redefining Germany for you

Germany: A country better known as a land of Hitler, a nation characterized by Nazism and a place infamous for the arrogance and belligerence of its citizen.

But often I find that the reality begs to differ from the media. I suppose I should write something about it coz I’ve been fortunate enough to see the reality through my own eyes during my short stay here. And Aschaffenburg is not Berlin or any other cosmopolitan city with an evolved culture of tolerance. Here we have 14 Pakistani taxi drivers and 5 Indian software engineers. That’s it.

Before proceeding with my various experiences let me tell you that this small country has given a lot to the world. As a person who has some interest in literature and philosophy I know the name of Kant and Nietzsche and Hermann Hesse and Franz Kafka. I am sure you know about Beethoven and Einstein. It is unfortunate that the English world has made Hitler as the icon of Germany. But even Hitler arguably contributed in the precipitation of our freedom.


It is a beautiful place. It is not beautiful because of its exotica or unchallenged technological advancements but because it is inhabited by beautiful people. Let me explain.


Do you know about any other country that reunited after a division? Here the people actually broke the wall of Berlin and presented the most unique and heartwarming instance of reunion.


A BMW car whose capacity to turn heads can only be competed by supermodels is zooming on the roads. Its possession can and does make a man a swollen-headed swaggering monster (and a prisoner in Tihar Jail for running it over 5 persons in Delhi) in my country. But not here. Not here because they have not just bought it, they have made it. And perhaps that’s why they stop to give way to bicycles or people who want to cross the road. And mind you, I am not writing it after one or two random experiences, this is the regular practice here. Did our elites even bother to buy this along with the car? I understand that in India your car wouldn’t budge if you care to stop it for pedestrians but what about our attitude? Any answers?


These people are great people. They are great because they do not suffer from deep-rooted inferiority complex like we do. Remember I am talking ONLY about educated Indians. I am talking like people like us, like me who need electronic gadgets to breathe with confidence. I too like electronic gadgets but not our servility. I disliked the Harley-Davidson bikes despite its formidable lineage. Whatever, I was talking about Germans. These people walk barefooted on the road without being jeered upon. The girls lie down on the pavement without being stoned with sarcasm. In my office my seniors explain while kneeling down on the floor without minding my sitting comfortably on the chair. They don’t mind. They are cool.


I don’t intend to prove them superior to us. I don’t need to. They are so. At least I have no doubts about it. All I want to do here is to say that we’ve chosen a slippery way to be like them. If we really wish to emulate them then we must learn to appreciate their attitude towards everything.


While returning from Heidelburg we met a man who was greatly delighted after knowing that we were software professionals from India. He addressed as ‘the famous Indian software engineers’!! He then waved at us after getting disembarked from the bus. Nice work gentlemen! I am proud of you all who had paved the way for us. We are not only gaining acceptance but respect too! I didn’t narrate this anecdote because I thought this to be a stand-alone incident. I didn’t know that it was a part of a thought pattern developing in Germany and may be in other European nations as well. But today its repetition amazed me. While we were appreciating the music played by a girl in the market I asked a bystander what instrument she was playing. It was harp. This initiated a conversation. He too was quite impressed by the same fact. He asked me to explain how do we manage to be so good. All I could do was smile. You know what a great programmer I am. But he didn’t know that. He invited me to his place Vittsburg. We had no pen and paper so he went to a café and wrote his name and phone no and gave that to me. What say guys? :)


This day has been great. In the morning I booked the tickets for Paris. Yeah finally we are visiting Paris next weekend. :)

Many small incidents followed but I’ve deleted them coz they might seem very unimportant to you. I wish I had brought a diary with me to note those little things, which means a lot to me.