2010 in retrospect

There are special programs on television that capture memorable moments of 2010...

There are just a few more days left of this year...

So, I decide to introspect on this year too. 

Increasingly, the 365 days seem shorter every year. Time seems to fly faster. 

I can remember January of 2010 so vividly that I cannot believe in 5 more days, it will be January of 2011.  phew! 

2010 for me was full of sports, visitors and some travels :D

For a few months, we were regular visitors to the local government office to request for invitation letters for our friends and family. We are now fully aware of the formalities required to be done to invite someone over from India for a short visit :)

Our guest bedroom was finally put to it's intended use.

• Sharmila came for a quick overnight stay with us first sometime in May.
• Vinod uncle and; aunty followed as they stopped over to spend time with us en route to India.
• Jaishree (and Sharmila again) came over to watch the F1 in Hockenheim and travel around a bit.
• Ankura and our friends here spent the summer in Santorini and Athens.
• finally, in September Mom-Dad came over on their maiden trip outside of India. 

It was great to have everyone over. The worst part were the "good byes." (I hate good byes)
Despite that, the ease of it all made me feel very connected with my friends back home all over again. Thanks to new technology, well paying jobs and cheap flight tickets, the world does seem like a small place. 

Although FIFA dominated global sports scene in 2010, we managed to do more than just that.

• A visit to and tour of Wimbledon Center court: Need to get back there to watch a match
• A visit to Lords Cricket grounds. I'm not sure if I'd sit through an entire match. I am a Tennis and live Football fan instead.
• French open finals, Roland Garros, Paris. Although I missed watching Federer play, was great watching Nadal. It was too short a match.
• F1, Hockenheim, Germany. Was a good one time experience. I don't think I will do this again.
• Plenty of public viewing of 2010 FIFA world cup matches. Germany's position kept up the good spirits. This time I had the German flag, a hat with the red, black and gold and also the Wuwuzela. Was a lot of fun.
  
• German Bundesliga (Hoffenheim versus Bayer Leverkusen), Sinsheim, Germany. Watching a football match live for the first time. Enjoyed it despite the freezing temperature. Wish the Hoffenheim supporters were more alive.
• Manchester United versus Arsenal, Manchester, UK. The ManU supporters were really really alive. The sound was almost deafening. It wasn't a great match for ManU but the experience of it was really good.

V writes more in detail of his experiences.

Our travels took us to (business+personal): 

• Sweden: Stockholm, Kiruna, Abisko
• UK: London, Manchester, Liverpool
• USA: Atlanta, Orlando, Miami
• Greece: Santorini, Athens
• France: Colmar, Riquewihr, Paris 
• Germany: Loreley, Bacharach, Treiburg
• Belgium: Brussels
• Switzerland: Zurich, Zug, Engleberg
• Turkey: Istanbul

We watched the following concerts: 

• Alice in Chains, Wiesbaden, Germany
• Mika, Wiesbaden, Germany
• U2, Frankfurt, Germany
• Robert Plant, Paris, France

As we pack our bags (yet again) to leave for India and welcoming 2011, some key incidents of 2010 stay in my mind:

• I got stuck in Atlanta due to the Icelandic volcano. I return to Germany via Rome combining a flight and train journey to get home. 
• As Parisians got on their roads to protest the increase in retirement age and as their gas stations shut down, we took the chance to drive to Paris (via Belgium) to watch Robert Plant live :D, and so mom-dad could experience on of the most charming city of Europe. 
• Flying over the Arctic circle to Abisko and spending a night in Lapland in the peak of winter was something!! 
• I achieved a goal I had set for myself - get my parents to travel abroad and see some places. Feels good that I could.

When de-centralised is more sustainable

A month ago, there was a power outage in my apartments building for a hour, two days in a row. Coming from India, a power outage like this is insignificant to daily life.

However, in Germany, it was significant.

• I (obviously) could not watch TV
• I could not connect to WLAN and work on my charged laptop
• I could not cook myself some food for myself
• I could not heat food from the refrigerator
• I could not even get my car out of the parking garage (because the gate was stuck)

A couple of days back, when it was -7 degree centigrade outside, the centralized heating system was down for a few hours.

• I could not take a shower
• The room started to become cold

I thought to myself, in India, having the LPG (liquid petroleum gas) alternative along side electricity proves to be very effective.

There is always a back up. One or the other would work - keeping centralized systems up and running on a constant basis takes up quite a bit of resources and effort. 

Realization

Finally it became clear to me why I love living in Europe > in Germany > in Wiesloch > being employed here  etc.

This to me is as balanced as life can be.

I am employed with a decent salary. I live in a village, surrounded by wineyards, yet have the infrastructure of no power cuts, uninterrupted water supply, fast WLAN....connectivity with trains and my own car. I can walk down the steets of this little town and say 'hello' to familiar people I bump into often. I can wave at the farmer on his tractor, pluck grapes off its plants and yet be in a some of the biggest, most dynamic cities of europe within a couple of hours.

I can visit, see all the places I've studied about, recall all those poetries, books, paintings, musical legends - art and history. I can walk on grounds that date back to...civilizations, yet be part of modern evolutionary processes.

I can fall for the consumerism yet be aware that nobody in need for support, like medical aid will die just because he or she could not afford it. I'm contributing to the basic social welfare of the society too.

I can be away from my friends and family back home, yet be with them in just 8hrs - one flight. (Less than the time it takes me to travel within some parts of my country).

I can have close relationships with peole, yet have the possibility to draw the line of privacy without having to wage wars.

I am located centrally in the planet. Nothing seems too far.

I can be working on some very challenging projects, yet do so at a pace that doesn't drive me crazy. I can my vacations to rejuvenate myself only to work better.

Striking a balance in life is a goal for me. It drives my personality. This balance is good for me.
For my composition.

Appreciate it as long as it lasts. I will consider myself fortunate.

Mom and Dad visit Germany

28th September 2010, V and I received my parents at the Frankfurt Am Main International Airport.
It was such a pleasure to see them.

Mom and Dad went through all the painstaking processes patiently to finally get the visa, board an international flight for the first time in their life. Am so proud of them :)

The weather was lousy, but it didn't seem to matter much. The day went past as they looked around the house, caught up on some sleep, spoke of all the things in Bangalore.

In the evening we went out to Heidelberg to eat at Sahara, walked briefly on the Alte Bruecke to look at the illuminated Schloss. Thankfully, it was not too cold for them.

Was really nice start to their vacation here with us in Germany.

Watching Formula 1 live

I love cars, driving; my husband and my friend are F1 fans...so were all the thousands of people who were in Hockenheimring last Sunday.

Driving a car is perhaps the one 'so-called unsustainable' activity that I would not give up easily. If it helps in some way, I always drove; will drive a small car; I am driving a car that has decent CO2 emission ratings and engine efficiency; as much as possible, I have atleast one more person riding with me; I primarily use my car for getting around the city. Given its power, fuel efficiency etc, I rarely drive long distances with it.
In future, I would be very open to switching to an electric/ hybrid car when they are more viable and feasible.

Cars are interesting!

Sunday: 25th July 2010
The Ferrari; Mercedes Mclarens...all lined up.
The start of the race was one exciting moment...out go all the F1 drivers - a split second in front of my eyes and they are gone...way past...

The Ferrari's successfully kept the Red Bull car at bay and took the lead...

1st lap...
2nd lap...
3rd lap...
67 laps in all!!!!

By the 4th or 5th lap, I could not keep track of who was in which position.
The binoculars helped to view the large screen display and know what's going on.

Despite all that noise, I caught myself dosing off.

I looked around me...everyone seemed to be hard core followers of this sport. By now, I really really was wondering how VERY UNSUSTAINABLE this sport is. Thousands of people have spent a whole lot of money to come and watch these car drivers literally burn high speed fuel to complete 67 laps on the track.
Phew!

Yes, I confessed I like driving cars...but this was way extreme. I felt guilty for having contributed and promoted (having purchased a high priced ticket) this sport.

Besides, I felt it was so much more interesting to watch it on TV with all the interesting commentary.

Given the industry behind the sport, I would be surprised if it dissappears completely.
When a sport like Cricket can innovate to have 'one day internationals' and now the popular '20-20' matches...why can't F1 do something too? ATLEAST have lesser; smaller laps? Thereby consume 'lesser' of the high speed fuel?

Irrespective of the future of the F1 sport, I told myself, I do not want to subscribe to this sport and/or contribute to its promotion in any way.

Its official, "I have become very 'German.'"

Many of my friends and colleagues have been telling me, 'I have become very 'German' in my ways.'
More often than not, the statement me defensive.
But not today.

Today I realized, among other things, there is definitely ONE aspect in which I am closer to being 'German' than 'Indian' - i.e. revealing information that I consider private - information that is nobody's business.

The Indian, the 'social,' 'class' and 'cultural' distinctions forced me to reveal information that I strongly believed was nobody's business - not even my immediate family members. I feel really SHITTY about it.
I realize and am aware that I cannot change the Indian society in some aspects.

But, I have learnt to respect some aspects of another culture. Yes, Germans draw very clear lines between what's private and public. Something not easily comprehendable for many. Since I have been exposed to it and have been dealing with it, I have grown to respect this trait. 

Cultural diversity for me, is interesting precisely for this reason - to let diverse cultural traits influence you - you make the choice of what makes sense for you, adopt it into your own way of thinking, into your own life and belief.

To this trait in particular, here are somethings I promise to myself:

• I will put my judgement, perception, conscience before asking someone something if it is something I can / cannot ask. - Whether the information is really important for me. Can I live without that information?
• I will not 'IMPOSE' myself on anyone and DEMAND information that may not be something someone wants to share.
• If I do ask someone something, I will give them the choice to tell me, "I do not want to tell you," and I will accept it with all due respect.

I may pay the price of being percieved as someone too 'detatched' and 'non-talkative' by my fellow Indians because it is common practice to be inquisitive and ask just anything in the name of being 'friendly.'

I am willing to pay that price. I think I anyway give that impression to many :)

"A volcano erupted, so cannot make it for the wedding."

CNN interviewed some of the impacted passengers.
Two of many were people flying over for their wedding.
One of them, "skyped" in all the friends and families from the other side of the Atlantic to watch the wedding online.

I wonder, how a traditional Indian wedding would be handled in such unpredictable scenarios? Those thousands of invitees; there could be scenarios where the bride and groom are in not in the same location...

On second thoughts the likelihood of such a thing to happen may be rare because owing to all the elaborate rituals before the wedding, people would be in the desired location many days/ weeks in advance to the actual wedding date :P :D

Atlanta 3: Stuck here

The last time the volcano in Iceland erupted, it continued for over a year...
How long would it continue this time?

How long do I need to stay in Atlanta?
Thankfully, I am not in too bad a situation. I can go to the local office and work, can continue in a hotel room. But I still want to get back 'home' - more so now, when this seems like an 'open ended wait.'

Atlanta 2: Finding "veggie; healthy" food

Among Steaks and Original Hamburgers, the first challenge is to find any vegetarian food.
The next challenge is to find something not too greasy, heavy and large - something "healthy"

Looking to eat something around noon, I went towards 'Underground Atlanta.' Its an interesting little place. Lots of food stalls but none that offer something vegetarian. (I really missed having the ubiquitous bakeries of Germany where I could just get myself a croissant/preztel and a coffee)

Finally, I saw a 'Waffle House.' Among the huge combo meal options, I choose to eat 1 waffle with honey and a glass of cold milk. The size and 'guilt' factor did not make me want to do my body a favour and go for a jog immediately.

On looking around, I learnt that the Waffle House is a rather old establishment and saw an interesting sign board that read, 'Shirts and shoes are required to be served.' ha! :)

Atlanta 1: Recession?

In the country where a Chrysler 300 looks small
A mini really looks tiny
The Toyota Tundras and Chevy Tahoes, Hummers make their presence felt among rows of stretch limosines and beefed up engines on old vintage Cadillac. I have not seen a single small car or hatchback on the streets so far.

My hotel receptionist finds it queer that a 'Silver member' Marriott would like to use the Metro to get somewhere and not a Limo service. On a Saturday night, the Metro stations are empty. The trains are too.
I wonder if the metro system is making any profits to continue functioning.

Tons of advertisements on the telly, on how to make money...many of them stating, "no credit checks" (still?) and how to spend the money.

Looking around, it does not feel like this country was in severe recession just recently.

Metro/ tube a great 'equalizer'

The hip and stylish, a mother having a hard time controlling her naughty kids; sleepy passengers; book worms; the gadget freaks; a teacher correcting maths test papers; loud teenagers; lonely looking elders; musicians; dance school students; sports enthusiats; tourists; 'can't get enough of each other' couples...a riot of languages, multitude of nationalities, skin colors, races, walks of life...all going somewhere.

A public transport system like a metro - the lifeline for many global cities can be such an equalizer. A 'secular', system enabling humanity to commute, earn, connect, live.

I'm looking forward to times when such public transport systems brings people together in Indian cities. Mumbai local trains do so already, am hoping the Delhi, Bangalore metro do the same.

Urbanization

Traversing different regions of london city by the tube and on foot. I see a lot of garbage, homeless, general filth around - issues faced by all 'BIG cities' around the globe.

I realized, how much I like my, modest life in a small German town. While cities have all that buzz and energy, I'm not sure if I would like to be part of it day to day. I see so many people running aroud, trying to catch that tube/ bus...a friend who is waiting.


I recently read a statistic that claimed that majority of Germans live in towns and villages. I would like to think, there is some 'strategic' plan behind this to prevent masses from crowding the cities. German towns like the one in which I live in are very self sufficient. For most day to day requirements, there is no need to venture out. I love the fact that I'm still close to cities but not have to live in one.

I am a proponent of making it possible for people to have a  lucrative, good lifestyle in a town/ village.
Everyone having to move to a 'city' to have a livelihood is simply not sustainable in my perspective. The trend however is more and more towards 'urbanization'. Sadly not enough is being done globally to upgrade the towns/villages to stop this unsustainable flow towards cities.

beobachten (observe)

its a beautiful day here today - cant help gazing outside :)

1. its 'break time' for the kids at Merian Schule, and they are out playing in the small play area outside the school:
   - sliding down the slides...
   - hanging on parallel bars
   - run around the place chasing each other
   - the girls playing with a skipping rope
   - hop scotch...
   - jumping down from stairs
   While the world of 'computer' games have advanced so much, the things kids do outdoors has not.
2. while most kids are playing, some of 'em wearing florescent vests have put a chain and guarding the boundary of the play area and the road beside - ensuring that the kids dont run on to the street.
   - Discipline! and saftey! I recall my days of being a 'prefect' in school and had to ensure all my fellow students formed their lines properly...none were left behind.
3. the break lasts for 10 minutes, all the kids go into the school except the ones wearing the florescent vests - one brings out a can, the others bring out long sticks...its their duty to pick up pieces of  junk/scrap - dump them in the can, place their equipments in the storage area beside the cycle stand then go back into the school.
   Its great to see how early this orientation to clean up and clean up yourself is instilled. Perhaps thats where 'civic' sense training needs to start - early, in school (and at home ofcourse)

I stand 'converted'

Today I finally decided to give up my fight and struggle to share my 'outside' and 'bigger' prespectives on design among my colleagues. In the past 5 years of my career in this team, I was always 'appreciated' for doing so. My inherent hope and this encouragement kept me at it all along.

It suddenly dawned upon me that 'hey, i am not in the same set up anymore.' Somehow I remained blinded to this fact. Out of the 5 years, I spent 3.5 years with 'managers' (both line and project managers) who genuinely supported me to "ask questions", bring in "ideas" of improvement no matter how difficult they maybe, "encouraged" me to stick my finger into a can of worms if I believed, was confident that it is worth it.
While, not everything I brought up found its way to something tangible, the key thing for me was, I was never seen in 'negative' light for being so. I could be honest and give frank opinions even if they were NOT what people wanted to hear. Yet, be able to go out for dinner together with the team few hours later.

We did have pretty good successes out of this too...the typical concept of, "more the ideas, the better. there are no stupid ideas"...we truly lived it.

However, the past 1.5 year, I am in a different set up - one that is FAR MORE rigid than what I was used to. Here, things are done in a certain way because thats how it has been done since 1976...
Does not matter if it is the right thing to do
Does not matter if the world outside has changed dramatically...
We know what to do and we know it best.
There is a sea of people who believe in this approach being the "right" approach.

Therefore, any whiff of 'fresh air' is shut out completely.
Anyone who 'questions' (even has potential solutions to problems) is shunned off.

The 'culture' around me no longer encourages me to be honest, frank about things. The repurcussions of being so is not good. But ofcourse, it is 'politically' correct to say, "you should be honest. we really appreciate your honest feedback."

I finally tasted the "pinch" of salt that such a statement is loaded with.
Ive learnt my lesson.

I am now "officially" a convert to being a compliant; good employee of my company. I will finally "fit in" with the sea of people around me...I will function as 'programmed'.

ofcourse, this new, converted me, is the "face" of me that people at my workplace will see. i am too level headed to be converted to this in my heart of things ;)
the org culture cannot really kill my self-motivation. it perhaps did not deserve it. i'll figure out something that does.

'understanding' a new 'work culture'

i am trying to understand:

• what is the 'career orientation' of people here?
• how do they percieve, define, professional growth?
• in a 'normalized' set up, how is excellence differentiated from mediocrity/ under performance? (if so)
• what are their underlying motivations at work - if any? (other than salary and perks)

i realize that these aspects of a person's professional life here is very different from professionals in other parts of the world. i need to delve deeper into understanding this.

the current trough of motivation among my colleagues isnt helping!

Tight rope walking

• I am supposed to do 'Pranayama' 6-10 times in a day for 5 min each of which atleast 4 times should be with the prescribed oil.
• I am supposed to do an oil massage twice a week (in weekends)
• Eat at the same time everyday
• I should eat dinner by 7 pm
• I should be getting ready to sleep by 10 pm
• I need to spend 8 hours at work, working
• Need to sleep for 7 hours
• Cook for both of us
• Get physical activity for minimum 30 minutes everyday
• Drink minimum 7 glasses of water
• Eat 'warm' food
• Clean the apartment
• Do grocery shopping
• Eat 1 fruit everyday
• Plan vacations
• Call up and converse with families twice in a week for approx 30 min each
• Stay in touch with friends - Facebook, emails, chat
• Do paper work of Bank, insurance, medical stuff, office stuff, company car, house rental etc
• Socialize with friends
• Catch up on reading
• Manage my photos - print them, upload them, download them, frame them...
• Learn 'how tos' of a Digital SLR
• Stay up to date by listening, reading, watching the happening on the world; in my profession
• Soul search to constantly reshuffle my priorities in life
• Stay focussed on goals of my life
• Water the plants
• Relfect on my career and identify ways forward
• Worry what i would teach my child IF and when I have one
• Be there for my husband
• Drive
• Clean the car
• do the laundry

phew!! I am stressed!!

 

Obviously, I do not end up doing all of the above. In the end here's what I am SOMEWHAT able to accomplish:

• Pranayama 2 times a day all times with oil
• Body massage - maybe once in a month :(
• Sporadic physical activities :(
• Eat my meals at ALMOST regular time everyday
• Eat my dinner between 7-9. I really try to eat between 7-8 but latest by 9
• Go to bed by 11 
• Shop for groceries once a week
• Call family twice a week
• Sporadic 'reading'
• Cooking for both of us
• Working 8 hours a day at work
• Socializing with a circle of friends
• Am disorganized with my paper work
• Am constantly multi-tasking and feeling that i am neglecting something else :((

V has taken over some tasks :)
But still I desperately need to set my priorities again and manage my time more effectively. With so much in my 'to do' list, I am extremely disoriented and distracted.

The things I 'want' to do do not even figure in this list yet!!! :(

For 'health' reasons, I am told I should stay FAR AWAY from stress!! How can I accomplish that??? Would love to know!!!

India's "soft power"

Some time ago, I heard Sashi Tharoor's talk on this topic in TED India. Listen to it.

Given the context of TED, I really liked it. I agree to most things he spoke about.

Living outside my country, I am faced with questions about my country very regularly. I try to explain things to people with a caveat that it is my "personal perspective" because I feel that I dont do justice to India's diversity by giving a generalized explanation.

As I travel around Europe, I really EXPERIENCE this 'soft power' of India.
I have been travelling in Europe for the past 4-5 years so I have a time frame that allows me to compare the 'before' and 'now.' Some of my experiences:

• There was always 1 vegetarian main dish served during lunch in my workplace. However, EARLIER, this was often restricted to Italian pasta/ Thai or some improvised dishes from other cuisines. The increasing activism about 'vegetarianism' has been pushing our caterer to give some more thought to the vegetarian dishes.
  
  Our caterer decided to seek public opinions, suggestions for recipies for this and over time, there are days when I really look forward to lunch. NOW, many of these vegetarian dishes are 'indian' / india inspired.
  
  Further, almost on a daily basis there is a side dish of lentils and rice; the seasoning counter includes 'Kurkuma' (curry powder - a mix of different spices and turmeric powder) and Chilli poweder too.
  For an India, the availability of 'dal-chawal' in Europe is a blessing right?

• Earlier, Indian restaurants were a common sight primarily in big cities and places frequented by Indians.
  I was very pleasantly surprised to find an Indian restaurant in Bratislava - Slovakia (Eastern Europe). I never imagined stereotypical 'spicy' Indian food would be something people in Slovakia would like to eat.  

• The Indian restaurants in small German towns around where I live are almost always full with locals.

• In Florence (few years ago), my colleagues and I were having trouble finding something vegetarian in a restaurant. We see an 'Indian' looking guy walk upto us and speak to me in Hindi asking if we needed help to find something. Whoa!
  
  He helped me order a traditional bread soup with vegetables. Yumm.
  
  Later learnt that he was from Nepal, married to an Italian and lives in Florence since.
  
  A couple of days later, in a pizzeria, the lady who took the order from us was very curious to know if we were from 'india.' She told us the 'pizza maker' in the pizzeria was from India :D :D

• Earlier this month, V and I was in Kiruna - northern Sweden - 145 kilometers north of the Arctic circle, searching for something to eat other than Reindeer meat. We came across a Chinese restaurant and walked in to look at the menu. We could not comprehend much off a menu in Swedish. I tried to tell the owner that I am looking for something vegetarian which also excluded sea food. The owner tries to converse a bit in his Swedish-Chinese English. Then takes a pause and asks, "where are you from?"
  We: "India"
  Owner: "So you speak Hindi?"
  We: "Yes."
  Owner: "To aap machli bhi nahi khata hai?" (so you dont even eat fish?)
  We: "Nahi. Sirf sabzi" (No. Only vegetables)
  Me: "To aap Hindi kaise boltey hain?" (how come you speak Hindi?)
  Owner: "Guess kariye, hum kahaan sey hain." (Guess where I am from)
  Me: "Dharamsala?"
  Owner: "No"
  V: "Darjeeling?"
  Owner: "No. Hum Kolkatta sey hain" (No. Im from Calcutta)
  
  The rest was easy. We got ourselves a nice custom made, vegetarian soup, fried rice and noodles.
  Would have never imagined talking in Hindi to ANYONE in a town in the Arctic Circle - let alone an India of Chinese origin.

• The owner of our Bed and Breakfast accomodation in Stockholm (the base camp of our travels in Sweden) at some point was involved with an Indian lady.
  
  When we returned to this accomodation from Kiruna, we find some bread and Dal (cooked by the owner) waiting for us. phew! Dal made by a Swedish guy. It was really very good. Much like the home-made dal we eat at home. All the right ingredients.

• We get a map of Sweden - among all other advertisements, there is one with a picture of Deepika Padukone - brand ambassador of Tissot watches.

• When we arrive back in Frankfurt airport - digital kiosks of an India Circus week greet us.

• In many Chemists I find a lot of Ayurvedic medicines available over the counter. They tend to be general wellness medicines, however, I never saw them before. Nobody knew of a stream of medicine known as Ayurveda before.

• I wont even get into the well known facts of Bollywood stars having huge fan clubs abroad. I have often watched popular Bollywood movies on German TV with Sharukh Khan speaking German :) If only I could speak the language as well as he does ;)

All real life examples of the kind of 'soft power' Sashi Tharoor speaks of. All these Indians/people from the sub-continent I have bumped into in Europe - running their businesses, speak the local language fluently. they have understood who their primary audience is; understood this audience enough to know how to cater to them...fascinating!!