Book- Why Germans do it better by John Kampfner

I picked this book at Martin's place. Looking at the front cover, I was curious about germany's precise technology and assumed the book is more about that. As I finished the book, I realised that it's indeed a love letter to Germany by John Kampfner. From the beginning, John tries to set the narrative of Germany's resilience and the reasons why germans behave the way they behave. 

Talking of world war and the situation germany was grappling with, author refers to various movies, books to illustrate the depth of the situation. A few titles I'm curious about are Marta Hilters' A woman in Berlin, W.G Sebald's Natural History of Destruction, Good Bye Lenin, Red Love by Maxim Leo. Through Berlin Wall episode author shared how reunification has set the Germany on a much needed yet tough path. Reading this book, I could realise how geo politics during 1960s was all about the cold war and tensions it placed between the major powers. USA took the role of saving the world while Germany was cautious about its past and trying its foothold in the Europe. I'm also surprised by China's ties with Germany and its strategy to rebuilt the belt road. I realised that Germany is well expanded withouth clogging much of its major cities. Germany indeed has many more hidden champions who specialise in one aspect and provide their solutions to the world. There's a stark difference between America, UK's work culture to German culture. Can we call the Germany as a part of the west as it has a distinct culture and history.

Why the Germans Do it Better by John Kampfner

Talking of the world war and reunification, a little is shared on how german's technology is the way it is. A lot of political reforms by Angela Merkel and the way Germany was welcoming the migrants is praised through out the book. I got a glimpse of german political coalitions and the east, west tussle. I'm amused by the way author stuck onto praise Germany through out 281 page book and keeping the criticism or other perspectives to less than 5 pages. I'm glad I could get a glimpse of Germany's story post world war. I'm thoroughly impressed with what Germany got in it's land. I'm curious to read more about it. 

Thoughts- Surrender

 How do we surrender to the possibilities in life? I've realised that attachment makes us anxious. If we have the fine balance of desiring with all the attachment and surrendering to any kind of possibility brings the magic in life. If we are rigid about outcomes, we tend to raise expectation and always feel miserable. Time to practice detaching from the desires. 

Travel Diaries- Holiday with Hofer- Day 6

Woke up to the morning hustle of children. I was not ready to start my day early. I had my breakfast and was warming up to some writing. I wrote a bit and wished to take a walk. I got welcomed by the foggy weather as I stepped out. Met Yusus on my way and continued my walk. This time, I was weary of my red jacket and hid it when I was passing the cows. I tried walking into the church with the onion dome. Seeing a plenty of big churches, I was amused to see this small church on the hill top covered by the fog. After my long morning walk, I was wished by Martin. Martin was on his duty, feeding sheep. I am always treated by his merry words and laugh. 

Anniko's workshop

After filing

Thanks Y for the workshop

I lost the track of names of these dishes

The Foggy mornings

After lunch, I joined Annika to make colourful candle holders out of balloons. As I finished it, I got onto the job of making 2D violin miniature. I got a chance to use different kind of tools. I do remember using all these tools in my 1st year of engineering but, I did it as an obligatory task. This time, I wanted to hold on to different tools, learn the technique and create different pieces. Johanas was patient and taught me all the steps to finish the violin piece. In no time, we had evening break. After coffee, snacks, I joined martin to help him around the fence. Even though, it was drizzling, Martin was moving around, jumping from the fences. I wonder how he was in his 40s and 60s. I still have a hard time to believe that this person is 85 years old. 'I'm satisfied now. Let's go home and have food.' he cheered up and walked me to his car. 

Opening the door for me, he said, 'this is farmer's car.'  Atleast farmer has a car, I don't even own a bike, I thought to myself.  Quickly, I had my dinner to join the concert. This time, the music professor was performing the pieces he created. He mentioned of Equinox and the equilibrium. A several performances were queued after that. I had a great time witnessing the performances live. A great way to end the day.  

Poetry- Moving Feet

Sometimes the moving feet looked like sweeping floor
sometimes the moving feet looking like running water
sometimes it's jumping ropes
sometimes it's slipping pages
moving feet
in body's own way

How often do we let the feet decide
what rhythm it wants to move in?

Travel Diairies- Holidays with Hofer- Day 5

I began my day with morning walk, enjoying the lush green meadows and cloudy morning. Walking past the house, I spotted Martin in his orange checked shirt and blue jeans. I look forward to listen to him everyday. Chatting up with him, he invited me for the breakfast at early morning 7 am. I passed it on, hinting to have his breakfast with his love, Margareta. 

Talking of sunday and quiet hour, Martin mentioned of the church at Agathareid. I wished to attend the mass and walked down to the village to attend the service. So far, I've attended church sermons in french, English. Now, I got a chance to attend the sermon in German. A lot of people wore peculiar german light brown, green coats and hats. Women, a bright blue long skirts. I realised that all the churches I found here got the graves in the compound itself. It's interesting how grave yard is included within the church premises, not to exclude it as a special place. 

After a walk to a near by cafe, I was interested to try out some local delicacies. The owner offered me croissant. I came from french side all the way to try out German delicacies. I declined and asked for more suggestions. She suggested me a lemon cake with butterfly on it. I savoured it amidst the rain and began my quiet sunday. On being asked about a place to get a book, the cafe owner suggested me to try out bistro at hospital as everything is closed on sunday. 

I continued my walk and dropped at the nearby bistro and spent good time at the chapel. There was also an exhibition until end of the august. A very interesting abstract compositions. By lunch time, I began my walk to the Berghof and arrived at the house. After a lunch, had a sound sleep and got a chance to attend a fun workshop- wood carving. I was given a lime wood, hand saw and asked to make a violin shape out of it. Learning by doing. I'm having fun doing activities that includes a lot of body movement and physical work. 

After the workshop, I continued my reading, writing and attended the concert. Students, along with teachers performed the pieces by Anton Bruckner. A lady helped me with the translations as the performance began with long introductions in german. As the group continued with dance, I called it a day to retire for the night. 

Thoughts- Life between craving and aversion

Having served in Vipassana 10-day course, I got a chance to contemplate on Buddha's way for a liberation. Do not be miserable in between craving and aversion. Be liberated by being aware of the change. 

I understood it, I experienced it but, I realised that we need to practice this truth until our habit patterns of mind is changed. Living with Hofer family, I was struggling to believe the dream I'm living. I dreamt of living in such a place and focus on my writing. As I desired, I got a chance to spend quality time with Hofer as well as focus on my writing. Suddenly, I realised that If I'm not aware of the present moment, I'd be swamped in the pleasant sensations and crave for more. I'm always abundant in life. I need to be aware of it and live. Time to be aware by all my senses. 

Travel Diaries- Holiday with Hofer- Day 4

I took my morning walk across the meadows and contemplated on the spaces and impermenance. Over the years, I have travelled places and walked around spaces, enjoying my mornings. I do not own a house and I get a chance to live in different spaces and move when the time arrives. I walked across being aware of my breathe and foot steps. I passed the buildings and a few cows. At one place, I gained a lot of attention by the cows and were ready to walk near me. I wondered why the docile cows are acting differently. I realised that they're not cows, they're oxen and I was wearing a red jacket. Immediately, I took off my jacket and walked back. A great start to the day to contemplate on boundaries. 

Martin walked with pretzel and offered me to have a coffee. 'I'll have your style,' I mentioned and had double espresso with milk. We walked to the table and began our conversation. Toby walked past us couple of times, Margaret joined us, had her coffee and left us to our conversations. We talked for an hour. Martin kept talking until he said, I'm mixing up things. I'm happy to listen to him and i'm also happy to share a silence with him. He reminds me of the time I could've spent with both of my grand fathers. Martin reminds me of my Thaatha who's very persevering in nature. After an hour of conversation, we left to have time on our own. I resorted to writing, Martin to his house. 

While M was preparing for our walk to the garden, I took a shower and joined him. I got a rucksack, saw and other tools, he mentioned and walked across. I'm grateful to spend time with him and work with him. Everytime I see him, I'm intrigued by his energy and enthusiasm for work. 'I can't sit without work' he mentioned sharing how Kennedy made some statements on work and state. I was tired working under the Sun and M was at it, cutting trees and fencing the garden in sustainable way. At 12'o Clock, M sang the song- Let's go home and we returned. He hinted to take a break until half past 5. I realised i'm not letting him to be with his love. After lunch, we departed and caught up with alvar and got to know about the music camp happening at the venue. After a while, caught up with Agnes and had a interesting chat about her journey and Toby's passion for solar energy. 

At evening, while Margareta and Martin were on a walk, I joined them for a while and returned to enjoy myself with books and writing. There's always a dichotomy of enjoying the moment and getting out of it, to write it down. Many a times, I got swayed by experiences and always postponed writing. Ruskin Bond writes about the need of being in the moment and also getting out of it to write it down. I struggled between writing and being in the moment. 

I wished to be in the moment and went ahead for the sunset. I spent two weeks watching the sunset at the same place and everyday, the sunset seems to be a symphony of hues and colours. I continued enjoying the cinema of Sunset amidst clouds. Toby, Agnes and others joined. 'This is the best place at this time' Toby & Agnes walked in with his beers.

All of us in our silences and warmth in our hearts, we enjoyed the sunset and returned to dinners, only to gather again for some cultural dancing. Martin in his checked shirts, blue jeans in barefoot, shared his beer with Margareta and enjoyed the dance. I joined them and enjoyed the Bavarian music. A great end to the day. Day well spent. 

Stories from Sirohi- The inspiring future

 This news made my day. One of the former students from the school I taught continued to pursue their further studies. From that batch, many other friends are continuing to pursue higher studies. To study a graduation course in a different state is very inspiring. I can't wait to meet them and listen to their experiences. I'm sure they're going to be role models in their village, for other students to be inspired and pursue their dreams irrespective of hurdles. I congratulate the whole foundation team for this remarkable success where these stories doesnt' reflect anywhere and everywhere but the change is happening. Wonderful!

Travel Diaries- Door 67 Pages

Alberto offered a boat ride in the Aare river. The plan was to take a train to south of Aare river  and begin the ride to home. As planned, Nancy, Ben and I reached the station in time. We got our tickets, got on to the station, inflated our boat and began our ride by the instructions of our captain, Alberto. Nancy revealed that it's her birthday. What a better way to celebrate a birthday. With music and stories, we continued our journey and enjoyed it through out. With different pitstops, we met different groups catching up on their experiences. At one place, we halted to have barbeque. As we spent an hour or more, I got into water, floating by and swimming a bit. Alberto helped me to float for a long time. During the halt, I observed that families walked by, to swim across the Aare river. All the family members, holding an inflated ball or tube, they jump into water to float around. I was also told that people carry water proof bags to offices. By the end of the day, they put their belongings in the bag, change into the swim wear and jump into the water to reach home. What a way to travel between home and office. 

I got a chance to paddle the boat for long time. Watching the currents and whirlpools, I managed to paddle to the right course by Alberto's instructions. At times, I had to give in for the currents. After spending nearly 4 hours in the water, we reached Marzelle and walked to home to continue the birthday celebrations. Lizi, Sophia and others joined birthday celebrations.

Geneva Journals- The Clearing

Finally, moving out of GM has pushed me to reflect on my days spent in this place. It's an interesting journey. This place holds very dear to me as I've learnt to learn and unlearn a lot of aspects about myself in this new place. GM Studio is a 20m2 space, designed by Japanese architect. I love the white walls and wooden doors. I often hear complaints about GM and it's design and it's often by people who live and do not live in it. A few see it as asylum, a few find it as blocks of concrete. It's intimidating to a few. Interesting perspectives! It's highly functional and has a different aesthetics than any other student residencies. 

From the beginning, I enjoyed the space as I got a large window in my room and a kitchen next door and also a friendly next door neighbours. Pragya and Tridisha have always been helpful and kind to me whenever I needed help. As ever, I got a nice space to hoard a lot of books. For the first time, I had a photo collage in the space I was living. I was abundant with a large kitchen trying out different recipes with different people. Had lovely conversations and time spent next to the kitchen. Also, I used to hang out in the game room when people hardly had accessed it. 

Travel Diaries- Door 67 Days

The day began with a cloudy weather and 10 minutes of harsh rain, thunderstorms, I was planning to sit at home and read a book all day. As the weather slowly gave away and I realised it's swiss national day, I put on my shoes, cap, carried my usual gear and walked out. The neighbourhood already felt familiar with the gelato shop and a tram lines. Bern Bahnhof red buses everywhere. I walked towards station and discovered the bus station and spotted the first fountain. Bern seems to be full of fountains and a distinct art mediums on it. Trailing the moving crowd and sounds, I ended up at the majestic parliament building. There was a long queue to enter the parliament. I walked across and felt to enter the parliament as we often do not get a chance to celebrate swiss national day at Bern, the capital of switzerland. 

I stood behind the long queue where the waiting time was more than one hour. I was not impatient for the long waiting queue as I could understand the curiosity to enter it. A few musicians sat nearby and played music while others were responding to the queries promptly. A one hour into the waiting, I entered the parliament building which has a magnifcient sculptures and bears holding switzerland flags. I was offered a chocolate pass where I can get a free swiss chocolate. The steps were covered with a fluffy carpet. A lot of activities for people to keep them involved and instill curiosity in them and share snippets of swiss history. I made a badge for myself and got reminded of the idea Harry suggested of birthday and badges. I roamed around, picked the post cards, clicked a lot of pictures of the doors and artworks at the parliament. 

Soon after I walked out of the parliament and it began to rain again. So thoughtful of the swiss national day celebrations, they have a lot of activities designed for children. In-person storytelling, drawing, temporary tattoos are a few of them. I sat for a in-person storytelling even though it was in swiss german. Enjoyed the drama and action though. After strolling around the town, following the fountains, I could see a lot of animal motifs around the town. Visited two churches and spent a lot of time in silence. Walked back to the parliament arena to attend the concert. After a while I ran into friends, Rafaele, Lucas, Liki, Volo, Nancy and others. We played a lot of table tennis, got a chance to meet a few Indians who were speaking Hindi. We sang Musafir song together. After a whale of time at futsol and table tennis, we called it a day and returned home. I met a kurdish person, with whom I played table tennis. There was an old woman who walked with cigarette in her mouth and without touching it, she smoked while she played the game. I'm impressed by the multi tasking people could do. 

Chagai mentioned why he does this. 'Everytime I tend to become narcisstic or racist, I get a chance to meet nice people from different places and gives me a reality check on how wrong I could be. This helps me to reorient my beliefs from time to time.'

A lot of travelers visit for a night and leave. After a long day, I crashed. Good day. Happy swiss national day. 

Travel Diaries- Door 67 Days

As soon as I reached Bern, I felt familiar. I wonder what brings a sense of familiarity in a new place. I felt the same when I visited Antwerp even though I visited it for the first time. As soon as I reached Bern, I looked at the address, the swiss german script and found my way to the new home. On my way, I found a saloon and wished to have a hair cut. He speaks swiss german, I speak english. The french I learnt was futile in the swiss german land. Through a sign language, I had my hair cut. Satisfied, I walked ahead and found the apartment #67. I was given a note on how to arrive at the apartment. A few acts, I'm in the apartment and felt home. Kristine, Volo, Chagai, Nancy welcomed me and the place reminds me of a hostel. 

A few minutes into the place, I felt familiar. A little walk with Kristine, I continued my walk out of this place and found a gelato shop and had an intense chocolate flavour. 

I continued my walk and got lost in the woods. A walk in and around, I ended up at the pool. 

After a long walk, I sat at the station and went to temple. I am amused by the way they recreate the culture. They have a closed space and recreate the eelam culture. They have srilanka model in which Lingam is placed. I'm amused by the way they recreated. Women were doing the harathi and it's interesting how people transfer rituals, values even though they're displaced to a far land. I walked from there and wrote a journal and went to church and found a lot of doors interesting. 

Wei wei, a spontaneous hiker speaks 6 languages, from malaysia. Speaks cantonese, malay, spanish, english, chinese, mandarin. Liki is from Belgium and wants to work in the french speaking Switzerland. The other vietnamese couple walked in  and over a conversation, learnt two vietnamese words- Kamun- Thanks, Emmai- Dear younger one, darling.