I am pretty sure this is not the case in countries like United States, UK, India, and Australia where one has to shell out considerable amount of money in schools, colleges and Universities for their children to get high quality of education.
Another thing which I really liked in Germany or for that matter in Europe is the gap between rich and the poor is very small. A barber can dream to drive a BMW, can go to holidays to Spain and lead a healthy life on par with snobby white colored employees. The standard of living is equivalent for almost every individual and the respect for each job is simply awesome. Having been brought up with so many economical differences in the society from the childhood, definitely Europe gave me a chance to see the other side of the globe.
Another thing which I really liked in Germany or for that matter in Europe is the gap between rich and the poor is very small. A barber can dream to drive a BMW, can go to holidays to Spain and lead a healthy life on par with snobby white colored employees. The standard of living is equivalent for almost every individual and the respect for each job is simply awesome. Having been brought up with so many economical differences in the society from the childhood, definitely Europe gave me a chance to see the other side of the globe.
What strikes me more about European economy is the word Security. The sort of insurances involved during unemployment and during retirement. It can never happen in Germany that you are fired one fine day unless and otherwise you stole something from the office or harassed some beautiful girl in the office ;) It was never German way of life style to spend lavishly with credit cards and go bankrupt. Hardly I have seen people spending here more than what they have in their pockets or by taking lavish credits from the bank. Many of my German colleagues always complain that Scandinavian countries have the best social security system but honestly they haven’t seen the other side of the world. Germany is no doubt definitely on par and top when compared to other western countries. The point which is of worth mentioning is about the maternity holidays which last for three years before mommies could join the same job. Well of course, Germany needs kids or who else will pay the insurance for the oldies. As per statistics, every German family needs minimum 2.5 kids per family to sustain their economy and to balance their social security system.
Besides all these benefits, the amount of holidays which one gets in a year is something worth mentioning. The most striking part is, when one is sick, its goes as sick holidays and it will not be deducted from your normal holidays. The German work culture which is organized and structured to the core where one definitely take their work close to their heart but they never miss out of their nude holidays in sunny beaches and drinking beer along the shores;)
My first target when I came to Germany was to complete my studies and go either to United States or to India. After my studies, I felt why not have some German work experiences for some years. After rubbing shoulders with some smart Germans and tasting German work culture, I thought why not live in Germany with my wife here for couple of years. After leading marital life for some years, I felt why not have kids here and I realized time ran so fast and it’s almost six and half years since I left India and now I got my German citizenship. The other reason where German citizenship will play an important role for me in the future is to work in India for considerable period of time and can return back to Germany anytime if I want. Alarm bells are always ringing from my mom every day that I should return back to India as soon as possible since I am the only child and it’s my utmost duty to take care of them during their last phase of their life.
One good thing done by our puppet Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh is the introduction of OCI card for all foreign nationalities of Indian origin. The card which enables to live in India as long as possible, work in India, start business if needed, buy some property and have the same rights as Indian citizens. Only bottleneck is one can not vote, one can not work in Government organization, one can not become a politician I am sorry to say that our house street in India has been completely taken out of voting list. It’s been some years since my parents caste their votes.
So I will definitely not going to miss out with respect to voting and becoming a politician in India is never possible for people who are academicians and from middle class ;) But working in government job, that’s kind of bit tricky. I always wanted to give back to Indian society simply because that’s where my roots are. It was always my dream to work as a Professor in Anna University at the fag end of my career or even contribute some coding lines to Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). But it’s too early to think on those lines, one never knows what comes out in the future and especially when the diplomatic relations between India and European Union is increasing at a rapid rate.
If you have made up to this line of my article, thanks for your valuable time. The reason why I wrote this article is mainly for people who still think and relate Germany to Second World War, Hitler and Nazism. Times have changed, world has moved a long way. There are always stray incidents which happen here and there but that’s quite common and happening in any part of the world for foreigners.
I thank each and every German, my fellow countrymen, friends from different countries who helped me in one way or other to come to the level of attaining German citizenship. My special thanks to my Technical University Hamburg-Harburg (TUHH) and Northern Institute of Technology Management (NIT) and my company Werum Software & Systems which provided me a great opportunity to taste German way of life. With out all your help, warmth, love and affection, it wouldn’t have been possible. At the end of the day, German passport is yet another piece of paper but that shouldn’t eradicate my roots or the values which I imbibed from Indian society.
When I first left my hometown to Germany for my higher studies, I never ever imagined that I would become a citizen of Germany. As Tamil scholar Kaniyan Poongundranar said before 1000 years, “Yadhum Oore Yavarum Kelir” – the whole world is my family, every person on this earth are my kith and kin. It’s just the politicians and humans have created borders and division among people but I always believe those are just imaginary lines to separate people. So it’s just yet another piece of small book stating German citizenship which is going to lie in my shelf.
I always had a small feeling that I didn’t land up in United States before some years because of language constraints here in Germany. But once I could manage most of the stuff with my dilly dally German language and when I look back my days, I am quite happy that I landed in Germany for many good reasons. Not to forget, I got my precious gift (Anish) here with the help of German Medical Insurance system and sophisticated modern medical facilities. . Well one can always make holidays in United States with German passport. I really have to admit the fact and sentence which my mom said when I informed that I am going to be German citizen. “I sold my son to a foreign land” But let me also admit the fact that I love Germany to the core as I love my mom.
One of my German colleague said on a lighter vein during the lunch time, ‘Jetzt haben wir den Salad”. Now we have a salad after the arrival of Sathish in Germany ;). I thank Germany from the bottom of my heart what it has offered me in all spheres of my life.
List of countries which I trotted during my studies and during my work in Germany.
1. Germany
2. Spain
3. Italy
4. Swiss
5. Austria
6. Latvia
7. Slovakia
8. Hungary
9. Netherlands
10. Belgium
11. Denmark
12. Sweden
13. Norway
14. France
15. Portugal
16. Turkey
17. Czech Republic
18. India
19. UAE
20. United Kingdom, Qatar (only in the airport)
Ich liebe Deutschland!
I am indeed a proud Indian!
Sathish Kumar S
