Strange but true...

It’s been a while since I have been on this space. But I still recall the second week of December 2013 very vividly in my mind’s eye. My usual cheerful self was on a flight to Bangalore to tackle 5 days of work. I was completely charged especially because the mission was clear and also realizing that after I get back I had the promise of the whole Christmas vacation ahead of me.

As always, like any other business trip it is only when you actually sit down on your seat on the flight is when realization strikes. I was really eager to meet the team in Bangalore, work with them during the next days and also felt a general sense of excitement to be back in Bangalore the place where I was born.

All through the flight I had this kind of nagging feeling, but kept dismissing the thought without really focusing on the thought. You know especially when you have more important things like clean up the slides for next days presentation, enjoy a nice movie on the flight or catch up on lost sleep.

When I looked into the monitor some hours later I realized that it was only couple of hours to go for the flight to land in Bangalore. The persistent nagging thought came back and I got all tensed. The flight was going to be landing close to 13:30 am in the morning and I was supposed to take a shuttle from the airport to the Marriot which translates into travelling from one end of Bangalore city to the other end all on my own in the middle of the night! Now for some of you who are reading this post you probably do not even realize why this would be worrisome. The last months though, I have been reading about a lot of horrible incidents that happen to women in India. Some of them have been quite prominent in the media

Always read about these articles in the comfort of my home and commented heatedly about them on different media sites, but here I was stricken with fear few hours away from landing in India in my own hometown Bangalore!!

I frantically started looking for some familiar faces on the flight hoping that there must be somebody with whom I could share the cab ride to the hotel. Flight landed, I cleared customs, and got hold of my baggage as well. I was still unsure what to do, the airport was bustling with activity but I was still petrified. I came out of the airport and promptly the shuttle driver showed up placard in hand and all smiles but wondering why I was not happy to see him. I told him that I was looking for colleagues who could join me on the drive to the hotel. He happily nodded his head and told me that was fine. He also told me that there was a security guard who would accompany me in the shuttle as requested from the company, hoping to calm me down. On the contrary this made me even more nervous, two against one and it was already 14:30 am in the morning.

Then I saw a group of Swedes who had been on the same flight from Frankfurt to Bangalore talking about their shuttle to the Marriot. I heaved a sigh of relief, thanked my stars and went over boldly to them and asked them if I could tag along and share their shuttle as I was also staying at the Marriot. Now it was their turn to look very nervously at this Indian woman whom they did not know at all asking them if I could accompany them. Figured out that they were in India for the first time, which added to their nervousness. I somehow managed to convince them, told them that I was also there on work and that I did not want to travel alone at this time of the day. They worked for the company Volvo and they seemed to be a really nice group of people and they agreed. I quickly told my shuttle driver that my company would foot the bill but I will actually not be taking his shuttle. He was very confused and told me that I would have to speak to his manager on the phone and explain why I was doing this as it was his duty to take me from the airport to the hotel. I did that and finally after settling everything with everybody found myself on a shuttle from the airport to the Marriot with a group of 3 unknown Swedish visitors to Bangalore. I found the whole experience very strange to be honest. On the drive to the hotel I tried to engage in some pleasant conversation, actually trying to put them at ease talking about my last trip to Stockholm and how my daughters loved all the books from Astrid Lindgren and how Pippi Langstrumpf was one of the kids favorite characters. Also told them some of the nice places where they could go shopping in Bangalore.

But all through this time I was actually thinking that it is really unfair that I would feel the way I felt not in any other country but in my own country and in my own hometown :-(

Strange but true!

Bangalore beckoning

Work took me to Bangalore some weeks back. I am always excited when I get the chance to go to Bangalore, the city I was born and brought up in. But more interesting was the flight to Bangalore. I happened to sit next to another colleague who also worked for the same company that I work for. He also had moved to Germany and made it his home for the last 13 years. Very similar in that sense to me as well, but he moved from a small county in South Africa. It was extremely interesting to understand how he had gotten used to life in Germany and how we could come to some of the same conclusions about different facets in the last decade or so. We also got to comparing the traffic conditions in India and Germany. One of his remarks was very interesting – He said that despite the fact that there are no real traffic rules followed by anyone in the Bangalore roads, somehow everything works out fine because the people take care of each other. It is not the rules of the law that guide them but it is the basic human feeling of taking care of another human being that makes it work. Whereas in Germany traffic is so well regulated mainly because everybody is following the rules diligently. I was thinking aloud if the reason they follow the rules is also because of the human care that people have for each other. Interesting observation and conversation.

It was lovely to hear the officer in the immigration counter at the Bangalore international airport smile and ask me in Kannada the local language, if I am back in town. But he was kinda disappointed to note that I would be leaving back in few days. Told him that kiddies and hubby was back home and I need to get back soon, he nodded knowingly. He told me that next time we should all come together for vacation and stay longer. I told him we were here in 2010 and we really had a nice time together. Could not possibly have this conversation with somebody sitting in an immigration counter back home in Germany  but I still imagined how that would play out.

The hotel was nice, the breakfast buffet was brilliant and the best part it was bang opposite the Bangalore office. It could not get better than this, no Bangalore traffic madness for the next days. The only small glitch was that most of the time was spent trying to cross that busy road in the morning. I realized that my dare devil run across the road skills had slightly diminished, but I was gonna work on that. On the last day I managed to crush the fear within my head and glide through the road, knowing very well that all the Gods were on my side.

The thing that always hits you when you walk into the offices in Bangalore is how energetic and young the crowd around you is. The negative though is that I can no longer be content thinking that given 99% chances I am the youngest one sitting in the meeting room. You can be damn sure that everyone in that room is probably half your age, what a bummer. But you also realise that everybody has so many options in Bangalore, and I wondered if they all share the same sense of commitment that I felt when I started off in my corporate journey 14 years back. Something to ponder about I guess.

The highlight of the trip was definitely the chance to meet with family and loved ones. On this front nothing had changed, thank God for that. Lots of yummy food, unconditional love, warm hugs and enquiries galore about hubby dear and kiddies back home in Germany.

Everybody sighing and awing about hubby dear and how he manages everything singlehandedly when I was away. Yeah, hubby dear is indeed my secret weapon that actually makes all this possible for me. My strength and solid foundation for everything in life, I could’nt wait to get back and see the delight in the kiddies eyes and the sense of relief in hubby’s eye.

A little bit of Java and a little bit of Ghatotkacha

Now don't even begin to think that I got busy last weekend writing some Java code if that's what you inferred from the title of my post :-) I was actually refering to some real authentic Javanese culture from Indonesia called Wayang theatre and a refresher on the life of a very important mythological character from the Mahabharata called Ghatotkacha. I did not have to travel to Indonesia or go to India to have this unique and very high quality experience but stay right here in the little town of Wiesloch.

Professor Dr. Peter Schneider and his wife Christina run a theatre in Wiesloch called the Marionetten theater. So this month they put up a  shawdow puppet performance called Wyang Kulit and the play was around the life of Ghatotkacha the son of Bheema who was the strongest of the Pandavas. The Wayang Kulit is a flat puppet with a very intricate design made with buffalo leather. They are manipulated behind a white screen with a back light, so that the audience see them as a shadow and hence the name shadow puppets.

Back in Java I understand that these plays last for the whole night, very similar to the Yakshagana performances back in India. But this show was customized to the German audience so it lasted for 2 hours which was also perfect by my standards. It was my first exposure to Wyang Kulit and I figured out as we went that to signal the beginning or the end of the performance or even a scene change the Dalang or the Puppeteer Mr. Schneider would use a puppet in the shape of a mountain called Gunungan. The evil characters were always on the right side of the screen and the good characters were on the left side of the screen.

I loved the scene where Ghatotkacha very bluntly proposes to his lady love Maurvi asking her to marry him. Dr. Schneider modulated his voice and spoke the parts for all the characters brilliantly. The shyness of a lover, the anger of a hero, the evil wickedness of a villian, the pain of a mother in parting with her son all orchestrated in perfect harmony and brought alive through the puppets and through the puppeteer's voice.

Michael Zimmermann who played the guitar was a perfect substitute for the traditional Gamelan orchestra who normally accompanies the Dalang in traditional Wayang.

At the end of the performance it was nice to see the puppets all laid out on the stage with individual name tags all set for the performance next evening.

A very exhilirating experience indeed and like I said that does not always have to be through Java programming and without having to leave the confines of your friendly neighbourhood theater!!

Riding the train of my thoughts

Friday evenings are beautiful, you have the promise of the whole weekend ahead of you. Friday evenings are also dreamy where you don't have to keep applying the brakes on your thoughts and force yourself to stay focused on the next task to be accomplished. Sitting here I think of the question a work colleague posed to me when we briefly talked about my vacation in December. She asked me if I vountarily came back. Now for a split second my mind raced through all the great times I had during my vacation and I was at a loss on what should be an honest answer from my side. It was clear that a part of me wanted to stay back home and a part of me wanted to come back  home. Home as in both India and Germany!!! I don't know if she quite understood that. Anyway the meeting went well and on the walk back to my office I continued to ponder on that thought. Well, and today being Friday evening I continued to ride that train of my thoughts. For the sake of this post I will get off the train at a station called Kollur.

A place I had the chance to go back to, once again last December. Kollur is home to the famous  Mookambika temple which dates back in time to more than 1200 years.It was fascinating to soak in the sights around the temple and inside. The long colorful and fragrant flower garlands eagerly waited to adorn the Gods.

The sculptures and statues were elaborate and grand, drenching in a shower of ancient folklore. The paintings on the walls looked very symbolic with a very specific kind of style that I have not seen elsewhere.

 A scene that will stick in my mind's eye is of this cow quenching its thrist from the taps installed in front of the temple.

A great trip and some great memories too!!

Multitude of hues and colors

Its vacation time in India and I wish there was more time in a day to absorb the multitude of sights, the sounds, the colors, the smell of the place, the crowds of people. I felt that I have been using a lot more of my senses in the last few days than ever before.

So much to absorb and take in at every nook and corner of every street and side road. Little bunny points to each and everything and brings up an association to what she knows and understands and comes up with interesting comparisons.

Loved drinking the water from the very tender coconuts, actually something that I look forward to everytime I am here and plan to consume a lot more during the rest of our vacation.

I promise myself not to get paranoid everytime I see a speck of dust on the kids fingers but then I keep breaking my promise. Well, well welcome to India, amazing India!!! Some pics here and many more to come.

Summer of 2004

Just finalized my slides for a presentation at an upcoming customer event this Thursday in Netherlands. Netherlands is just a four and half hour drive from here but I only realised today that its been six whole years since I visited the country. I remember the last trip was in the summer of 2006 along with hubby dear to watch a cricket match between India and Pakistan!!
Talking about Pakistan and cricket, oh well they seem to be in the news for all the wrong reasons but anyway I hesitate to digress now ;-)
I remember that match so vividly and I still remember the feeling of dissapointment when India actually lost the match :-( But all in all a wonderful experience that stays on and on in my mind.

I also remember our visit to Zaanse Schans and the amazing windmills on display there.

There was even a cheese and diary farm there offering some of the traditional Dutch cheeses. Old Amsterdam still remains one of my favorite cheeses till date.
Lets see what this visit will have in store, but I think most of the time will be spent driving to the destination, work and back home.

Really Anokha!

Anokha means unique in Sanskrit. My friend K had rightly chosen Anokha as the name for the unique collection of jewellery that she designs. And I found the whole concept very unique. K comes from Bulgaria, lives in Germany and designs her beautiful jewellery here and finally the jewellery is hand crafted by artisans in the lovely city of Jaipur in India.

Her jewellery is indeed a marriage of Indian and Western influences brought together in the designs. Early this week K invited me over to one of the two yearly exhibitions of her collection. I had liked a lot of the individual pieces online and their lovely names and this was my chance to see them and feel them.

The exhibition took place in a quaint little wine and flower boutique in the small town of Nussloch. Kudos to my lovely friend K who manages to do all this as her hobby in addition to having a full time and a very demanding day job.