Character of a City

What makes a person like a city or dislike one? Many a time I have used in my conversations with people, the term 'character' for a city. This thought comes from listening to the 'Dilli' song from 'Delhi Heights'. It is a pretty cool song and I thought it was a nice collage of Delhi.

Anyway, going on to the character thing. In every discussion, there have been enough defenders for each of the large cities.. the Delhi ones swear by Delhi...of course, the Mumbai-kar loyalists are the loudest and definitely Chennai has its bunch of lovers......a friend from Chandigarh claims nothing like her city...

But the thing about Bangalore...its a strange one...folks staying in other cities view Bangalore as this cool and fun place to be, which it is...but the number of detractors today that Bangalore has inside amazes me (for whatever reason) . Today most of the folks from Delhi or Chennai staying here dont like Bangalore.....given a chance, they would quickly shift out...

To me, its not so much about the traffic and infrastructure etc...its more about what can you associate with the city, what I call the character. Character is the essence or ethos of the city that needs to be felt. For me, when I travel or visit any city, if I can get a sense of that, then I consider my visit satisfying.

At some point, people have stopped making an effort to like Bangalore or understand the possible character of the city. When I started living here in Bangalore, it still had the 'small-town' nature, very laid back and it was just a clean beautiful city. Now I think Bangalore is in a confused awkward adolescence stage. Shes no longer a small kid nor is she an adult yet equipped to handle the growing up...yet the city is still an all-inclusive city which has accepted all into her folds (despite the politicians)

Like any city, there are the problems. But it's not all bad...
Well, maybe a Rabbi song for Bangalore is what is needed to prod folks into making an attempt to like the city ...

New York, New York

New York is a great place, a city full of energy and a city that never sleeps..but when I am travelling back tomorrow to India, I feel good..

I feel so ready to travel back...I am usually the kind of person who likes visiting new places and try and understand the 'character' of the city.

New York should have been perfect. Dont know if it is due to the amount of work or the team I was working with...am sure glad India is calling...

I guess there are times when you want to be the adventurous one in the world exploring new corners and there are other times when you want to get back into the comfort zone that you are used to....

What a person is, I suppose dependent on how comfortable and what proportion of the time he/she likes to tread into the unknown...

The one good thing about this trip was the number of old friends I caught up with. I realized I knew so many people here - school, college, ex-colleagues, IIMB and some of them I had lost touch over the last 3-4 years and some of them I have not talked to in about 10 years...But its good to know that there are so many people who you can just pick off where we left off from...

Makes me think, I should definitely try living in Mumbai...

Muenchen calling

To think that a few months back, I was in the city where the FIFA world Cup was played out yday makes me nostalgic for Munich. Though I lived there only for a year, it was a great time indeed.

hmm..would have been a great time to be over there now....with all the crazy football fans over there.... :(

One of the pictures that was exhibited at one of the gardens in Paris. I thought the expression on the face of this girl was remarkable. 

Louvre Collage

Louvre Collage
Originally uploaded by bibinsr.

Views from the Louvre.

Again an amazing museum. By no stretch of imagination am I a connoiseur of art. But Louvre manages to amaze you with the variety of paintings and scultptures. However, I did think that the Mona Lisa was one of the most hyped stories in the world. There were so many paintings which were probably more beautiful than the Mona Lisa and so it seemed strange that people only want to see the Mona Lisa. The room where the Mona Lisa was hung was so crowded while the rest of the museum had so less people. Quite a marketing success!!

Paris City Collage

Paris City Collage
Originally uploaded by bibinsr.

As a last minute effort to remove an entry from my wishlist, I managed to make a weekend trip to Paris - one of the truly great cities of the world.

Definitely a city with 'character'.

When I came back from the trip, one of my friends asked me whether I liked Rome or Paris. To me, both of these were so very different and amazing in their own ways. Rome is all about history whereas Paris offers everything - history, style, class. Rome takes you to an era back. Being an ICSE student, I had to learn Julius Caesar during schooling and it left a deep impression on me (thanks to my english teacher). So when I saw the Roman Forum, I could sense the greatness of the city.

In Paris, you get the feeling that you are in one of the great cities of the world. The Eiffel Tower is again one of the places where you feel that this monument lives up to the reputation. The 3 days that I was over there went by so quickly. I would love to go back to Paris and spend a less hurried vacation and soak in the Parisian ambience.

Madrid - Bullfight ring view. Seems to me a sadistic pastime where an animal is being challenged by so many men prompted by 10000 or more people 

Barcelona - A city where you find everything - beaches, history, entertainment. A beautiful city 

Toledo - A small but beautiful town on the outskirts of Madrid where the famous Don Quixote was supposed to have lived with its beautiful old streets 

Views from Spain 

A Time to Spain

I know I have not been doing this regularly enough. It's just that Inspiration is becoming a little hard to see in the mist out here.

But also, I am now travelling to Spain for the next 4 days. Hopefully this will be a good trip. I get to see something that I never would have really put on my things to do list - watch a bullfight.
(I dont know why, the only image that comes to my mind was this report on Sun TV I saw a long time ago about this competition of taming the bull somewhere in Madurai)

So am hoping to be back on Monday. Will put a post on the trip.:)

To leave or not to leave

As the Indian IT job market is booming, I can see more and more folks are relocating back to India from all of the developed countries. People who have lived for extensive periods of time abroad make this momentous decision to go back. As we bid farewell to one of our colleagues who was going back after 5 years in Germany, I started thinking about the nature of this decision

While living abroad, you tend to take for granted some conveniences and mode of operations. That train is expected to come in at 8.21 and it will. You go and dump the garbage in the right place (after separating out paper, bottles and other waste in 3 categories) [Sidenote: this is actually done in Germany. I cant think of any other group of people who will have the patience to do that]. You almost never honk your car horn. You give the pedestrians the right of way. You do not cross the road until the pedestrian light turns green. You almost never go to visit families without giving advance notice. The word 'please' is the one which is used the most.

I could go on.....

I wonder how much time it would take for people who go back to India to get used to the way of life there. I am sure the kids will be the first to adapt back to the Indian style of doing things. However, for the grown ups, it is probably a struggle at least for the initial months. People react in different ways to this. As I am seeing in the posts of at least one of the bloggers who seems to be struggling to come to terms with India while on his holiday from the US. (At least in this case, I sometimes feel, the guy either takes himself too seriously or he just doesnt get it)

So then why do people make the move back? I guess social networks would be the primary reason. I am sure that the situation of us vs them I mentioned in my previous post is true (albeit to a lesser extent) even in the US. You finally want to be be amongst your own class of people where you are most comfortable. There comes a stage in the family lifecycle when you need to provide the 'roots' to your kin. I guess that is the time when people really start contemplating a move back. Of course, with the number of opportunities that are now being seen in India, I guess the decision has become a little easier.

Bhai Bhai

Throughout my childhood, I have always heard and imbibed the feeling that 'Pakistan' was the enemy country who wouldnt hesitate to harm our nation at the drop of a hat. Of course, the multiple wars and the hype surrounding Indo-Pak cricket matches alongwith Kashmir and Kargil did not help either.

However, in a world so far away from our own, here in Europe, Pakistan and India go together. If we see a person who may be looking like a desi, the probability is almost 50% that rather than an Indian, he could be a Pakistani too. While I have always felt offended in a strange sort of way to be called a Pakistani, I now realise that for the local people here, there is nothing to differentiate between these 2 countries.

Yesterday, I am waiting at one of the bus stops. This guy comes along with another guy (my first impression is that he is a Turkish guy) and asks me 'aap hindustani ho?' Then he tells the other person...'maine bola na ki ye hindustani hai. Hum sab ek hi hai. Main Afghani, ye Nepali aur aap Hindustani'....I was like..'wow, never have I thought in such a manner'.

I guess in the European world, we would all be classified under 'brown skinned Asians' (if I want to take a racist overtone). In fact I am realizing that not just the South Asians (Pakis, Indians, Sri Lankans, Nepalis) it is also the Middle East folks (Iraqis, Turks etc) who are in some way clubbed together. There seems to be an almost unspoken word of solidarity. Of course the feeling is much stronger between Pakistanis and the other Muslim communities.

To me, it is interesting to note this 'we' vs 'them' undertones..(the 'them' being the whites). But the fact is that these are all unspoken. We can sense them in many places, the fact that we are not 'them'.

So that brings me to the question, if we are so closely linked to the Pakis in the rest of the world, is there any point in the quite explicit hate campaign that happens (or rather used to happen) in India or Pakistan against each other?

More of the East Meets West

As part of my series of discovering India in a foreign shore, I went to this Prem Joshua concert in Munich. Prem Joshua is quite known in the fusion music scene in India but may not be very mainstream. His music would fall in the genre of Trance/World Music. I love his kind of music and therefore jumped at the opportunity to go listen to him.

The guy is quite talented. He was playing all sorts of instruments - flute, santoor, sax...It's always great to hear his kind of music.
So in this concert, I found that there was quite some interest amongst the Germans. The place was almost packed. But I am not sure if I should find it strange that I was probably the only Indian in the crowd. For the locals, it was more of a different way to spend a Friday with quite a number of people wearing Indian dresses to suit the Indian theme evening.

I wonder why no Indians really go for such events. Maybe because trance is not so big in India where we have so much other music to choose from. There was also this girl (cant be more than 16 or 17) who was dancing to Prem's music for some of the songs somewhat in a traditional Indian dance form. To me, it was clear that there was nothing great about her dancing style as I have seen much more graceful dancers in India. But of course for the locals, it was just good fun.

But then, the thing that struck me was using this as a marketing tool. If the Indian Tourism Department could conduct shows like this in some important cities and generate interest amongst the foreign community to try out India, it would be worth it. This show was organized by some small private organization and also probably because of the singer's German background. Some targetted marketing would, I am sure, reap rich dividends. The kind of clientele that come for these shows are not the college going kids who do not have money to blow on a trip to India. It is the working couples (30 or 40 somethings) who are richer and therefore probably are the best bet to think of a trip to India who come to these kind of shows.

Maybe I should go to work for the Government for sometime. It would be something different to do and who knows, I may be actually able to add value. :) But let's be realistic. I will probably be disillusioned faster than I can say 'Government' & of course the money is not good enough.....
(On a side note, I wonder if anyone would have thought like this about 20 years ago. I know working for the Govt. was such a prestigious thing to do sometime back....& now I say i should try it because I am bored of the corporate brigade...quite ironical..)

Visit India?

Since the time I have come to Europe, I have remarked many times to my colleagues here that India has so much more to offer as a tourist location than probably whole of Europe. However the fact is that Europe is so tourist friendly that they get so many tourists visiting them. I think that is true for Thailand, Malaysia or Singapore.

Supposedly, the 'Incredible India' campaign is creating a few stirs. To me, it is only one of the campaigns amongst Thailand's - the heart of Asia, Malaysia - Truly Asia which are all really good campaigns. TV spots are all good but that is not enough.

In addition to the spots on TV, it is important that the government works offline with the people who matter to get more attention to India. More important than that is to ensure that the problems back home are sorted out. Today, it is a struggle for any tourist in India starting from the 3 hr queues at the Customs (I also have had to stand in these queues and I was thinking at the time what first impression will this make on these tourists?) to taxi-drivers and guides trying to screw them over.

Well, at least there seems to be finally some effort to managing these.
This report talks about how Renuka Chowdhary, the Minister for Tourism is actually driving a campaign for this amongst the people who are Customer-facing.

I must confess, when Renuka was made the Minister for Tourism, I thought, 'What? will a woman who has been this glib spokesperson for Congress really do something worthwhile?' I must say, I am pleased that Tourism is not being thrown to the backburner like every other government does and there is some serious thought given to what we need to do. Renuka, I think, is doing a better job than any other previous minister.

I just hope we manage to maintain the momentum. There is such huge potential in this industry and can really make the lives of so many people in India.

Courting India

Yesterday I was at my video library talking to this friendly German owner there. He was remarking how he feels that the Indians in Germany at least seem to be much more confident over the last couple of years. He thought that most of us were this shy, reserved characters and that now things seem to be changing. Well, I unabashedly took that to be a compliment to myself as to how cool I am....

I would think to a large extent, it is true. At least people like me who are in that part of the social pyramid where good things are happening, have had a large personal boost of confidence not just because of the education but also the general confidence levels in the country and the image of the country in the world.

Anyway, he also made this comment that more than China, India would probably be the one to watch in the next few years. Well, I didnt respond at the time. To me, it has always been 'Great! we are on the right path. But are we doing enough?'.

But on the other hand, it really makes me feel proud that we are slowly in the radar of the most of the world as one of the nations to be reckoned with not just a push-over. So when I read this post on
Business Week about how the two aircraft manufacturers are sweetening up to the Indian airline industry, it feels good. And of course, we just had the Chinese warming up to us.

But I think in all, this is a good time for our politicians and bureaucrats to play their card well and negotiate to our advantage. I think Japan, China all grew to what they are today based on some smart negotiation with the US and Europe. Japan had a trade surplus with the US for a long time before the US realized what was happening. With China, it is the same now. Sometimes, I think we dont negotiate hard enough. We always try to be the 'good' guys and be fair and thereby lose out.

Germany and Jobs

For the past few months, news from Germany hasnt been good with unemployment figures touching a record high 12% last month. In a country where labour unions hold a lot of clout, a concept such as wage auctioning on the web is bound to rub people the wrong side.

But to me, it shows how the situation is really going from bad to worse. Already, the government has reduced unemployment benefits which has kind of pissed off a lot of people. (Imagine earlier, you could actually refuse jobs that the government offered and continue to live on welfare money). Obviously things had to change. So now the country is on the road to a long and painful process of change.

This has raised concerns amongst the expat community whether the locals would become more antagonistic in the future. To be fair, Munich has definitely not given that impression to me. Maybe it isnt the case in other parts of Germany. Probably something to keep in the back of the mind.

Back to Work

Oh!! It's so boring to be back at work after a good 4 day weekend. Arent there enough jobs in the world that can pay me for not doing anything?

Today is a bloodbath too with the number of meetings I have been attending and one coming up at 7pm too.

I always have this theory that the more you grow in management hierarchy, the more pointless meetings you attend. In fact, that is probably the only thing you do.

Maybe I am becoming 'management'. Dont know if I really like it.

Berlin - A Travelogue

So finally did manage to go to Berlin for the Easter vacation. I thought a travelogue was very much for the asking.
Berlin is a bundle of contrasts and contradictions. But to be fair, Berlin is a city that has gone through a lot. 2 wars which almost ruined the city, a rule that saw organized murder in the millions and then the worst that could ever happen to a city, being divided as spoils of war to the ‘saviours’. Throughout the Cold War, the city went through the motions of existing as 2 different worlds within the city even though all that separated them was the Wall and Checkpoint Charlie (which was the US side of the border).

I don’t think I can remember any recent event that has so dominated a city as the tearing down of the wall (9/11 was one of those). There is this photograph where the US zone and the USSR zone meet in Berlin showing the tanks of both sides came to a head-on. I think that photo tells volumes of what the city went through. The wall came up as a result of this confrontation. It also tells us how the world was so very bipolar during those days.

Circa 1989 saw the fall of the Wall and along with one of the oldest governance models. By then, the West (read as Allied forces) led by the US had decided that Berlin was to be the demonstration forum for the success of the capitalist model. So today, we see West Berlin as different as East Berlin as they wanted it to be. West Berlin is full of the skyscrapers that are part of any major city all made possible through the billions of dollars pumped in whereas East Berlin has the history spots in different stages of reconstruction starving for funds and in more ways than one, a bundle of confusion.

Berlin is not a beautiful city. In fact it is an ugly one. Half-done constructions in the middle of a lot of beautiful squares are a blot on the eye. As I understand, the Government is still trying to come up with the millions of Euros required to finish all the construction. However, today, the city is still in a transition mode 16 years after the wall came down. Add to it the nearly 20% employment figures. We get an assortment of problems.

The other thing that is unsaid but present all around you is the ‘national guilt’ about the Holocaust. Everything associated with that episode in history has been so subtly maintained in Berlin. It is almost as if the German public is trying to tell the world ‘Get a life. We want to move on!!’. But of course, the millions of tourists are coming there to understand the world as it was between 1933 and 1945. There is not a single sign which says Hitler’s bunkers. It is only due to the tour guide that we came to know of it. I think it is definitely a painful experience for the German public to be reminded of this episode every day of their lives.

I believe the night life in Berlin is arguably one of the best amongst European cities. I think it is a fun place. As our guide was repeating so many times, Bavarians think of the Berliners as a decadent group. Anyway it was good to visit the capital of Germany and see for myself what the Cold War meant. I have heard this word used in so many contexts but to see in actual reality, the way it worked, was definitely an experience.


US & USSR forces meet at Checkpoint Charlie. This confrontation led to the creation of the wall


A sign of Berlin's commercialisation. Note the ad!!

Oh! To be a German

Progressively, I am liking my life here in Germany. Well, I still haven't got closer to being able to communicate in German but I think I am getting better.

Was invited for a birthday party of my German neighbor. I was initially apprehensive because I thought I would be amongst a bunch of Germans who probably would not be able to talk to me because of the language. Then I decided if I wanted to meet people, I had to take the plunge. I am glad I did go over there.

Since they were all University students, I guess a lot of them did know English which was good for me. In fact I had some good conversation with a few of them. I must say, I must have been like this exhibit in a museum coming from this unknown land called India. All the conversation was about how is it in India? But I didnt really mind it. It was good fun. One of the guys actually started asking me about Kashmir and Pakistan. I have never been the one to get offended by such questioning but I did think at the time that I would never ask a German about WWII.

In summary, I think this party was another insight into the German culture. It was different because all of the people over there were the young and probably not adhering to the German stereotype. But to me, it seemed, that these bunch of young people, they did realise the importance of knowing English in today's world. The older generation thought that if a person comes to Germany, he better 'sprachen Deutsche' or else he has no right to be here.

Therefore they are probably more accepting of other cultures and other people which is in effect something atypical of the usually perceived 'xenophobia' of Germans.