German fun!!
Oh boy!! Was it fun or what!! It’s an entirely different story that my legs refused to put one step further at the very sight of the ever so inviting cushiony bed!! The day brought me in contact with a variety of things. It made me more aware of how I react to certain circumstances, people, attitudes and it also gifted me with lots of new friends, enlightenments about the German lifestyle (at least a little) and of course the German food!!
Well…Being one among the many volunteers, I reached the German center at around 9.15 AM on the bright (later sweltering) Saturday morning. We were to celebrate the 15 years of German unification which falls on the 3rd of October. Since Saturday appeals more than a Monday does, the occasion was to be celebrated in advance. Decked up in the tee that the volunteers had chosen to sport on the day, we had started to finish up with all the last moment teeny weenie works! The few of us in charge of the food stall that was to be set up, started out with teeming up the table cloths, checking which design claimed more attention and which one seemed sober and mum, rejoicing on gaining the approval of the professor when his/her match was okayed!
Dot 10.30 as scheduled the program started, with a short speech by the director, Mrs. Amitha Desai followed by the few moments utter anticipation as the chief guest Mr.Narsingh Rao, adorned the canvas that was hung up against a wall to paint his views on the theme. Then as the junta came and went and as we served them the exotic German delicacies (partially hand made by Frau.Kapoor and partially ordered), the amount of fun we had was immeasurable! We went on incessantly with the hard core banter, teasing the hell out of each other. Betting our lives at having a blast and not worry about the otherwise prominent exhaustion surrounding us. Guess the black tee added to the quagmire, in union with the seemingly generous “surya”!!!
Being located in a building with more than one government offices, the German center (at least the food dept!) enjoyed the presence of a few really “poker faced” customers!! They relieved all their life long frustration of not being able to discover other cultures due to their monotonous work schedules on “young discoverers” by snatching the coupons, being a wee bit cranky and similar stuff. But our fun attitude didn’t budge an inch. We infact had a blast over that as well. Here comes this man, dressed in a white shirt with a crisp satin of crimson red “shimla guthka”, along with his partner. They make their order and as they await their source of joy, discuss and debate among themselves, speaking the native tongue of Andhra, conveniently assuming none of us aboard spoke or understood the language, as to whether we (hard core Indian students of the German center) were Germans who flew down for the occasion or were Germans settled in India!!The look on their “badly exploited by government” faces was worth a million bazillion dollars, when I served them their order with the bestest of smiles I could sport, followed by the words “idigOndi mee apfel strudel, inka mee potato salad. Mee fruit punch akkadnunchee teeskondee”….Boy… The occasional pieces of Mozart’s undeniable magic, playing in the interiors of the center,(our stalls were very thoughtfully placed outside to allure the not-so-informed lot!) came as a strong source of relief and joy to me!
Then came the turn of the cute little kiddos(yes, for once “ I ” am NOT the kiddo!!!), who very gingerly approached the stalls with a fat wallet (nice to live with parents!), in two minds as to which pleasure to taste first! We used all our marketing strategies (on kids!!!!!!!) to sell one portion of everything (not like all kids fell for our “polished skills!).
Ahem!I can’t claim to have known their names ( the German stuff we were selling) any earlier than a week ago, but all the same we kind of smiled every time an (ignorant??)Indian (who wasn’t a part of the German center) approached the food counter asking for a biscuit/biskoot/biskeet (for the apfel strudel), even worse raitha ( for the potato salad)…Then goes the explanation era, where in we would very diligently explain to the inquisitive soul what it was made of and what it was called!
The day went on like that, until around seven we wound up the stalls. The happenings inside the center were also almost over, now that the movie had also reached the end! We stripped the tables off their (once-so-called) covers. All the superfluous items were sent back to the supermarket. The chairs were arranged. And the menial tasks that the volunteers and the staff very proudly did in union! We hanged around to render the last dose of our otherwise low-running energy level to the unanimous “hurray” that we were all supposed to yell when the three cheers were offered to all the “deserving candidates”!!!
I can assert without fear of being haunted by guilt that being a part of annny association or organization is one of the best ways to have the element of educative fun in life. Especially when you are a part of more than one association, you are bound to become an addict of straining your facial muscles with the eternal smile (occasionally because of a sadistic pleasure too!!!) This day is surely going to be bejeweled with the choicest of gems in my priceless book of truly “treasured” memories!
Well…Being one among the many volunteers, I reached the German center at around 9.15 AM on the bright (later sweltering) Saturday morning. We were to celebrate the 15 years of German unification which falls on the 3rd of October. Since Saturday appeals more than a Monday does, the occasion was to be celebrated in advance. Decked up in the tee that the volunteers had chosen to sport on the day, we had started to finish up with all the last moment teeny weenie works! The few of us in charge of the food stall that was to be set up, started out with teeming up the table cloths, checking which design claimed more attention and which one seemed sober and mum, rejoicing on gaining the approval of the professor when his/her match was okayed!
Dot 10.30 as scheduled the program started, with a short speech by the director, Mrs. Amitha Desai followed by the few moments utter anticipation as the chief guest Mr.Narsingh Rao, adorned the canvas that was hung up against a wall to paint his views on the theme. Then as the junta came and went and as we served them the exotic German delicacies (partially hand made by Frau.Kapoor and partially ordered), the amount of fun we had was immeasurable! We went on incessantly with the hard core banter, teasing the hell out of each other. Betting our lives at having a blast and not worry about the otherwise prominent exhaustion surrounding us. Guess the black tee added to the quagmire, in union with the seemingly generous “surya”!!!
Being located in a building with more than one government offices, the German center (at least the food dept!) enjoyed the presence of a few really “poker faced” customers!! They relieved all their life long frustration of not being able to discover other cultures due to their monotonous work schedules on “young discoverers” by snatching the coupons, being a wee bit cranky and similar stuff. But our fun attitude didn’t budge an inch. We infact had a blast over that as well. Here comes this man, dressed in a white shirt with a crisp satin of crimson red “shimla guthka”, along with his partner. They make their order and as they await their source of joy, discuss and debate among themselves, speaking the native tongue of Andhra, conveniently assuming none of us aboard spoke or understood the language, as to whether we (hard core Indian students of the German center) were Germans who flew down for the occasion or were Germans settled in India!!The look on their “badly exploited by government” faces was worth a million bazillion dollars, when I served them their order with the bestest of smiles I could sport, followed by the words “idigOndi mee apfel strudel, inka mee potato salad. Mee fruit punch akkadnunchee teeskondee”….Boy… The occasional pieces of Mozart’s undeniable magic, playing in the interiors of the center,(our stalls were very thoughtfully placed outside to allure the not-so-informed lot!) came as a strong source of relief and joy to me!
Then came the turn of the cute little kiddos(yes, for once “ I ” am NOT the kiddo!!!), who very gingerly approached the stalls with a fat wallet (nice to live with parents!), in two minds as to which pleasure to taste first! We used all our marketing strategies (on kids!!!!!!!) to sell one portion of everything (not like all kids fell for our “polished skills!).
Ahem!I can’t claim to have known their names ( the German stuff we were selling) any earlier than a week ago, but all the same we kind of smiled every time an (ignorant??)Indian (who wasn’t a part of the German center) approached the food counter asking for a biscuit/biskoot/biskeet (for the apfel strudel), even worse raitha ( for the potato salad)…Then goes the explanation era, where in we would very diligently explain to the inquisitive soul what it was made of and what it was called!
The day went on like that, until around seven we wound up the stalls. The happenings inside the center were also almost over, now that the movie had also reached the end! We stripped the tables off their (once-so-called) covers. All the superfluous items were sent back to the supermarket. The chairs were arranged. And the menial tasks that the volunteers and the staff very proudly did in union! We hanged around to render the last dose of our otherwise low-running energy level to the unanimous “hurray” that we were all supposed to yell when the three cheers were offered to all the “deserving candidates”!!!
I can assert without fear of being haunted by guilt that being a part of annny association or organization is one of the best ways to have the element of educative fun in life. Especially when you are a part of more than one association, you are bound to become an addict of straining your facial muscles with the eternal smile (occasionally because of a sadistic pleasure too!!!) This day is surely going to be bejeweled with the choicest of gems in my priceless book of truly “treasured” memories!
2 Comments:
cool!!
I missed out on the strudel,though:)but that German-in-an-hour(or was it german-in-half-an-hour?)was fun!
Mon Tag!!
Strudels, Sauerkrauts, Frankfurters... burp!
but where is the barrel to wash down with...
where is my Karlsberg? hehee
*I remember school days when the unification happened... we looked in awe as one of my friends showed us a small brick piece of the Berlin Wall that he had brought back !! we put it on display in school...
one really prized possession, eh?
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