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