Long weekend in May…sun was shining…where should be my next travel plan…searched for all cheap flights in Ryan air…nothing was feasible…just a flight to Oslo was flashing on my web screen…Norway….is it worth enough to make my weekend trip and I hardly heard anything great about this country…lot of doubts and questions…but finally decided to take a chance since I don’t want to sit inside four walls…I am sure when you finish reading the article and seeing the videos, you can answer what Norway has offered me ;)
Ryan air says the destination is to Oslo…can you believe it lands in a place which is very near to Oslo…just 170 kms from Oslo, a city called Torp ;), hehheeee...well thats Ryan Air... After reaching Torp, we took a car to explore the landscape of Norway…we decided to follow the route from Oslo to Bergen and take the return direction…did nothing much in the evening…made our tent near the lake and slept for a night…then started our adventure…I would classify the beauty of Norway in to four parts. 1. Waterfalls. 2. Steep mountains and the valleys 3. Scenic lakes and rivers. 4. Mini glaciers
The mountains in Norway are quite different from what I saw in Switzerland, Austria and Germany…the mountains are just vertical…perpendicular to the ground…and no slanting elevations….and these mountains were really gigantic…the most interesting part is the river flowing across these huge gigantic steep mountains…the water is so pure such that one can see the reflection of the mountains on these rivers…I have come across interesting valleys in my life…but the valleys which I experienced before my eyes…just been silent for sometime and realized Nature is the ultimate winner…really feast to our eyes…the lakes are another element of Norway’s beauty…I guess the whole country is surrounded by these lakes…the ideal scene is always two mountains converging and the rivers flowing across them…a reality of what I experienced in wallpapers… :)
Waterfalls: My goodness…I have seen some really amazing waterfalls in India…what I saw in this part of the globe is simply breathtaking and fascinating….would have seen almost thousands of them while traveling…no words to describe…Bernd luckily took an unknown route haphazardly to experience these waterfalls…ultimately ending in one of the best sceneries which I experienced in my life…will reside in my eyes forever…infact we also faced the most difficult situation in our trip because of these waterfalls…;)
Glaciers were quite small enough unlike Switzerland’s Jungfraujoch….passing across them by Car was a lovely and romantic experience…Unfortunately we didn’t have any girls in our trip L. The most interesting part is, there weren’t any inhabitants to enjoy this part of the nature…hardly we found any human settlements in these areas…the original beauty of the Nature is preserved simply because there are no human settlements…
Norway, undoubtedly one of the most expensive countries in the world… I should dedicate a separate paragraph for this ;) Now I understand why they don’t want to switch from Norwegian Kroners to Euros… for e.g. we have to travel in Train for 5 minutes…a normal ticket in any part of the world would cost a penny…it costs around 6 euros for 5 minutes travel…. A bottle of beer costs 9 euros…I could imagine what will be the expenses for others…A taxi driver sitting next to me…opens an Ipod…just shakes two times….opens a facebook account and sends a mail to his girl friend…;) I guess the economy has become really strong and deadly after they found lot of off-shore oil wells…I had an idea that Switzerland is the beautiful country of the world….I am sure Norway is no doubt equal in par with Switzerland in terms of landscape and the expenses ;) People also compare Norway and New Zealand with respect to same landscape….Norway in Northern hemisphere and New Zealand in Southern hemisphere…will let you know whether both the countries are same in a couple of years… ;)
These landscapes are fascinating for holidays…couldn’t imagine of leading a life there…sun sets at 10 or 11 in the evening and rises at 3 or 4 in the morning during summer…quite opposite in winter with day light only for 3 to 4 hours… A heaven in summer becomes suicidal during winter…its quite obvious why Scandinavians have high amount of suicidal rates in the world…Could realize people drinking really hard when compared to other Europeans…thought could meet lot of blondies in Norway.. oh god first of all I couldn’t find even any human species…then how come blonds..:D It was a great company with Rakesh, Bernd and Hemant…we really complemented each other during our different phases of our trip ;)
To sum it up, Norway – Nature untouched, most expensive country of the world, lack of inhabitants, must see place in Europe…road trip from Oslo to Bergen probably one of the best road trips one could ever imagine in life…a country which I had no expectation offered me something which will reside in my life forever… Life is beautiful even with out girls when nature speaks ;)
Life goes on.... Sathish Kumar S
P.S. If you have made up to this line of my article…please take few more minutes to read the article below to feel what was the other adventure we experienced in our trip. ;)
I have been documenting my experiences of travelling and life here in Europe…I probably feel this is the experience which will reside in my memory for long time in my life…
Sun was shining to the core, huge gigantic mountains were blushing at us…rivers were flowing in a hurry to meet their girlfriends…the lakes were quite relaxing after long stressful winters…our Volkswagen passat was strolling in the midst of all these beloved friends…Rakesh was enjoying with the SLR camera to capture all these lovely moments...Sathish was thinking about all his girls how it could have been if he would have made this trip with one such girl ;) Bernd was dreaming about his girl friend Mariana sitting next to him instead of Sathish ;) Hemant was dreaming about his future honey moon plans of driving with his future wife once again from Oslo to Bergen ;) slowly got a feeling we were moving out of the complete human settlements and nearing the northern most tip of the planet.
Place where accident took place:
In the midst of all these dreams, we heard a big sound which spoiled all our dreams…probably Hemant was in full dream I guess ;)…he crashed the car on the rocks nearby…BOOM…luckily no damage and hurting to any of us….came out of the car to see the door and chassis heavily crashed…and realized that we can’t further drive the car.. we were standstill for a moment…it seemed like the Nature asking us why did you guys come here to disturb our peace…didn’t know what to do for a moment…relaxed for few minutes…then comes our real adventure..
Now, how do we come out of this jungle ? Remember I referred the same place as paradise before one paragraph…how could life change in a splash of a second…oh no, I am no exception…I am yet another human :) first we tried to call to the Hertz where we rented a car…he asked us to call the road assistance…we tried reaching the road assistance…but the automatic call assistance was speaking in Norwegian…heheheeee…the praise for nature with out human settlements vanished abruptly and was crying for some inhabitants :) A man with a truck passed by after one hour of our crash…came and helped us by calling to the Road assistance…then after two hours, the truck came to pick our partially crashed car…An old man with his Viking truck displaced our car in to the truck and dropped us in the near by village called Odda which I am sure will not have more than 100 inhabitants…;)
Which part of the globe we were caught up ? (double-click to get better view)
Now, how to reach our airport from this small village to our airport Torp…got a free internet in the nearby hotel…and explored all our cheap ways of coming out of this jungle…Let me list all the possibilities which we had and please let us know did we make the right decision or not ;) Remember no public transportation of bus and train and it was Saturday evening and our flight is next day at 17.45
1. Take a cab to Bergen which costs 3000 Kroners(333 euros for four persons) and the journey takes 3 hours by car. Then stay overnight in Bergen in some streets ;) then catch a train from Bergen to Oslo(100 euros) in the morning and from Oslo to our airport(40 euros). So the cost of this route is 225 euros for one person to reach our airport.
2. Take a cab to Bergen which costs 3000 Kroners as mentioned above. Take a flight from Bergen to Oslo which costs 53 euros plus the taxes which Bernd forgot to see ;) and again 40 euros from Oslo to Torp airport. So the cost of this route is around 250 euros.
3. Rent a car once again and start our trip and back to the destination. But who is the driver…definitely not Hemant ;) renting a car costs 5000 Kroners plus the diesel but more importantly the fear which we had of renting a car and driving ;) the cost of this route is around 200 euros but with risk of making an accident once again…just imagining how it would have been…renting a car and making an accident once again…in the return direction….heheheeeeee
4. Take a cab directly to Torp airport from this jungle…the cost of this cab is 900 euros..so for each person it comes 230 euros.
By analyzing all the four possibilities, we decided to go for the fourth option because the taxi driver is going to drive the car and we can continue our lost dreams in the same manner in the car..;) The other options were not that interesting simply because we felt with the same amount you are spending whole time traveling…and we know after two days, the best way to explore Norway is to rent a car provided the driver doesn’t dream too much ;)
Decided to take the cab next morning and spend the whole night partying in the small town to forget what has happened by looking at the Norwegian girls ;) Went to a bar and grabbed a beer….couldn’t go for next beer simply because we were totally beggers in Norway at that time…;) Bernd slept inside the bar…the bar attendant came and asked him to get out of the bar…we said Bernd is a German…he can’t speak English and made some small talks with the bar attendant and made him to stay…Bernd slept continuously for the next time and the story continued for one more time and third time Bernd thought that he has to maintain his respect and Germany’s image and came out of the bar ;)…I really doubt Bernd has any qualities of a German…which he is really proud of not being one such specimen of 80 million Deutschers…oh that’s why he has Indonesian girl friend. Hats off Bernd :)
The return direction doesn’t offer the same fun as from Oslo to Bergen with the landscape…our spirits were dampened, lack of sleep, money being plundered like paper notes…came to Sandeford town which is 10 kms from Torp….hanged around there for 4 hours and went to catch the return flight to Germany in the evening…
Is this photo taken before or after the crash ;) ?
Certainly one of the experiences which will reside in my memory through out my life…It was good that we maintained our calm, peace and fun even after all these jeopardy. I couldn’t believe what has happened in Norway for the past two days…It was a kind of totally mixed experience…pinnacle of fun and disappointments…well life is all ups and downs…just a minute carelessness costs us very badly...had it not been that one moment...I would have blown the trumpet that we explored the most expensive country in the cheapest way...but learned how life could take a twist in a splash of a second...no risk no fun…I think the biggest secret what I want to keep in my life is the amount of money which I spent all together in Norway ;)
It was always my dream to cover minimum 15 countries in Europe. With Norway, I am completing my 15th country in Europe with the most memorable incidents and experiences. To achieve some goals, something has to be sacrificed. I might have sacrificed some currency notes for what I experienced in Europe…well as long as the currency notes were earned with my analytical skills and programming variables who cares ;)
When the sun shines on the blond hair, it glitters like gold…but how long the sun will shine in the western world and will it still remain gold even when its gloomy…having tasted both traditional Indian and superfluous western life…I thought I can put forth my thoughts and compare the two contrasting ways of life…The thoughts are solely my opinion and not to hurt anybody’s feelings and can be debatable..;) The westerner always complains about Indian way of arranged marriages…the Indians always complain about the westerner’s life with many partners….when I look at the gross root level of both the life….there are plus and minus in both…
The westerner has a great possibility to choose from a wide variety of pool, his true soul mate…but if he/she is his/her true soul mate….why they don’t stick together forever…was it just superficial and Hippocratic ?…. Life is all ups and downs….all days are not sunny….a typical westerner wants everyday to be sunny…is it possible? Life is not always filled with happy moments…In fact your true soul mate is judged during your difficult times…Given the freeness and the independence from the society, they are able to behave more cranky and create more problems for themselves…the ultimate result is divorce… the amount of tolerance which a westerner have is very minimal…so when it comes to real life situations, they were not educated in a way to make compromises…
Since the society offers more freedom, they were in a position to do and try things which is quite abnormal ;) I bet the ultimate challenge for a westerner is to retain his girl friend/partner… Can life be lead all the way with this only challenge? That’s why they tend to give up this challenge and concentrate on other things…or probably in search of other partners because of the freeness in the society ;) The end result is “My Children and Your Children are playing with Our Children”.
Coming back to traditional Indian way of life…do you really choose your true love if you bring various factors of caste, religion, color, societal status, income and the assets when choosing a girl? Even after finding their true love, do they receive adequate support and tolerances from the society?... but still how do the relations survive for long time in Indian societies?...simply because Indians are trained to accept compromises and educated from the younger age to face difficult and hostile situations and live for the society and not for them…but if you give the same amount of western independence in an Indian society….I bet the percentage of divorces in India will be the maximum in the world ;) They are basically entangled in a situation where they can not come out of this vicious circle of marriage and society….so they tend to persist and stay even though the situation is not ideal and cherishing…but the question is how far is the threshold…
The most important thing which keeps Indian family moving is their nuclear structure. The affinity between the parents and the children in Indian families is considered as the most important aspect for long standing love and affection….a simple fact in Western society is the child sleeps alone after 3 months of birth…the westerners are trained to be more independent, so the feel for others doesn’t start even at the younger age…how can you expect that to happen with a person whom you meet in your lustful days that too in this materialistic world…What keeps life going after 30s and 40s is the family even though many argue career, money will be of high importance…
So its not ideal to compare both the sides of a coin, it totally depends on the mentality and attitude of each individuals how they are trained and programmed and brought up…as long as happiness and peace is guaranteed, any way of leading a life is charming and interesting…A typical Westerner believes “finding your soul mate is a continuous process of life” while an Indian argues “finding your soul mate is a one-time job of your life” ….having tasted both the dishes what I can say is “finding a soul mate is something god’s gift” :)
When people asks you...whats your age? and you reply I am 30...the next question will be, are you married? I thought its only in Asian culture...not really...this magic number 30 is considered even in western society as a big threshold age.. recently one of my good friend Nico celebrated his 30th birthday....in North Germany if you are not married by 30...you have to the clean the footsteps of Rathaus (Municipality building)... and in return the girls passing by comes and gives you a kiss...Nico was dressed up like a sexy lady and he was cleaning the footsteps of our apartment...Flo his good friend also dressed up like a bitch..came and helped Nico and they exchanged their kisses...oh no they are not gays...both have girl friends ;) It was totally a different experience for me...followed by awesome dinner and more important stuff for Germans (ALCOHOL, DANCE)...so better get married before 30th...having seen the German society, I guess 9 out of 10 Germans have to clean the footsteps of Rathaus...Now I understand why Germany is clean ;)
The prayers were going on inside the Church for the Easter, sun was shining to the core, girls at their best, flowers starting to blossom...Yes spring is back...What should be done for the easter holidays...Copenhagen, Denmark came into picture...the train journey from Hamburg to Copenhagen was fascinating....the train goes inside the ship near Puttgarden, Germany...then travelling in the ship for one hour...wind was blowing at its maximum speed...with blue skies reflecting on the water...Yes...when nature speaks you sit and listen...then again by train...that was a great experience...
Copenhagen is a small bubbling capital city of Denmark with artistic buildings...not many spots to hang around...but on a sunny day looks fascinating...we took the ferry to explore the beauty of Copenhagen...we were blessed with great weather during the entire trip...ofcourse we brided the weather god ;)..one thing I can't understand why Denmark is so expensive...my goodness really twice as in Germany...I don't know whats the strength for Danish economy other than the cows and the milk ;) on top of it they don't use Euros...they have Danish Kroners...left with few Kroners at the end of the trip...offered it to a beutiful poor girl singing on the streets ;)
Next went to Malmo, a small city in Sweden..the train passes via Oresund bridge which is the longest border crossing bridge in the world connecting Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmo in Sweden...Malmo is a small little city with beautiful beaches...scenic buildings...worth visiting Oresund bridge by car...I should thank Jothir and Anu, perfect couple who made our trip exciting and fascinating...initially I thought I will be a big disturbance for them but they know each other for almost eight years.. a perfect example and role model for future Indian generations to persist with the love even after struggle from the Indian Society...Hats off to them!! All in all, a trip which will stay in my memory for long time!!
Spring is back....temperature was shooting up to 18°C... something has to be done after the depressive long winter....sun was shining.....was thinking something to do other than Software development...made a sudden plan to visit my colleague Mark who is staying in a perfect German village called Wetzen which is around 20 kms from Lüneburg...was thinking to visit him just by riding my cycle ;) Wetzen has a population of just 300 people...we started off the day by going to the forest by collecting the woods...then cutting them in to pieces for the heaters...oh ya Germans save lot of energy... ;) followed by wonderful lunch sitting in the country side with his family...and ofcourse Jägermeister and the vodkas at the end of the day...then had to return back to my place driving in the autobahn with my cycle with half drunk....it was a day which will reside in my memory for long time...because I did something really productive other than my regular work...Thanks Mark for providing such a wonderful day...
Henrik, my colleague was very much interested to taste Indian food...and he requested me to come to his house to cook for him and his wife...I tried cooking many times for a German...in the end...the Germans always end up saying....thats too hot and spicy for me....there were times when I even didn't use chilli and other masalas...but the standard answer from them..."ahhh das ist sehr scharf"(Thats too hot)....this time I took the help of Rakesh who has improved a lot with his cooking over the years...we decided to cook Sambhar....was always skeptical about the taste....Thank god...the Sambhar got finished before we could go for second round....in return Henerik cooked Wurst for me....what a combination Sambhar and Wurst :D...a day to remember!!
Winter is coming to an end....living in North Germany you don't have so many spots to cover which will favor the winter weather...but there is a nearby small mountain for the North Germans to visit...Harz in the state of Niedersachsen....a perfect place for a weekend to spend...Went to Gossler..small little town with picturesque buildings and the most important thing to visit in Gossler is the Silver mines....really worth visiting....had lot of fun with our gang wearing helmet tops and going inside the caves...then we proceeded to Wernigerode stayed in the youth hostel...it was an eventful evening with Kishore, Rakesh and Sandeep...Thanks to the bottle of Jägermeister...;)
Next morning went to Brocken, the tallest mountain in Harz....the steam engine starts from Wernigerode and goes to Brocken....reminds me of the mountain train running between Mettupalayam and Ooty...I guess this is the only place where steam engine is used in Germany...oh ya Germans are environmental conscious to the core...aren't they? ;) it was a great journey in this steam engine....with beautiful alpine tress with snow top...
Once we reached the top of the mountain it was foggy to the core...one couldn't even see the person standing nearby...but who cares as long as beautiful girl stands nearby :D played a lot with snow by hitting with the snow balls...great experience...so took the return train and when we were in the train...the sun started to shine.....heheheeee....I was arguing to jump from the train because the train was going at snail's pace...but Rakesh somehow convinced me to stay ...then took some fast snaps when the Suriya Bhagavan came for just 5 minutes...Oh ya we are asians we got the pictures what we wanted....who cares whats rest ;) Then came down to Wernigerode which has beautiful downtown with scenic architectural buildings and went to the nearby castle with the horse ride which is worth visiting...
Harz is a mountain which can never be compared to Alps...but good enough place to have fun for a weekend...I enjoyed this trip to the core...Thanks to Rakesh, Sandeep and Kishore who made the trip lively and enjoyable....lot of funny moments and mockings....any trip is awesome if we have the right gang...and the standard sentence in any European trip....If the weather is good, even the normal girl looks gorgeous and if the weather is bad, even the beautiful ones are pretty ordinary ;) Unfortunately we didn't have the best of the weather...Overall, a great trip and a weekend to remember!!
Recently my cycle tyre got punctured...so took the cycle to the cycle shop for repairing the tyre...you know how much it costs to repair a punctured tyre here in Germany... 20 Euros...I was shocked to hear that price..since I didn't have any other options...I had to leave the cycle in the workshop and paid 20 Euros...then I took the cycle back from the workshop...and it got punctured again...:( I was really pizzed to pay another 20 Euros to fix my tyre...I asked my colleagues what to do...they said its common for the Germans to fix their punctured tyres on their own..:) So, I decided to repair the punctured tyre on my own...got the help from my colleague Mirco..he gave a very good training during the lunch break.. I never never thought that I would fix the punctured cycle tyre on my own one day in my life...;) Then I remembered my father who used to do most of the things by himself... Germany is indeed a "Service Desert" ;)
Mr. Herald Merkel, my lovely mentor cum friend recently invited to his house to celebrate his birthday and also his retirement from the job which he has been doing for years...It was a big gathering of many oldies ;) had a chance to meet many oldies of different personalities who fought in the second world war...the doctors..the Professors...the Bank Chiefs....the overboasting Business guys ;)...it was a great chance to spend some time with them and hear their experiences...Merkel has now decided to spend more time for his wife ;) but I guess he cant have children at this age oh no...he already have two sons... :D...wants to travel a lot...my goodness has he left any continent in his life to visit....probably may be Antartica is the missing one ;) ... wants to play Golf...very good sport for a guy who can't touch his toes :D Jokes apart....Wish you a great, happy, peaceful retirement days with your family...Alles alles gute Herr.Merkel :)
I was staying at my school friend Parthiban's place in Stuttgart during Christmas holidays.... so decided to roam near by areas of Stuttgart...Heidelberg came to our mind... Heidelberg is a scenic city in South Germany situated on the banks of river Neckar...Heidelberg castle is worth visiting...we went to the top of Heidelberg by the mountain train which is called the Koenigstuhl...gives a panaromic view of the city of Heidelberg...sun was shining but it was freezing to the core....It was a great day with typical South Indian flavour of jokes and surcasms with our gang ;)
Two weeks of holidays.... what to do.... where to go... Salzburg in Austria came to my mind...decided to celebrate my Christmas holidays in Salzburg, Austria..took a flight from Hamburg to Sazburg by TUI fly airlines...my school friend Parthiban joined me in Salzburg directly from Stuttgart.....the weather was shit for the first day....sun god appeared on the second day....Salzburg is a picturesque city situated on the banks of the Salzach river, at the northern boundary of the Alps...birth place of Mozart...
Old city, Hohensalzburg which gives panoromic view of the city, Mozart's geburtshaus, Hellgrun garden are some of the important spots to cover...the important place to see in Salzburg is Untersberg which is around 30 kms from Salzburg...around 1880 m high...cable car takes you to the top...this ride in cable car is simply awesome....ofcourse all cable car rides to the top of the mountain is always fascinating...had a lovely time playing with the snow...this place gives an amazing view of the city of Salzburg....Salzburger Weihnachtsmarkt is worth mentioning....if one wants to taste the European culture...Salzburg is the place...amazing architectural buildings... Salzburg worth going once... :)
Time goes really fast... this is almost my fourth Christmas in Germany.... What could be a better place to celebrate Christmas evening in Hamburg...its none other than at my mentor's place... his son and daughter-in-law came from London for the Christmas evening...with candles burning on the Christmas tree at the corner..with gifts and lovely wishes being exchanged...lovely awesome delicious dinner...what an ambience...typical German Christmas evening...
Herald gifted me a Wurst which is one of my favourite dishes in Germany ;) and more importantly gifted me a "Steurerklarung Software" (Tax Clearance) which I very badly needed in the recent times being a IT guy ;)... Germans always say their tax regulations are one of the complicated in the world...Herald's duty is to do mentoring during my studies to show German culture and make me feel integrated in to the society...What I can always says is...he has done exceedingly well than what he is supposed to do...a man who imbibed lot of confidence in me to lead a life in German society...our bond of love, affection and respect have grown in proportions in the recent years...I owe you a lot Herald... Well ask any German how special it is to invite a person for a Christmas evening...The answer says it all... :)
The year which gave me lot of joy, happiness, success and peace was none other than 2008 mainly because of the fact 2007 was really hard…. One really knows what happiness is after a stint of real tough times…that’s the case with me too…. Let’s have a short recap of how the year turned out…
January: Came from Berlin after really tough times during my Thesis and job hunting…defended my Thesis for my Master of Science under Prof. Killat… a big relief after stressful days..
February: Attended my spring school classes of my MBA…with lectures from one of the best Professors in the field of Strategy and Business Planning…. Thoroughly enjoyed the Blah Blah stuffs of MBA…
March: Applied for my work permit…had some relaxing days before I started my work…Backpacked to Eastern Europe to countries like Hungary, Austria, Bratislava and also to Barcelona…. It was a great time with my friends (Andreas, Veera, Juan)
April: Started my full time work as a Software Developer in Werum Software Systems… had lot of doubts, speculations about the work, colleagues…it was certainly an inquisitive start to the work…
May: Went to Denmark with Bernd, Vijay, Hemant, Rushi…explored Denmark by renting a car…BBQ in Denmark coastline…fun in the beach and in the countryside of Denmark…memorable time
June: Summer was its peak…Enjoyed playing Cricket in the weekends…had tussle and enjoyment in the game…Had a class trip to Cuxhaven…PlayedBeach volleyball with our friends along the coastline…great experience…
July: Programmed our Process Automation Execution Software (PAS-X) in PDA….thoroughly had the job satisfaction after a long time in my career…guided by great analytical thinkers….
August: Finished my MBA studies by giving the final propositions and shifted from Hamburg to Lüneburg mainly for the fact that I want to sleep more in the morning… Was making all preparations for my mom’s arrival in Germany…
September: Was counting my days for mom’s arrival in Germany… it was a great moment when I picked her up in Frankfurt….celebrated my 26th birthday with her and my good friends….
October: The most important moment of the year 2008… mom’s presence for my MBA graduation ceremony…. The moment which I cherished to the core in the year 2008… had a great fun with her…cooked different kinds of food… had a great Diwali time with her and my good friends…
November: Had to say good bye to my mom…It wasn’t certainly easy for me after her presence with me….but life has to go on…got used to the lonely way of life….
December: Had a Christmas celebrations in my office… I was the Santa Claus… had a relaxed month in the work…no big deadlines and tasks…
All in all, it was a year where I enjoyed success, happiness, peace through out the year…It was quite opposite to what I experienced in 2007… I thank all my friends and well-wishers who were part of my happiness in 2008.. I don’t expect 2009 to be same as 2008… because lightening always strikes once ;)
Obama as President in USA, Sathish as Santa Claus in Germany..;) this was the caption suggested for this article by one of my colleague ;) Recently we had Weihnachtsfest (Christmas celebrations) in my office...there was a mail to all the members in the office for the voluntary representation of Weihnachtsmann (Santa Claus) during the Christmas celebrations...Just had a glimpse of my Annual Day celebrations in school days...Then I thought why not and thanks to the motivation from Jan ;) Covered my face with a mask so that the kids don't have to be frightened and they don't have to say "Mummy Mummy...Weihnachtsmann spricht mit einem accent!! Er sieht sehr schwarz aus"...It was a hard time wearing the mask for one and half hours...I was sweating to the core when the temeparatue was around -3 outside hheeheee but thoroughly enjoyed the experience...I should say the German kids were very introvert..well thats a typical German culture...;) Followed by nice dinner and drinks...Day to remember!!
Deep condolescence to all those people who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the financial capital of India. I am sure my piece of article will not bring any change in the situation what’s happening there but I felt, I should express my views on this particular incident which has happened in Mumbai. It’s solely my opinion and not to hurt anybody’s feelings and ideas.
Dating back to the days when Britishers tried to explore India, they always found one great weapon than the bombs and shooting guns, it was none other than “Divide and Rule”. They have adopted this policy exceedingly well in almost every corner of their colonial acquisition and succeeded to greater heights and it payed rich dividence to their master plan. It was between Hindus and Muslims in Indian sub-continent, Tamils and Sinhalese in Sri Lanka and the example goes in every corner of the world where they occupied. Even after they left these countries, they have plown the seeds in the early centuries which resulted in a situation which no body could have imagined for.
Ok, can we all blame the Britain for their cunning attitude? They have benefited out what they executed. We suffered it under their hands for many centuries and has the time not arrived to realize what has happened in the name of religion is all stupid and chaos. Well it was in the early stage in 1947 to realize that. But has the time not arrived after many decades to stay united and become stronger and stronger and make the western world which conquered us make jealous of our progress and developments. Well Dr. Abdul Kalam realized it, that’s why he visioned a rocket to moon and he succeeded it. If the politicians and the normal individuals from both India and Pakistan realized it, then both the countries shouldn’t be spending millions and millions of dollars for fighting in Siachen glacier in one of the world’s top most battle field, both the countries shouldn’t have suffered because of two great wars between them, to all the atrocities happening in the Kashmir valley, to all the communal violence which has happened in both the countries in the last decades in the name of religion.
Europe suffered severely and the Europeans have realized tolerance is the best way to maintain harmony with neighboring nations. Do we need yet another kind of third world war in Asia especially between India and Pakistan to come to a conclusion not to fight anymore? Religion is a way to lead a life. It can be in the form of any religion. No religion says to kill people to satiate their dreams. People getting so acrimonious, hatred in the name of religion and using religion and their god to kill people is totally unacceptable and barbaric. Has the terrorists succeeded in their attempts? Yes, they did atleast killing some 300 people and bringing international attention. What will be the reaction from the Indian Government and can we be sure that this attack will not happen anymore. Who’s the ultimate winner of this cold battle existing between the two oldest possible civilizations of the world? This is a never ending story unless and otherwise each and every individual realize what’s happening in the name of religion is stupid and non-sense. I really doubt whether such a situation is feasible in the foreseeable years in the Indian sub-continent. By that time, I could feel real catastrophe on the cards. It’s a pity. Well everything happening in this world is all destined :(
I have been in Germany for three years, I haven't met any German in this span of three years who was very much interested in exploring India to the core... it was none other than Heike from Solltau, Niedersachsen, Germany...Thanks to Vasantha Aunt who introduced Heike to me..What a day I had with her family...her son picked us from the Bahnhof to the Wietzendorf, a small village near Solltau where Heike lives...then we had a great Lunch...with Upma and Sambhar...Lecker....Great work from Heike and Vasantha Aunt...
Then followed by Bollywood collections and videos...man Sharukh Khan is an ultimate hero everywhere...I never knew this guy had this much popularity through out the world...What amazes me about Heike was her passion for India...my goodness...she speaks Hindi...she has Hindi script in her computer to practise...the quiz programme which she made about India...watches all Hindi programmes in the internet...travelled and explored almost every part of India in gross-root level and wants to live in India....Heike, you definitely have shown your LOVE towards India...I can always assure you that India will definitely reciprocate your LOVE...:) I am really satisfied that I met atleast one German who loved my motherland to the core from the heart...Hats off to you Heike...
I still remember when I used to travel to office in Chennai with temperatures hovering around 40°C in the month of may...before I reached the office I would have taken bath with sweat and spreading around the bad odour to all my colleagues in office ;) After some years, I totally experienced a contrasting situation when I was travelling with my bicycle to office...the sun god disappeared and snow was falling on the way to my office...with temperature close to (-)..complete white background...What a contrasting situation I could have imagined for...It was a great feeling to develop and debug my application by looking in to the snow outside my window in my office...Ich liebe Schnee ;)
Michael Kizelmann, Scheisse Deutscher von Köln... ;) mein sehr gute beste freund in Deutschland.. recently celebrated his 32nd birthday in Hamburg... It was a typical German evening with Sauerkrat as the dinner food followed by as usual beers and alcohols...Tried Averna for the first time.. Lecker...It was a group of around 10 people and then went to Reaperbahn to shake our butts...Kitzi you have offered me a lot during my stay in Germany and you have travelled along with me both in good and bad times...Keep in touch wherever we are and whichever part of the globe we are.. Nice to have you as my buddy :)
After sending mom back to India from Frankfurt airport, I wasn't in a great mood to explore Frankfurt...Took some time to come out of the emotions and as usual back to form with the camera in one hand and map in the other...Out of all the cities I have seen in Germany, Frankfurt is the only city which is very modern, has huge sky scrappers and very American...Frankfurt can not be included in the European city ;)... Had a chance to go to the top of Main Tower which gives panaromic view of the city of Frankfurt...worth going to the top...Awesome view... Rest nothing much to see...Frankfurt mainly known only for its International Airport...
Time goes really fast...One month flew away like a second...one of the best memorable moments which I had in Germany...All comes to an end...It wasn't certainly easy for me to come out of the situation with out her after having spent the golden times with her...well life has to go on...The moment when I last kissed on her face and said bye to her in the airport still resides in my eyes...Certainly couldn't control my emotions after that...Thanks to Indian couple who helped her in the airport to board the flight and make her reach safely in Chennai...I really thank god for making this dream happen in my life... :)
Out of all the Diwalis I celebrated in Germany, this Diwali was something special...mainly because of my mom's presence...had a great Indian evening with all my friends with special South Indian dishes...can you imagine...we prepared 12 different dishes...Idly, Dosai, Poori, Potato Subji, Kuruma, Chicken 65, boiled eggs, sambhar, cabbage poriyal, pakoda, fried rice, pachadi... great moments...amma asirvatham amma samayal....:) Took an off from the work and watched all special programmes in Sun TV, Vijay TV...I loved it...I hope to celebrate the coming Diwali's in the same fashion if I am lucky :D
A small narration: When I was a child, I used to travel to my father's native place Salem in Yercaud Express sitting next to WC because of the crowd...slowly it changed to travelling in 2nd class reservation compartment...after that it changed to Air Conditioning (AC) compartment...and then to British Airways travelling via London...and then slowly to 15 countries in Europe...and finally it came to a situation of my beloved mom coming to Germany for my MBA graduation ceremony :)
There are various moments which I cherished in my life to the core but nothing can be compared to this...my mom's presence in MBA graduation ceremony and it certainly healed lot of pains in my heart...
1. This moment healed my mom's thirst of me not being a doctor....mainly because of the fact I left the Medicine seat which I obtained...
2. This moment healed my pain of not studying in US...but the country with which I didn't expect anything gave me hell lot of things...Deutschland hat mir viel gegeben....:)
3. This moment healed the pain which I suffered when Prof. Killat who stripped my ass in the mid-term presentation of my Master Thesis...But thanks Prof...now I feel whats happiness :)
4. This moment healed the pain which I suffered when I was hunting for jobs in Germany and the rejections which I got mainly because of the strict visa regulations and language constraints....
5. This moment healed the pain of loneliness, depression and the disappointments which I suffered during my tough times in Germany....the sacrifice which I made in Food, Entertainment, Friends, Cricket, Movies, Indian girls ;)
My friends always say that I am always an unsatisfied guy but now I should say to the mirror that, "I am satisfied with what God has given me :)". I love you amma !!
Any Indian who has stayed in Germany for a considerable amount of time shouldn't miss Ham Amman temple in North Rhein Westfallen state and the case holds good for my beloved mom..She was thrilled, excited, happy when she entered the praharam...This temple has been sort of important spot for all the desis in Germany...Whats special about this temple is the Gopuram and the ambience it presents in a foreign soil...Thanks to Sri Lankan tamils for their strenous efforts to build this shrine...
Got delayed because of the connecting train...was searching for some accomodation in the 11th hour finally my good friends Vijay Anand and Karthick turned in to the show...The kind of hospitality shown by Karthick to my mom....my goodness...No words to describe...Thanks Karthick...A day to remember!!
Followed by a German evening on Saturday, was a typical Indian evening on Sunday in Bhagavan uncle's house...Special thanks to Sudha aunt who prepared delicious Indian food - Thayir Vadai, Sambhar Vada, Fried Rice, Apple pickle... Had a chance to meet another Indian family with their kids...followed by a funny discussion of marrying a German or an Indian...finally the argument settled for marrying an Indian girl...:D Mom felt very homely....One more day to remember!! Thanks once again to Bhagavan uncle and Sudha aunt...
Recently my colleague Mark Rueter invited me and my mom to a typical village festival in his place Wetzen....Initially I was skeptical about bringing mom to this fest, but Mark forcibly took my mom to this fest in his car....Drunk a big bottle of beer next to mom along with Mark ;) I did shooting for the first time and I correctly targetted the nucleus and won a prize.....the prize was none other than 3 Kgs of chicken ;) followed by wonderful music and food...Mom danced along with other German ladies....it was a great opportunity for her to see how Germans celebrate their special evening...Thanks once again to Mark for the invitation... A day to remember!!
What could be the best place to make my mom happy in Europe... Switzerland, Paris, London..No!! Then what else....Yes... Celebrating Navarathri festival in Hindu temple... She felt really happy to see Navarathri celebrations in foreign land...the festival was marked with traditional slokas and mantras and followed by arathi...The most important event in this Navarathri festival is DANDIA...played it for the first time and I cherished playing it like gilli ;)....More importantly mom enjoyed to the core... :)
When I say to my friends in other parts of the world that I live in Germany...the next question what they will be asking is "Have you been to Octoberfest ?".. Having stayed in Germany for three years, I didn't find the right time to go to Octoberfest...finally the time has arrived to go to this wonderful fest in Germany...The highlighting feature of Octoberfest is the typical Bavarian dress and the beer...with thousands and thousands of crazy drunkards roaming in the streets and babes exposing their assets ;)
First we went to BMW museum...a must see museum for all the Automobile nerds...this place is highly picturesque with small hill top...lush green grass near the lake...feast to the eyes..I didn't drink much in this fest mainly because of the fact that I need to pick my mom next day from Frankfurt...otherwise the story would have been different....:D Anybody who has spent some time in Europe...never miss Octoberfest!!
If at all one weekend which will reside in my memory forever, it will be none other than Sep 26, 27 and 28th.....after stressful hours of programming in the office on friday had a wonderful memorable party with my MBA classmates in the evening...this party was special because it was a kind of get together for everybody...the party was amazing with wonderful lighting arrangements and most importantly the drinks... ;) After partying to the core, slept at around 4 and got up at 6 on saturday morning to catch the train to Munich for the Octoberfest....
Just 2 hours of sleep...took enough rest in the ICE from Hamburg to Munich....Once I reached Munich, I got the sprits back...the city was bubbling around with lot of tourists marching towards the Octoberfest...a must see fest in Germany...with thousands of people...in typical Bavarian dress..the Brat wurst and the Beer...with some amazing rides and games...no words to describe...I enjoyed this fest with my school friend Parthi and his colleagues...took some snaps with some beautiful babes passing by ;) ... went along with Parthi to Stuttgart by car..again just slept for two hours and was excited about mom's arrival in Germany.... :)
Started from Stuttgart in the early morning on sunday and reached Frankfurt airport by 7.30 in the morning....Waited on and on in front of the visitors place...Finally the door opened and could see amma coming out of the door....Rest...No need to explain :) Travelled along with mom from Frankfurt to Hamburg... Certainly a weekend which will reside in my memory forever !!
Long weekend in May…sun was shining…where should be my next travel plan…searched for all cheap flights in Ryan air…nothing was feasible…just a flight to Oslo was flashing on my web screen…Norway….is it worth enough to make my weekend trip and I hardly heard anything great about this country…lot of doubts and questions…but finally decided to take a chance since I don’t want to sit inside four walls…I am sure when you finish reading the article and seeing the videos, you can answer what Norway has offered me ;) 
Glaciers were quite small enough unlike 
Time goes really fast... this is almost my fourth Christmas in Germany.... What could be a better place to celebrate Christmas evening in Hamburg...its none other than at my mentor's place... his son and daughter-in-law came from London for the Christmas evening...with candles burning on the Christmas tree at the corner..with gifts and lovely wishes being exchanged...lovely awesome delicious dinner...what an ambience...typical German Christmas evening...
