Oh! am I a slow coach?

Thoughts of a mother for the teachers of India - On the occasion of Teacher's day;

"Oh! mummy why am I such a slow coach," complained 'J' with a very irritated voice. "Today I was also very clumsy, I dropped glass of juice in the birthday party and now I again dropped a glass of water." "Yes, I know," I told her solemnly. “It is fine to be slow than fast and faulty and it is okay to be clumsy once in a while," I added quickly to my normally neat daughter. We talked about other things and soon irritation from her voice vanished.

Who else will know than a parent about the minute details of their child/ren. 'J' has been a slow one, from the time she was born and therefore a calm, quiet, patient, sensitive and shy one too. I remember a scene where she was making a tower with building blocks in front of me and another friend of mine and in that age (around 1 and a 1/2 years) she used have great fun by breaking the tower also. So after making the tower she spread her arms to break the it but suddenly she saw my friend and she immediately put her hands down, both me and my friend were amazed to see her control and her facial expression of extreme shyness.

Revisiting Europe - Certain Observations

This summer we got a chance to revisit our long time home Germany. All credit goes to 'J's papa and his work. 'J' is having summer vacation so I and 'J' got tagged along. These are the times when I feel lucky of not having a full time job as a break of many weeks would be out of question then.

So we started preparing for our revisit to Europe. 'J' again got into her confusion mode, she doesn't like to change places (understandable as she had to change several places in her short life span and now she has started showing her dislikes towards it), added to that, she doesn't know German any more so she became unsure  about her days in Germany. We bought tickets from Air India being the cheapest one. And we stuck into the uncertain situation where certain pilots of Air India were striking- they want salary hike-actually they are in one of the highest paid positions. So anyway, we went to the airport and were relieved to know that international flights are not hampered.

Thus, started our journey.

A queen called 'Ciabatta'

I knew that I was going to face it one day, I did not know from which way though.

While returning to India I was feeling so glutton to the good old samosas (need no definition), pani puri (Fuchka-famous Indian crunchy, sour water filled snack), Dosa (Indian version of pancake-not sweet), Chaats (mix of potato pattie with several other condiments, hot and spicy), Lassi (Famous yoghurt drink), chow-mein (though from china but they have got an Indian identity in India), sweat meats etc.

During my last days in Europe I was wondering will I ever miss Broetchens (small baked breads from Germany), Frikadelle (Fried Meat balls), Pasta bolognse or Pasta Arrabiata, Haenchen Schnitzel (Breaded Chicken breast), Kartofeltashe (Potato bags), Sticky toffee pudding, Haggies, nips and Tatties (Scotland delicacies), Cheese sandwiches and so on.

Yes! a teeny- weeny voice came out from me.

I consoled my heart saying, "India is globalizing, so don't worry we will manage to eat some continental cuisine time to time." My heart was not very sure but kept silent.

And then upon landing to India, for months I went to re-discover the tastes I left here before leaving. Umm! I loved them again. Holding a crisp piece of Masala dosa with some spiced potatoes inside it, dipped in coconut chutney and sambar,  one after one and then with  my fingers transferring the whole into my mouth. Heavenly! And similarly went the haunt for and capture of other delicacies- golgappas and samosa.

Visit to the nearby fishing villages

Once upon a time, when we used to live in a small town, near north sea in Scotland, it was a Saturday morning, with no particular shopping, chores or things to do, or may be there were so many things to do that we were not bothering to start on something, progressing and finishing them. But on the other hand we were looking for an escape. An escape that won't cost extra, an escape that won't require planning, an escape that won't be indoor wandering inside a big building called a supermarket, an escape that won't be putting a DVD inside the box and watch it running for next 3 hours, an escape where we can relish all our senses. 

So, we started to think hard, I made two cups of Tea (Black one!) for us and gave a bowl of Cornflakes and milk to 'J' in between and started to think again. We thought this and we thought that. Then we decided why not we get dressed, walk to the nearest bust stop, buy a day long family bus ticket, travel the full route of the bus,  hop out whenever we feel like and hop in when we want to go to the next place.  That bus no. 95 took us to the nearby villages and we found so many gems, which I never bothered to care for and look around, before. And little I knew then, that particular day in my memory will be one of the most colorful and rich days for several months.

On the very picturesque way along the sea, we saw the fields laced with green plantation of corn and wheat. We found a wind mill far away standing alone near the sea,  we saw the metal crosses seeking out from the unknown churches belonging to small villages, where mostly the architectures are still kept like they were hundreds of years ago, mostly made up of stones.

First we went to a pottery shop, it was a nice little shop with nice cordial people, eager to show their things and tell about how they make them, but there was no air of competitiveness and ego. They have a small and steady clientele, and some times a tourist or two drop in their shop buy some small items, they don't want more than that. This pottery is run by a a family, a trend becoming so rare to see now a days. 

Its Christmas right!

My blogger friends have started writing a wrap up blog for the year already, I, who is at this moment residing at pinnacle of timelessness just felt the jolt and on looking at the calender got confirmed that yes, few more days and 2010 will become a year in history. Thanks to the old science of calender making, that at least a year although gone, does not give us much time to sulk. We immediately forget the old and welcome the new one.
 

We make resolutions, we make promises and then we party on the new year eve (most of us watch TV actually). But we all get a boost to start afresh, like as a child I use to write very neatly on first few pages in a new notebook, then I don't know when the writings would automatically get casual, little rusty and then I would again start waiting for the old notebook to finish so that I can get a new one to start afresh. Year ending gives me the same feeling.

Talking about this time of the year, I remember that in Germany, they wish for new year by saying "Gute Rutsch" (Meaning have a good slide from old to the new year) and they don't say New year, they say "Jahreswechsel" i.e changing of years. I found it quite interesting as we in India follow the norms and lingos of English new year only.
 

But before reaching new year there will be Christmas right, we in India also call it Bada din (a long day), actually it was only in Germany I got to know that from Christmas day, the days start getting bigger and it means a lot there where in winter, days are really short and nights are very long and dark. For 'J' this has been her main festival till now, as Durga puja for her was a distant festivity, one day affair or some pictures from internet. She used to get impressed by ten hands, trishul (trident) and four children of Goddess Durga, the green colored Asura (Monster she says), their dresses and jewels. But Nikolaus (German for Santa Claus) is her own. When she was around 3-4, we used to tell her that when Goddess Durga will go up and it will be time for Nikolaus to come down, they will meet on the way and they will discuss about the naughty kids and decide (on gifts!).

In Germany (also in many other countries in Europe) Nikolaus traditionally comes on 6th of December, in the kindergartens where they hang socks for getting gifts, and at home he comes on the eve of 5th December. Children has to keep clean boots outside their houses where they can get Mandarins, Oranges, chocolates if they are lucky. He can not only bring gifts and sweets but can also bring burnt coal and birch twigs if the kid was not that good for the whole year. Also on one year 'J' made a list of presents she wanted by drawing them as she did not how to write then and her daddy went to the Nikolaus in the Weinachten Markt (special Christmas Markets) to give the list, so that he could deliver them by Christmas. After coming back 'J's papa told 'J' that Papa was not very brave and that he was actually shivering on seeing Nikolaus! 'J' was giggling on seeing the shivering of her daddy. In Scotland, post offices keep special boxes; 'letters to Santa' is written on it and children are encouraged to put their letters for Santa who lives in Lapland. In Scotland we saw that boots are kept out along with a glass of whiskey and a piece of minced pie for the old fellow to take some rest, have something to eat and drink before he starts for the next house.

Another thing 'J' eagerly waited for, was Advents calender. In Germany the affair of Christmas starts with arrival of the advent calendar. Advent starts on the first Sunday after November 26th. Advent calendars with their bright Christmas pictures hang alongside childrens beds. There are small numbers in the calender. One, two, three, and so on up to 24. Wherever the numbers are, there are small paper windows. Number 24 has the biggest window as expected. When you open these windows you find a little picture on transparent paper, and a small chocolate, doll or a book can come out. The children love to open one window each day, get a small gift and they can count how many days are left for Christmas Eve. Although we being new in this custom she always got ready made calenders, containing milk chocolates, but I have enjoyed how my colleagues used to discuss about making an advent calenders on their own for their niece, nephews of god children with hand picked gifts, small but delicate. Advent calender is a very special tradition in Germany or in whole of Europe for that matter.

Apart from the Advent calendar, there is one other thing called Adventkranz (wreath), special in Germany. It is is made from bound fir leaves and twigs to which four candles are attached. It can also have pine cones, ribbons and other decorations. Again, I used to buy this after understanding the ritual but normally families will sit together and make it, a notion of togetherness, like we put Rangolis on Diwali. Four candles will be lit on each of the Advent Sundays one by one. Families will sit together in the evenings, have tea and some home baked cookies and chatter or plan about Weinachten (or Christmas). In large houses, shops, and in churches, these Advent wreaths are very big and sometimes hang from the ceiling, along with four fat red or yellow candles. Don't ask me the story behind it as I could not get it from Germans or from any book. I liked this idea a lot. What a gala way to wait for an annual festival? Also decorations in the market place and in the houses keep going. Santas climbing into windows is a common scene in this time of the year. In the freezing month of December when I used to travel by train to and from my work, the decorated windows of the houses I passed by my trains used to give a splendid feeling of warmth amidst of white snow all around. Snow shaped paper cuttings are something we enjoyed a lot making them and then making cards, glass painitng at school Christmas fate and then going to watch 'J' for Christmas function in her kindergarten/ school became almost a ritual for us.

Weinachten Markt (Christmas Market) is one another highlight, that is so gemuetlich (cosy) and we fully enjoyed this small fair with wooden stalls kept almost unchanged in format for long long time with Karusels for kids and adults, with sweet popcorn, sugar candys, lebkuchen (ginger bread man) and Gluhwein (warm wine, made specially during this time of the year with addition of sugar, oranges, cloves and I don't know so many other things) and Schwenker (Very special grilled meat, available only in the south west part of Germany) it used to be a perfect match for the cold, long dark December nights. Actually in Scotland also we found a Weinachts Markt in Edinburgh, only everyone were speaking in English (with very strong Scottish accent though).

As they say that you get embedded in a culture foreign to you more easily if you are accompanied by a kid (with you or in you). After birth of 'J' and specially when she started going to kindergarten, we learned a lot about traditions and rituals of Germany through her friend's parents, through her kindergarten teacher and through the year long festivities in her kindergarten. We started buying a real Weinachts Baum (Christmas tree) as this is a big thing for kids to go to the Christmas tree markets and select their own tree, then bringing that home and decorate it. This happens on 23rd of December in Germany and then you can keep the tree as long as its needles are not making a mess on the floor. We bought a small star for the top, some small balls (Golden and red) and ribbons and a tiny Nikolaus, who used go up and down of the Christmas tree for 'J's sake. In Scotland on the other hand real Christmas trees are a rare watch, mostly trees are artificial, but 'J' was equally happy to decorate it when she found one in the shed of our rented apartment, on our first Christmas there, along with all the decorations, (might have been left by the previous tenants; thanks to them!). "Decorating the Christmas tree and then waiting for the gifts to appear under it is the best part of this festival", 'J' says.

On Heiliger Abends (Christmas eves) i.e., 24th December, I must admit, we missed going to any church, always felt little outsider for this and we never prepared turkey dinner we always cooked our age old chicken curry and Pilau rice with some other condiments, well no regrets, as that went fine with us, some times only three of us and sometimes accompanied with friends. In Scotland we came to know about the crackers with small jokes and a paper crown inside and they were put on the dining table as part of Christmas decoration and fun, 'J' loved it and we also tasted very rich and famous British Christmas pud (pudding) for the first time there.

While eating that gala dinner we talked about picnics we used to had as kids under the warm winter sun of India with the candles and the Christmas tree glowing at our back. 'J' unaware of our previous lives used to finish her meal as fast as possible and go to sleep so that in the middle of the night Nikolaus could come to give her presents, those ones which she made a list of and she could open them on 25th morning, this I think is again not exactly German ritual, and is our own version of Nikolaus visiting homes. In Germany Nikolaus visit houses when every one goes to the churches for evening mass. In Scotland gifts are there on 25th morning under the Christmas tree.

This time, we are in India, it is little cold, so a Christmas feeling is rising in mind with that, the supermarkets are decorated with lights. Inside they have made small corners with cotton wool (resembling snow) where reindeer, sledge and Santa clause are standing, 'J' on the chocolate isle was looking for an advent calender, on the roads mask of Santa Claus is available for sale, small plastic Christmas trees are also visible, the cake and pastry shops are selling cakes with Christmas tree decorations. TV and FM radio are talking a lot about winter and Christmas. While chatting with our friends in Europe, over skype we are getting the feel of snow, lights and warmth from there. My cousin has invited us for a picnic this weekend, so finally 'J' will know about the picnic under the basking winter sun in India. For Christmas days we have plans too, find them out yourself in the next blogs.

'J' has convinced us to go and hunt for a Christmas tree and that we should put that in the middle of our living room, then she says it will be her Christmas.

A ladies night out

Recently I was invited for a "ladies night out" organized by  'J''s friend's mum  and in oppose to other times, I accepted the opportunity, one because 'J's best friend's dad offered that he will be happy to babysit 'J' too, along with his daughter. As 'J' friend's mum (and she has become my best friend in my last two years of living here) was also invited in the party and two, because this might be the final occasion for me to meet all the fantastic women who happened to be also the mums of kids going to the same class or to the same school as 'J'. Here are the few points I observed that evening and would like to share with my readers.

They are a bunch of wonderful and happy women, working full time, working part time, work at home mums (WAHMs), stay at home mums (SAHMs) having one two or three kids.

It was a fantastic evening,  I met with many of them for the first time and it took no time to gel, the common grounds for discussion were of course kids, health, work,  travel, politics, UK, India and so on. Topics very diverse and very much fun.

It was a group of around 20 mums, all of whom came to the party looking very pretty and chic. All are very hardworking women, and as an Indian I respect them a lot as they take care of there houses, kids, work, extended families, gardens, extensive hobby and also find time to get involved in some volunteering activities.

This completely Do It Yourself  (DIY) concept is still unknown in India. Having some sort of domestic help is a common norm in India. May be Indian women will say that life is easy in out here with all the modern facilities. But I having seen both sides of the world,  still think it is very very hard to do everything on our own albeit having all those modern equipments. And this DIY brings a special kind of satisfaction and happiness, also keeps those vital bones fit. A 75 year old lady, coming to do her weekly shopping in a supermarket, or a gang of them having a chat with afternoon coffee in a corner cafeteria is a common scene in Europe. No it is not all about money, it is about the art of living, enjoying and appreciating the life that we have got.

As I will be leaving for India soon, they asked me about my plans, whether I am going to start on something, and I told them that nothing is clear yet, but I am fine with that, as I will be happy to get  few days/months of freedom form a 9-5 compulsive job. Last two years I had very busy schedule and there are many things I feel like that I need to catch up.

They absolutely agreed on it and I found almost all of them have gone or are going through this phase, and they absolutely don't aim for 24/7/whole adult years of work life. They are all qualified professionally but they have carved or are carving out a special path for their life where they can take care of their career/child/family in their own terms. Also, they are the second generation of working women in Europe, they have started taking it easy now. Europe also has many options for women with small kids of going part time or taking sabbaticals.

Any professional man can think that they are crazy, some of the ladies echoed that they do get guilt pangs occasionally but they all agreed that they think their lives are very enriched. Their motto in life is not to reach the top, but to live a full circle.

I was watching them, talking with them and appreciating them in my heart.

So ladies cheers, next time when you all will meet, I might not be there sitting with you, but your laughter and cheerfulness will remain as a treasure in my heart forever.

Going back to the roots and packing my wings for a while

Relocation, is not a new word for me, actually this is around 20th time I am moving place and third time I am changing country. Yes returning back to my own one this time. The one, I left 10 years ago in search of wider world. So how am I feeling actually?

When I came here I used to cross each months as passed targeting the month of December which was time to visit home. Then slowly a second home got created there were we worked, had kid and made friends. I  could now cook my own version of "biriyani" and so my new home started smelling close  to the home I left. And then one day I discovered that I am habituated, of the long distance phone calls, missing Durga pujas, family occasions and of the life in my new home. But there was never a doubt about returning back and I always thought that would be the best time of my life.

Now standing on the edge of the actual moment, truly speaking I am feeling happy and little jittery, all the same, a same kind of feeling as I was going through when I left India.  Home has become little distanced now. When I go for holidays there I see an another India, not the slow paced, non ambitious one which I left, but a very hip, smart, hardworking, money minded and little bit hurried one. No one has time at home or on the roads. I felt little alienated then.  I understood that I might need some tiny amendment of me when I will return back.

Also these 10 years in Europe has engraved some shuttle habits in me, like a delicate cheese called Brie, or a clean road with footpath, or a sense of extreme safety as an individual. This sense is the biggest gift I think Europe gave me apart from providing me knowledge of a very rich culture.  Germany has provided me his sense of organization, perfection, punctuality and sticking to the words once said. United kingdom is yet another story, their trading capacity is unbelievable. British korma and chutneys are something I will carry long with me (though they took them from India but now they have given them a new identity, only sticking to the old names). This long expat life was an excellent learning process.

But now I have to pack up all these learning and go back to my home . For 'J' she will be moving to her motherland, leaving her homeland behind, I guess. I know she will manage, just like her mum had managed for 19 times! Also  I am very optimistic that for their generation the sense of foreign will be more blurred. Future jobs will be more nomadic in nature so hopefully this childhood memories will help 'J' in future.

God has blessed me with great privilege to wander in this earth, I hope even though, I am going back to my roots now, I will get chance to unpack my wings again at least for some short flights.

Amen!

Why I love Science and Languages and shy from Mathematics?

We are built up into what we are today not just because of our own whims and dreams, nor by our parent's or family's, there has been a third factor who has influenced our upbringing a lot, they might or might not have noticed that while they were teaching a bunch of thirty 4-5 times a day 6 days a week. And we, those bunches were like a plasticine clay dough who slowly got molded by them,  their passion or their negligence. In the post "Taare Zameen Par" era I should not dare to blog about the role of a teacher in a child's life but then let me dare.

We are all diverse, children and their teachers as well. It is always a click-chemistry that counts between a student and  a teacher just like in any other relationship, well again Taare Zameen Par has depicted that elaborately.

I am lucky to say that most of the language and science teachers I had in my life were very approachable (first criteria to attract a child's interest) but when I picture those who taught me mathematics were very distant and cold with big eyes and deep voices. I now a mother myself can easily understand that how seeing my maths teachers I started connecting maths to that dryness. I felt numbers to be  boring and I could not connect numbers with the language and science which I was falling in love with. Yes, even not with science. Science books I had to read in primary school years were very picturesque (mostly black and white though) and qualitative, seldom there were any interconnection. I remember drawing water cycle with arrows and labels, rarely related the state of waters with their temperatures, made life cycles of butterfly or plants but never really thought of the time periods involved in each processes.

Only in secondary classes I slowly realized the connection between qualitative phenomena we were studying in sciences and the hidden quantities behind them, and slowly I started getting fun doing the maths required for Physics or Chemistry. Then also I never could think of  the relation between biology and statistics or maths in that sense. The subject maths was still not much fun for me. Anything quantitative was not my cup of tea. But I had to deal with numbers and amounts as I wanted to continue in science. So I started sharing a love hate relationship with maths and that continues till now. There are some parts of it which I can digest but then I mostly try to take a bypass route whenever I see long equations and so on.

Interestingly my sister who has got equivalent atmosphere at home like me, is but opposite to me, language is her hurdle and maths is her love. That too we can relate to a very enthusiastic and approachable maths teacher she got at very early stage of her life. This maths teacher showed her the fun behind cracking problems and she got hooked into it, but unfortunately she never got any good language teacher and she slowly lost her ways in languages, she finally accepted it that she is not good in language and had made content with that. 

Although we both think a proper exposure and little more guidance at school could have helped us to come out of our limitations.

These are only two examples, the same is true with all subjects and for every student of India. After coming to Europe I was amazed to see the combination of subjects students can choose here (in secondary school or in college) and the support they get once they have chosen some thing.  It is actually a far better way to carve a path for a career later on then everybody studying a general line and competing with each other in every field. Recently I heard of a Spanish boy who wants to become a diplomat and wants to work in embassy, so he is studying Economics, English and Public administration. He is also preparing himself for the profession by taking short tours or internships in countries like India to understand people around the world. I don't know whether boy or girl in their twenties think like that in Europe, but I have seen most of them taking a small break after finishing school and doing internships in several fields to find out what they like, what they want to be.  They say a profession in which they will be involved for 30-40 years should be interesting enough for them.  It is fine to use 1-2 year in finding that specific liking for a particular profession. So in most cases they are very good in what they are doing. A school teacher becomes a teacher because he wants to be a teacher not because he could not become a doctor or an engineer and then he had to become a teacher.  He also gets a very good training to become that. A possibility which is almost nil in Indian society even today. Our parents will not like this proposal and also cannot afford this kind of uncertain breaks. Our teachers will not support that too. If a child does not get admission in engineering, medical, law, management or science through competitive channels they will try their best to book a sit in a private colleges for their kids. I know an Indian student very closely who is an artist, who loves animation, photography, music but who is preparing for state level  administration exams because that is a real kind of job in an Indian society.  A sound designer who gives sounds to video games is not very well accepted job in India.

I find no words for these set of believes, because after coming to Europe I have seen an alternative way of education, I see how compatible the students are when they decide to do research in Science then for example I was when I finished my Master's in India. Also as a mother I dream to provide an open education environment for my kid, I know how difficult it is to continue a job for years which is not close to ones heart and I understand how critical the role of Indian youth is going to be in coming years as they are the largest youth population of the world. 

It is very urgent that Indian education system changes itself to provide space to explore for its students. The role of a parent is very important specially not to throw their dream or social expectation on their child's life, but then students themselves have to stand up and say what they want with confidence, it is their life after all. And may be it is a very impractical demand but the teachers should be able to counsel a student and show him some alternative ways except for pushing the whole class for engineering or medical exams.

India is under construction we do need engineers, India has second largest population of the world, we do need doctors but we also need properly trained and enthusiastic teachers, public administrators and artists, chefs, food critics, entrepreneurs, bankers, sports persons, scientists and so on. All educated and trained for their own jobs and not leftover from other professional training.

Call centers for customer care- Does it really work?

BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) or more popularly Call centers, or even more popularly those backyard offices in India where young graduates of India are working in shifts from day to night and are supposed to provide solutions to several business related problem to USA and UK or may be Australia and Canada too, (English speaking developed world) and to some extent to Germany or Netherlands  (very few).

The aim perhaps was to get almost all services in English speaking western countries with half expenses as the office situated in eastern countries like India or Philippines, resulted in less cost of running a office (wages and other bills)  due to low living and property costs in those countries. 

It was supposed that companies who will outsource their work to Indian offices will be at par to their competitors as call centers from Asia can work 24 hours (less strict health and safety rules for work conditions and timings) and so overall the company will gain only profits.

Countries like India with large proportion of moderate to highly educated English speaking youth population were happy with such efforts as India will earn revenues from the backyard offices, and Indian employee were happy as wages paid in these companies were far better than Government jobs requiring similar qualifications.

So the BPO buzz started and then followed by IPO, and KPO. The buzz is going on with great hue and cry for some years now. I have experienced its presence directly only 2 years ago when I moved to UK. In Germany the language has barred outsourcing companies to provide solutions to all problems there. The customer care services are local there and understand the details when asked for a service.

For installing a new telephone connection in the apartment I had rented in UK, I needed to call the telecommunication office. I was happy to see in their card that I can call them till 7 p.m. in the evening and also on Saturdays (a service rarely available in Germany).  So I called one evening, after a long waiting time the call was taken by some one whose English accent was very near to mine, I first thought that can be possible as there are many South Asians in UK, but a background chattering noise in Hindi assured me that I am calling a call center. Frankly speaking I was quite excited as till then I (India is gaining from this after all) was all in the favour of this concept. So I was very supportive and gave my details that they asked an kept the phone. It was all fine. I got my telephone connection. 

The reality struck when after 6 months I decided to shift to another apartment. I needed to transfer the phone connection as I did not want to change my phone number again. I informed the telecommunication office that I am moving to a new place and asked them what are the formalities I need to do. Again a person from the call center told me I need not do anything then, and as soon as I move out, I should call from my new  address and they will make the necessary changes. When I did that they said it is all done. Fine. After one month I got two telephone bills one from the old number and one from the new one. So I called again and found out that people with whom I talked before did not keep any information about cancellation of the old number, and as they work in shifts so their service very much depends on the sincerity of the person you are talking to. Anyway this problem could be solved after few more phone calls and after loosing money for two telephone connections for two months.

Recently another bitter experience was with the outsourcing of visa application by some of the embassies. The websites does not provide all the details and when you call a helpline, the call centers answering you just read the same information provided in the website. Being a foreigner in Europe, for the process of entering into another country other than where I am residing, I  need to get a visa, and there are several laws and rules for visa applications, depending on the reason of visits. Respective websites provides only general idea for the application process, and it is most of the time not enough. You need advice, suggestion from officials, which the call centers are not able to provide.

Although the problem could be resolved after several phone calls, but I needed to find out a local office who would understand the local needs more specifically.

So after all these hassles and also talking with several other people here, I have started questioning the benefits of having call center for every purpose. Is it possible to control technical, informational and service based problems of one country from another country? Also after almost a decade of establishment of so called call centers in India, nowadays I hear from the young graduates there, how difficult there life has become due to continuous night shifts. No fixed office hours, shift based jobs are disturbing their biological clocks drastically and they are suffering from chronic pain and stress related symptoms from very young age; against a bargain of more money. Also the economy of very big country like India is becoming dependent on other countries mainly USA much more than any time before. This way a recession in one country of the world can impose  huge job cuts in India.  India with its huge human resource cannot afford to be so much dependent on others for its growth. India is too big to live inside the bubble of a developed country's dreams.

The concept which was started to flatten out the globe; might now need a little rethink and better understanding for each other in terms of time zone, social and cultural etiquettes from both sides to meet all ends.

And hence starts the summer vacation

Summer vacation, a golden time of the year in the lives of school/college goers. And for the primary school kids, summer vacation is even more golden as they still are toddler like in many ways, they still can spend hours in pretend role plays, they still can make imaginary boat, aeroplane or a car from a cardboard carton. As a social rule they go to school everyday, are getting trained for constructive daily routines inside the class-rooms but they do desire  for and also need the non-constructive free time where they can mess up with play dough or water-colours in the name of art and craft, run around in the gym area or play ground, or can search for lady bugs, grasshoppers and long lines made by ants in the garden!

In India summer vacation brings a great relief for children, their teachers and families from extreme heat, and the time is mainly spent inside the house or in somebody else's house  (grand parents for example!). Storybooks, ice creams, Television, drawing, painting and visits from guests or friends are typical rituals in this time. Summer vacation is almost a necessity here, it is the autumn and winter vacations when the holidays are welcomed through different events by school like fair and cultural programmes. Summer vacation starts after annual exams are over and results are out, children feel quite tired by then after heavy load of academic performance. It is mainly from April to June, approximately 6-8 weeks. With the beginning of Monsoon starts the new term in schools.

In Europe summer arrives little late so time for summer vacation is from July to August (also around 6-8 weeks). I remember reading about details of a summer day in the month of August in Enid Blyton books as a child and always wondered why the month of August is so hot? and now I know why. Here in Europe June, July and August are summer months and also this is the best time to  travel and see Europe.

Summer vacations is highly anticipated in European school calendars  and the mood sets off almost a month ago. The custom of annual examination is almost nil here. Academic performances are monitored through out the year and are documented in a format called personal learning plan (PLP). Therefore the last school term is full of events. Picnics, Penny fair, theatre, sports day, poem competition, disco, a visit  to a local botanical garden or a zoo, book fair, folk dance night, health and safety day are some of the many. In this last term of the school year children get active in arranging and participating in these events and regular routine of numeracy, literacy takes a back seat. But children love these events and learn a lot from them. They practice all the mathematics skills they have earned in their classes for buying and selling things in penny or book fair.  They learn new songs, poems and so several new words from the cultural activities. Social awareness like safe living and  environment consciousness are picked up by them more generously through these events than when they are taught about them through books, blackboards or in the written form of questions and answers.

Finally the last day arrives and although as a parent I always gave enormous importance to the first day of the school year, but here I learnt that the last day of the school is equally important. A proper good bye is as necessary as a hearty welcome.  In a small primary school in UK, I saw how the whole school gathered together on the last day of their school, cheered up the final year students and wished them luck for their next stage they are going to start in the secondary school. The head teacher in her charming speech encouraged them by saying "You joined the school as little children but now you are leaving the school as little adults and I don't know about the world but you all are just ready to face the world!" The whole school also thanked all the teachers and staff and said good bye to those who will not be joining them in next term. Then after a final speech from the head teacher the school dispersed with a happy holiday note. 

In the school closing ceremony when I asked some of the kids about what are they going to do in the summer vacation, most of them giggled and said they have no clue, but they are very happy that the vacation starts and they are sure that it will be only fun!  

How to get a PhD position in Germany? A little more

In my last post on how to get a Phd position in Germany? I mentioned about the points which can be helpful for a M.Sc final year student who has already made up her/his mind to proceed towards a PhD and that too in a foreign country.

But if you are already absorbed in a research institute in India and have joined a PhD programme, and you are still looking for doing PhD or collaborative PhDs from other places like in Germany, then as one my friends suggested; you can always reach out and make contacts with invited European scientists in the international seminars or conferences hosted by your institute or in any other Indian institute where you can participate.

As I mentioned in last posts and also in an  another one that largest numbers of applications for PhD positions are submitted from India and China and a personal dialogue or discussion in an international seminar can always provide an extra edge to your application.

But of course, if this is not possible in your case, then you can directly apply for international Phd programmes like;

International Max-Planck Research Schools

India and Germany has very strong educational ties and exchange services like DAAD are there offering several PhD positions in various fields. 

It is also possible to do collaborative research through DAAD exchange service, but in that case it is essential that your PhD supervisor in India have interests in starting a collaboration or does have a running collaboration already with a German faculty.

DAAD exchange programme also offers fellowships for short visits to both Indian and German Masters students, in that case it is needed to find a host faculty in the subject you are interested to pursue a short project. This short programmes are very good exposure to for those who want to opt for a PhD in Germany. 

In the field of science Masters studies/projects can be done in English language in many institutes now in Germany but for humanities, law or management the medium of instruction can be both German and /or English.

How to get a PhD position in Germany?

How can you apply for phd in Germany? My sister has done MSc in Chemistry, She might be interested.

A FB scrap I got today.

A question I am often asked by my friends.

India being the country of a huge youth population and increasing attention on academics, has also become a country who is sending large number of students for higher studies specially, Masters, PhDs and Postdocs to the developed countries. Mainly to the english speaking ones. The  reason, English is also most widely taught foreign language in India. But their is a twist too, English speaking countries mainly USA, UK and Australia also boast for very high tuition fees and tough competitiveness for a particular positions from fellow Asians only. It is a long process to give all those expensive admission tests like GRE, then wait for getting a chance in an University and then again waiting for scholarships. Many times even after going through all these processes, a good PhD offer is not ensured.  A big length of precious time runs away in between. So what are the other alternatives if you want to pursue your further career in a foreign land?

Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Scandinavian countries, Belgium and Netherlands in the  European Union can alternatively cater you a competitive PhD position may be with little less fuss, and equal qualitative satisfaction. In addition you can get a chance to stay in a continent which is like a miniature of whole of India and is exceptionally rich in cultural heritage, history and scenic beauty. 

Here I will pen down some information on how to start a Phd in Germany. The links are mainly the ones which I found useful when I was deliberately searching a PhD position in Germany 10 years ago, when Germany was opening up its door to foreign students who could come to Germany to do PhD without any prior knowledge of German language, Phd written in English (provided that German is the official language of Germany) was also getting accepted officially to provide the degree.

Definitions of PhD position in Germany:

The PhD positions in Germany are called half positions and they are categorised under different names like BAT II/2, you can either get a salaried positions or a  PhD position providing you a scholarship. Salaried positions are mostly offered by universities where you might also need to work as a part-time  teaching assistant like demonstrator for practical courses for undergraduate and/or post graduate students. Scholarships are provided mainly by the research institutes like Max planck institute where you might not need to work as a teaching assistant. Both have advantages and disadvantages, in a salaried position, you need to give taxes and therefore you are entitled to many facilities provided by the state (Government), but on a monthly basis you might get less money in hand than when you are getting scholarship. On the other hand if you are getting a scholarship,  when something goes sour (any need to leave the position and find another one) then you don't get any support from Arbeitsamt (Job centre) and you are left with the challenges on your own.

Research Institutes:

Max Planck Society

It is the biggest chain of  autonomous research institutes in Germany for all kinds of sciences and some humanities and languages for both fundamental and application based studies.  It is highly competitive but very open in attitude.

Fraunhofer Research Society

Another research society which works mainly on application and industry based projects. It is also a competitive place with special emphasis on projects in collaboration with industries.

Some more:

Are you specific about your choices and know which exact field are you interested in?  Yes, it is absolutely normal that until finishing our M.Sc. many of us remain unsure about the specific field where we want to proceed, as until Masters, specially in India our education is mainly information/book based or exam based, but from PhD onwards required skills are searching for scientific problems (unanswered), solving them by planning experiments and doing them, once finding few answers you need to zap them into a paper/conference or two and then move forward finding new unanswered  problems? And if you have a clear idea about which specific field you want to dive into then there are also some institutes in Germany who work on specific topics and  they offer PhDs too. Like;

GSI (Society for research in heavy ions)

European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)

Juelich Research Centre 

German Cancer Research Centre 

All these research institutes are very competitive, but often they do have large numbers of available PhD positions.

There are many other research institutes and of course starting from these once you can reach to those links can be very easily from  Google.

Universities:

Here is the link from wikipedia , giving a list of almost all the universities in Germany.

Universities in Germany try to maintain an uniform reputation and offer very good environment of research. Additionally if you wan to test your flair  for teaching, universities are the best places to do that, as you will get a chance to demonstrate to the undergraduate or postgraduate students. Universities also provides very colourful campus lives and a chance to enter  more into the German society. Also most of the German universities welcome foreign students and therefore you also get a chance to know people from several other countries.

Almost all the websites you will search you will see are written in both German and English languages but sometimes may be all information are not available in English language. So it is better to send e-mails directly to the people, under whom you will like to work.

Litmus Test:

After you sort out some the places or groups where you would like to join as a PhD student, here are few little litmus tests you can do before sending an e-mail, showing up your interest.
Check whether they have open positions available
Check the lists of publication and how many publications are there with the present members of the group
Check the lists of instruments available and the list of collaborations

Final call:

If you are satisfied after all these tests, then write a mail to the Director, Chair or Group leader, showing your interest for a particular position and a project. Reason properly why you are interested and how do you think you can be helpful for the project. Give a short account of related educational qualification and work experience you have in the cover letter and list them chronologically (starting from latest degree) in your Curriculum Vitae ( or Bio-Data as we call in India)

On getting first reply:


It normally takes few days to get a positive reply, negative replies are quicker. Don't get upset if you don't get a reply at all. Keep trying. After you get an affirmative reply showing interest of the employer, then it is time for you ask more relevant questions. Like;
Whether you need to give an interview?
Duration of the project,
Your role in the project,
Salary and accommodation,
Whether you need to take extra courses on your subject?
Whether you need international certification for your English proficiency (TOEFL)?

And soon you will see that, you are feeling comfortable enough to ask your own questions.

So thats how I searched my way to Germany for a PhD position, now if you are willing  to do the same this is a small guideline.
Happy hunting!

Approaching Longest Day of the Year: 21st June

June 21 is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 193 days remaining until the end of the year.

On non-leap years (until 2039), this day marks the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere and the winter solstice in the southern hemisphere, and this is the day of the year with the longest hours of daylight in the northern hemisphere and the shortest in the southern hemisphere. (Wikipedia)

As a child I remember reading about this date in Geography text book, may be in class V or VI. But I then never realized the true meaning of a longest day as in India days and nights are more or less of same length (near to the equator), in western India days do get longer in summer but that means sunlight stays maximum till 7.30 p.m. in the evening. For we kids it was more fun as in those days we were lucky to play hide and seek, skipping rope, Badminton or whatever on the open street, we need not make any confirmed play dates and could hop door to door from around 4 p.m. to collect our friends before discussing, planning and starting to play for that evening until the street lights were on. And more daylight means more time to play.

My entry to Europe was in Autumn. Europe mesmerized me with its yellow, red and brown leaves, pumpkins (real, and artificial) filled shops and sharp chilly wind (well for me then), these scenes and feelings were very new to me,  I had  seen ever green trees only and of course I had seen pumpkins but they grow in summer in India and I never saw so many shops selling things with pumpkins as their background theme, it was only later I found out that it is related with a festival called Halloween, started in Ireland but then went to USA along with  Irish settlers and then came back to Europe again as a companion of globalization.  In those first days of mine in Europe when I was gobbling every thing around me just like looking into a big colorful book, I was also very careful about turning each of its pages as it was a kind of new living for me, but as every expat heart keep searching some similarity of the host land with their own land, I also kept doing that and then found one. That was the sky on a clear, crispy and sunny Autumn day, with clouds floating like  small cotton wools (this kind of cloud is also very typical in India in Autumn and as a Bengali (Hindu) this sky reminds us of our main festival of the year), that sky which was rare; as autumn in Europe is mostly rainy, gave me the assurance that if I try I can settle down here for a while.

Then came the winter and which I will skip today as the European winter, dusky days and dark nights, the snow, the cold, Christmas feasts, special gluhwein (a typical hot wein specially prepared during Christmas time in Germany) and Weihnachten markts  (German for Christmas Markets) do call for at least  one independent blog of its own, if not many.

Spring came next, which again was very new to me as in India also, we celebrate a lot with colors in spring but the welcoming for spring is not so genuine from heart. As we never spend any leafless dark winter there. Here blooming of first  Osterglocken (German for Daffodils), tulips, Gänseblümchen (German for daisies) and edelweiss after long, cold and mostly dark winter gave me enormous happiness. These flowers also begin a parade of blooming of cherry blossoms, hycinths, pansies, marigolds, many flowers who are unknown to me and finally roses of various colors and varieties. And after 'J' has started talking this is the time when she wishes to go to a strawberry field.

And while walking through the roads, looking at the flowers in others gardens (I never got time to maintain my own one) and changing from winter jacket to summer jackets, without giving any proper notice, the summer arrived (so unlike as was in India, where summer is like the king, arrives with a great pomp, show and  Mangoes!). Here Summer brings cherries. Summer is a time of absorbing sun, relaxation, holidays, picnics, Barbeques, short trips or in other words it is the time to make fun in Europe. Just like it is in winter in India. And if you are living in  European countries very close to the north pole, then you will feel that few bright sunny days available in summer are treated very specially by people here.  On my long distance phone calls when my mother complained of  extreme heat I told her with a relief "It is quite nice and warm here Ma!" On approaching 21st June the days get bright almost till 11 p.m. at night and sun rises again around 4 a.m. The birds and children are though quite well mannered here and are not awake that long.

But I always wonder during these  mid summer nights and think may be therefore Shakespeare  called one of his play as "Midsummer's night dream". 

An Indian and world cup football

One more world cup football started and in Europe this is a season of festivity, the celebrations starts from daycare centers and schools. 

I remember in Germany; in 2006 football world cup; the kindergarten where 'J' was going was decorated with flags, also it was more special as Germany was the hosting the tournament. They did world cup football picnics, sports and tattoos on every kids cheek! In our office we had bets for which country will win? Also beamers which is normally used for powerpoint presentations of scientific results were used to watch football matches which were 'very' important but were held during office time.

Well, please never think that I am a die hard football fan, my knowledge about football limits to a goal and few famous players names, but that does not mean I don't have any alliance with it.

Today when 'J' while coming from school (she is now in UK and the scenario in her primary school is not much different from that of Germany) asked me "Mum why India is not in world cup? I would have loved to cheer for India." I replied "Yes, 'J' it is sad, India is not very good in football, but India is good in Cricket, Hockey and Chess, and nevertheless you can always cheer for Germany, it is your birthplace." She replied "But India is my country." I felt amazed that amidst of all the confusing relocations in different countries and her total stay in India for 6 weeks only, in her six years of lifespan, has not prevented her in developing a sense of national identity.

I wanted to tell 'J' about how enthusiastic people of India participate in their own way in the world cup without even having its own team. And on the way back walking slowly towards home I started spinning yarns of the world cup foot ball I have as an Indian. 

My earliest association with world cup dates to that year when Maradona was storming the world and also our army quarter when I woke up suddenly in the middle of the one night hearing a roaring goal sound from my father, watching T.V. all alone in the living room. I got up and slowly went to him, to see his eyes excited with childish joy and he showed me how Maradona made a goal!

Next, I remember a scene in my ancestral house in a small village in India where about 12 boys (aged 8 to 80 years) were sitting on a double bed and watching very silently a world cup semi-final in the late afternoon on a black and white portable T.V.  The T.V room was on the first floor. The  kitchen downstair was also equally populated and not at all silent, where my mother, aunties and grand mother were preparing supply of tea for adults,  sherbet  (home made lemonade) for younger ones  and hot tele bhaja (meaning deep fried snacks made up of different thin sliced veggies and chick pea flour) for all of us. After all watching a game like football also needs lot of strength.

I also remember that on the same season of football world cup, on one such summer afternoon, in the middle of a very exciting game, that double bed broke just after making a creeping sound and all the boys from 8-80 fall down on the floor, making an extraordinary noise which we from the downstairs first thought was yet another goal!

The girls hostel of my university would get divided into two camps of the world cup finalists and we were quite regular in reading sports news on the newspaper for those few days.

The scene in boys hostels were wilder of course.

After coming out of India this is my third world cup football, last two times I was in Germany and it was fun. Specially 2006 world cup showed a new Germany to us. Flags, T-Shirts, key chains were sold in large number in those days and for the first time we saw people putting flags on their balconies or windows. Unlike Denmark or Sweden, Germans don't use their flag for personal occasions (owing to their history perhaps), but hosting the world cup dissolved their inhibitions and enlightened their feelings for a proud nation. Also flags from Turkey, France, Italy were seen along with German flags in many houses telling us that those houses are from expats of these countries.

After talking a lot, I looked at 'J', she was laughing madly listening to those funny stories and as I opened the door to home I silently but convincingly told her that may be we need to wait few years and then India will manage to enter into world cup football tournament. She clapped her hands with joy, the same one as I saw in my father's eyes  many years ago.

So India cannot we try to make a child's dream come true?

A visit to a local craft fair

Being an Indian, hand made crafts have always been part of my life, whether it is my mother wearing a cotton saree made in hand mills, those cane baskets I used to keep my toys, batik tops I wore when I wanted to be chic or small wall hanging show pieces brought from annual fairs of the small towns I have lived in. Indian crafts has always excelled in gaining niches just like Indian spices wherever they went. There are several pockets of India which boasts of its rare silks, pearls, embroideries, wooden furnitures and can compete superbly in world markets.

May be owing to these, handicrafts from various other parts of the world attracts me a lot. If the unique skylines, historical monuments, zoos and supermarkets describe the nature of big cities then I would say that hand made, local and yet delicate things in the form of crafts and other delicacies give character to an anonymous small town.

While living in Germany, I always noticed that the villages, towns and cities were so much intertwined by the chain of supermarkets and other retailers that it was very difficult to find those small shops, which were still run by shopkeepers and their families. Hand made German specialities like grand father clocks, cuckoo clocks, other wooden crafts and ceramics were mostly found in Black forest areas (Schwarz Wald) and Bayern (Bavaria) regions. They were also the tourist studded areas of Germany, so the artisans were impersonal and professional in their approach. Well, wine, beer, breads, chocolates and cheese were some other crafts or delicacies which were of course in abundance in all regions and  were versatile according to the region, soil and culture.

Here in Scotland the very first thing I noticed was the dominance of local taste, in the forms of tartans, bagpipes, ceramic vessels, shortbreads and not to forget scotch whisky! Scotland boasts for gaelic and celtic designs and little shops still exists in small towns as well as in big cities (may be a bit hidden behind the shadows of multi stored supermarkets) selling these local items.

Today I and 'J' got an opportunity to visit a local craft fair, it was a wonderful experience to talk with local artisans about their crafts,  patience and courage they need to keep going and keep maintaining their skills, which have been developed and produced in this region for generations but are facing a huge competition from global produces. A potpourri box made up of wood, a silver earring inspired by Mackintosh designs, a pendent made from colourful blown glass, felt covered personal diaries, T-shirts with celtic prints, hand dyed silk scarves, oil paints of local areas; choices were many and each of them were showing the care which has been taken to give them those tempting forms. But on looking at the price tags, I could feel the temptations withering away, and in spite of knowing the unfairness hidden in it, I could not stop myself from comparing the prices with other shops where things are sold in cheaper prices as they bring them from far east.

My holiday trip to India recently also put the same question in front of me. I noticed how the chains of big retailers are grasping the local markets and their products. A large crowds of computer savvy urban young Indians feel very comfortable to buy things from these big malls. A kind of uniformity is resulting from this, which is on one hand comfortable in terms of style, price and quality but is also very predictable,  as sometimes it used to feel in Germany.

We enjoyed our time in the craft fair a lot and I and 'J' ended up buying two lovely handmade necklaces today but while coming out  of the fair many questions kept hovering in my mind.

Is it necessary to have so many material flooded competitive priced supermarkets all over the world?  Is it not unfair to flatten our diverse surrounding? Cannot we do something extra to patronise the local essence of our lives?

Pippi Longstockings - This strongest girl of the world has helped us too

Courtsey: Google Images and self shot

'J' was around four years old, she did not like in the beginning her full day stays in kindergarten while many of her friends were picked up even at 12 at noon by their mothers. She wanted sometimes her mummy or daddy also to do this. Yes, her mummy and daddy tried to pick her up as soon as they finished their work, but it was seldom at 12 at noon. So she accepted the fact and made friends with them who were staying whole day like her and slowly they created their own group, playing role plays in the late afternoon (like a fisherman family or a pirate family) which they did not play otherwise. They also could listen bonus stories from their kindergarten teachers during this time.  During this phase, one day she came back home with the name of Pippi Langstruemph (German for Longstockings). She was beaming with joy talking about the adventures of Pippi and how brave she is, as she lives alone in a big villa because her father is a pirate and mother is an angel. She also added that Pippi is the strongest girl of the world and she is so strong that she can pick up her horse on her shoulders!

I did not know about Pippi before, and after asking google (my parenting guru actually) I found a whole box of treasure created by a very famous children author Astrid Lindgren from Sweden. In India we grew with children books from Indian languages (Bengali and Hindi in my case) and some books from UK (written by Enid Blyton mainly) and Russia (USSR then) and no wonder I never knew about the world famous Pippi and her friends Annika and Tomy, her monkey - Herr Nilson and her horse-Kleine Onkel.  A quick check in wikipedia told me that Pippi was created by Astrid Lindgren for her daughter Karin (Karin gave the name Pippi), when she was ill and bed ridden.  Astrid Lindgren also has created several other memorable characters like Madita, Karlsson on the roof, Michael, Roniya the Robber daughter,  Lotta, and The Six Bullerby Children. She is very much loved in Europe for her creations.

All stories are like colourful gems for children around 4 to 10. The naughty, confident, and innocent lifestyle of each characters etched by the author also attracts the parents who read the stories or see the DVDs together with their kids. Their origin in a different land and in a different time (in early 1900) does not create any boundary among the readers of today. Of course Pippi is the most famous of all and for 'J' it was no exception. She was so much mesmerised by Pippi that she started wearing two different coloured socks and used to put freckles marks on her cheek using orange sketch pens, and she was always in search of something which she can use as orange hair just like Pippi. Since then 'J' also dreams to have her own horse one day.

It became a ritual then for us to go to library on thursdays and collect books, cassattes, CDs or DVDs of any of the Astrid Lindgren's Characters.

Pippi was becoming part of our life and without our notice Pippi helped us too (just like in her stories), in solving many upcoming challenges, like once I had to leave 'J' with her daddy for 10 days for a conference, and our super sensitive 'J' was not sad but proud to prove that she is very brave, 'Just like Pippi'!

Later, we left Germany and came to UK, 'J' made new friends in her new school using Pippi Longstocking's caricatures and jokes.

In UK, after settling down a bit, it was daddy's turn to leave us and join his new job, I was sad and sitting quietly one day and 'J' came with the DVD of Pippi and told me "Come on mummy lets see this, if Pippi can live alone so can we"!

Living a decade in Europe: Some thoughts

Courtsey-Google Images

At every scientific meeting I have attended so far in Europe I have faced a comparative question about why so many Indians come out for education, higher research and high skill jobs like doctor, engineers and lawers? The answer is obvious high population and less opportunities (things are changing in positive way). It is a joke in this part of the world that if any professor has a open job position so he must be sitting on the heap of applications from India or China. Unlike in USA which is a country of immigrants and where the trend is to invite (or buy?) best brains from all over the world (atleast till now!), in Europe laws are more stringent and emplowers are more skeptical.

I have worked in Germany and UK (see later blogs) and found that two countries have very different history and attitude towards handling high skilled labours in their lands.

History of large number high skilled labour immigration is comparatively new in Germany. Germany had not many colonies so immigration was never that big. After world war - II in order to rebuild the nation (then West Germnay) this country had to bring extra hands from countries like Italy, Turkey and Russia. But entry of PhD students, computer professionals, doctors have mainly started in last 30 years. 

To start with, in Germany, government has taken care that every legal immigrant occupying a salaried position (who pay taxes) should be provided with equal benefits like a German national. I was provided with  maternity leave (with salary), medical benefits, child benefits, unemployment benefit (for one year) and career development offers (where government fully support career development courses). German being their official language, Government also take initiatives  to provide language (highly discounted) courses to integrate the new comers in this country. Due to lack of their own high skilled people (specially in software) and multinational nature of the private industries/companies, they started accepting english speaking emloyees from the advent of globalisation era. But of course a verbal and written knowledge on German is an add-on. Government sectors like hospitals, schools, universities and council offices are strict about advanced knowledge of German for their employees as they work in national environment. Universities particularly dwell on all or none policies (changes are going on), meaning academic ladder starts from Phd, then post doc, then habilitation and finally a full professor postions. Where except a professorship all other positions are temporary, and the availability of professor's chair is very diffcult if not rare. This creates exit of not only  foreign students who come for higher studies but also many German nationals who want to stay in academics. Foreign nationals from develoing countries who after completing a higher degree in Germany wants to return back to their country of origin are provided with very good guidance for re-integration.

So in a nut shell Germany provided me a golden opportunity to dwell in science, learn a new language, visit several  EU (schengen) countries and as a whole get a glimpse of continental Europe.

But if given a choice would I have lived there for rest of my life? I don't know.

Indo-British cuisine

In Scotland, Indian (more generally South Asian) cuisine has taken an independent identity. Tandoori, Korma, Balti, Jalfrezi, Rogenjosh, Vindaloo, Tikka and Bhuna are famous non vegetarian flavours, available as curry pastes in bottled forms (Pataks, Sherwood are more common brands among many others) in almost all the supermarkets. Vegetarian dishes includes ingredients for Saag Aloo, Chole or Lentil soup. Sometimes fuly prepared tinned version of these food items are also available. I have noticed local people buying Naan bread, a curry mix bottle, Poppadoms and basmati rice for their weekly shopping. Different kinds of pakoras more famously known as "bhajjis" and samosas are available everywhere. Pickles from Mango or mixed vegetable and chutneys from tomato or tamarind are well known and well eaten. Indian restaurants are in plenty here. After travelling a bit towards north of Scotland and also south of England I must say that the scenario is same all over UK. I being an Indian myself find it quite overwhelming seeing so much effect of South Asian cuisine on the people here who are living in a completely different climate and geography. A strong impact of then colonism and now globalisation though.