similarities

The state of affairs at work strangely resemble the state of affairs in my country.
- The scale of operations too big
- Too much politics
- Power being misused
- Some great work being done at the grassroots - struggling to make them mainstream
- High level changes of government/ officials does seems to have no or little impact on the lower level of people
- Strange mixed emotions of hope and hopelessness
- There are no clear/straight solutions or answers to things. Everything has a strong connection to everything else hence very very complex
- Tight rope walking between modernisation and holding back of culture
- Bureaucratic
- Resistance to change
- Fighting issues that are a legacy
- Has a HUGE potential to be an 'exemplar'
- Has a lot of talented people
- Has a lot of untapped knowledge

humm...i never expected this.
finally, due to all of this, the 'progress' or 'advancements' (when made) are so slow that it earns no appreciation.

discrepancies

The 'design' orientation in and out of work are on opposite poles. Somehow dont fit together. I am amazed to see how much complexity is accepted and dealt with at work (when there are clear signs that we dont need to). On the other hand, outside of work, things seem to be well thought through, things are self explanatory, aesthetic, great examples of engineering and design coming together etc.
I dont get it!!!

Munich Impressions 2: Dirndl & Lederhosen

I was made to understand that like most 'traditional' clothing, this too was scoffed at for being 'old-fashioned' and 'conservative.' So I didnt expect many people in this metropolitan city of Munich to be wearing them.

But I saw plenty of locals wearing them. They were not the ones creating photo opportunities for tourists & we were far away from Oktoberfest too. They were normal locals, going about doing their daily routine.

• young girls
• young women
• middle aged women
• old women
• normal dirndl
• dressy dirndl
• long dirndl
• short dirndl...they were everywhere.
• Men wearing long/short lederhosen
• with/without the classic white shirt and suspenders.

There were plenty of stores selling them too.

I thought they looked nice in them.

I always felt that India is one of the few countries where we still see majority of people (women more than men) wearing traditional clothes. Was refreshing to see that traditional clothing still had its place in Bavaria :)

I want to wear a Dirndl once!!!

Ah! we need one in Germany too

I have always wondered WHY bottled water is so popular in this country. Tap water in Germany has among the highest quality standards. I find it appalling, that I cannot get a glass of water from the tap in a restaurant. I have to BUY a bottle - sometimes it costs more than a tall glass of Beer!! Ridiculous. So I have started carrying a bottle of water with me from home.

I fully support this campaign done in UK and any such countries where Tap water is as safe.

Here are some reasons why...

Read more about this campaign at We Want Tap...

Verdict: Signature food is always unhealthy!!!

• Waffles, French Fries & Chocolates in Belgium
• Deep pan, Chicago style Pizzas in Chicago
• Sinful stuff at the French patisseries
• German backery products (everything but the breads. everything that just calls out to you when you enter the backery)
• Quattro Formaggi (Four cheese) pizzas in Italy
• Cheese platters all over Europe
• Masala dosa in Southern India
• Samosas in Northern India
• The list goes on...
  (I havent even included ANY of the wines, or other forms of alchohol in here)

Being vegetarian, perhaps I manage to filter OUT quite a bit already. But still!! Gastronomy is such an integral part of 'experiencing' a place but unfortunately experiencing it, comes with loads of guilt too :(

How THE HELL am I supposed to keep my weight in check?? Do I now start living in the gym?

Brugge Impressions: 2

Handmade 'lace' is all over Brugge. I learnt about the legend of lace making, the industry, visited the Lace museum etc.
However it was sad to see, despite its beauty, popularity, the 'clothing' made of this was rather unimaginitive and lacked any style. They were very obviously mass produced - meant for tourists. While I can understand that, it was a pity that I didnt find a single store in Brugge that sold clothing using lace in a more stylized fashion. The only interesting pieces of 'clothing' were aprons.

Something about these traditional hand made crafts that somehow do not get integrated with 'fashion.' Even in India, such rustic, traditional hand made crafts tend to not make their way to the drawing boards of fashion designers.

While there are organizations that try to do work directly with craftsmen, it is such a miniscule segmet of the industry. If only it became a LITTLE more mainstream - we and our generations to come would continue to enjoy these crafts around us besides being a great encouragement for the craftsmen to continue lucratively.

Brugge photos

Brugge Impressions 1:

I had to buy some special Belgian chocolates in Belgium.
Tourists had lined up to buy chocolates at this store. As each on got their turn to place their order, the lady at the store comfortably and gracefully switched languages to communicate with her customers.

As I waited for my turn, I observed and admired the lady switch from Spanish to Flemish to German to French and finally to English (for me)
Hats off!

'Made in Germany' tag

One very interesting thing I notice here is not everything is coming from China or India or some other so called 'developing' country.
Being a proponent of retaining local produce for internal consumption, I do feel good about this.
From traditional porcelain, pottery to bath towels, it is not uncommon to find a 'made in germany' tag. I am happy to already own some of these locally made products. What is also interesting is the quality tends to be so high and trusted by the Germans that many of them choose to only buy German brands.
To me this is a huge achievement for a country.