Exploring Home and Out

A large Pipe-organ at Gengenbach (above) Gengenbach seen from Chappalle (above right)

On Wednesday, we woke up late, had breakfast with Karl, and then Evelyn dropped us with Fr. Joseph in the parish. I shall call him Jose. He is a very fine man from Kerala, and has spent already five years in Gengenbach. He was happy to see some Indians here! In the morning after some friendly chat we walked around Gengenbach, with its ancient richness. One important place that we visited was the Mother House of one of the Benedictine Monasteries where the sisters are very old, and they are making lots of religious articles of excellent quality for sale. But they seem to not have much sale, although they get occasionally many bookings. Evelyn picked us at 12.30 for lunch, and then we went to a Chinese restaurant nearby. I had very hot chicken briyani with red chillies! Others took more bland diet. In the afternoon, we walked up to the nearby hill, walking through the many vineyards that surround the little town, to the Chappalle (Chapel). By the time we returned it was four in the afternoon. And later Evelyn took us to her company where we could see how the Active Ingredients for making some important tablets are being made. As many areas of the company are restricted for entry we could see through the glass. At other places we could get in with protective gears. Evening we had dinner at Karl's and watched the Champions League Football Final, before we went for our sleep.

Variety of candles prepared by the nuns (above) a portion of the pharma company Evelyn works (above right)

On Thursday, there was a grand celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi. We participated in it. It was really grand and lots of people from various christian denominations had gathered for the mass and the procession. It was interesting to note that for celebrations people do come to the churches although at other times the churches are barely half-full. I also noticed that the Churhces are not fully utilised for religious purposes, specially in places of pilgrimage, to attract people to religious faith, although the same churches are being utilised as places of heritage and picnic (e.g. the Freiburg and Straasburg Münsters). I think the church in Europe needs to pay more attention to using the people's visit to these places of public visit into faith-building platforms.

We had a more quite evening and the Vespers at the Church, followed by a sumptuous meal at the home of Peter and Evelyn. (photo: vineyards of Gengenbach)

Being a French - For a Little While!

The boat crosses through a movable bridge! (above)

On the banks of Rhine - crossing into France (above left) The trams in Straasburg, France (above)

Outside the Strassburg (above left) Münster Hotels and homes on the river in Straasburg (above)

On Tuesday, 20 May, we decided to go to Straasburg in France for an outing! I think, this is going to be the only outing day for me in this trip to Germany. All other days are going in meeting people and talking to them.... although I have not made many breakthroughs this time. I think we did a good job at Freiburg. Today, for the journey, we are four: Fr. Susai, Matze, Johannes and me. We left at 10.00 a.m by car, crossing the black forests, reaching the Rhine that separates both the countries, and then crossing into France! It was almost an adventure. Once we reached Straasburg, we took a tram for our visit to the famous Strassburg Münster. Waaw! What a splendid sight. There were thousands of visitors as it is also holiday time in the schools. We walked a lot along the brook that is well developed for Aqua-tourism, with moving bridges, blocking bridges that increase or decrease water levels for the boats to travel smoothly, with running commentary.... beside other modes of transport which also give you commentaries in multiple languages. I have a lot to write. Oh yes, I cannot forget standing beside the piano used by Mözart himself in one of the churches, preserved as a heritage. We had lunch at a 150 years old restaurant Güber. There was something about this restaurant, because, many great people had frequented this place during their visits to Straasburg. And we were having lunch sitting on the same chairs and table used by Helmut Köhl ! What a privilege! Still more - we got all our food free! You know why?

Almost two years ago Evelyn had visited this hotel and on that day the wine served was not cold enough. Evelyn had written a letter to the hotel later, and the hotel management had sent a complimentary letter promising two plates of Flammenkochen free whenever this letter is used at the restaurant. And we had carried this letter. That did the work even after two years! We were pampered with more than what we could, besides desserts, coffee, plenty of food in different categories, and they wanted to give more! We had no place in the stomach. All this was done by the Manager himself, so that we did not even have to pay tips! (I cannot imagine if an Indian restaurant would do this.)

Colorful glass art in the Münster(above) -- The Münster (center) -- The Piano played by Mozärt (above right)
Before we left, we had some fun time. There were many artists on the roadside painting pictures and caricatures of people. I got a caricature done of myself. Ooh! What a fun to laugh at your own self! Just for a day, it is a great fun to enjoy yourself. With a good dinner spread for us at Evelyn's we went to bed quite late.

The Power of a Man and a Woman !

What can a man and a woman can do together? They can make the best and the worst. We have a case for making the best of life in the form of Karl and Gabi Suhm. We spent the night of the Monday, 19 May at the home of the Suhms. They are very affectionate people and generous with their resources. I had stayed in their home the last time too. The family of Evelyn, Matthias and Johannes had joined us for dinner. And I had good rest till 7.30 a.m. till Tuesday, as I could feel that my body is beginning to relax from the toils of Raiganj.

I must come back to the Suhms. They are also very hard working people. Karl and Gabi have built a personal museum of minerals collected from all over the world... must be costing a few millions of Euros. You name a country, Karl shows you immediately the minierals found in that country and shows you pieces of them. They also have a passion for garden as they work together to keep their garden as one of the best in the area, with lots of stone works, variety of small cactus, and plants from many other parts of the world. They have a showroom from which they sell some of their collections. Well, do not think that they have done it in a day. It has taken them 55 years of patient endurance and perseverence to reach to this level. Congrats Gabi and Karl ! We admire you for the wonderful work you do to preserve the minerals of the world.

This is Freiburg

It has been raining since the time we came.... and has been getting colder too. The weather has not been so good to us. But we must move ahead. After a small breakfast (stomach is still full from yesterday's meal), we left Geislingen at 9.45 and we reached Loffingen by car. Matthias was accompanying us. From Loffingen we traveled through the black forests, crossing Neudstadt, we reached Freiburg at 12.05. Johannes Becker was waiting for us. We had enough time to walk around the Pedagogical Department of the Freiburg University besides a 20 minutes of wonderful piano music played for us by Johannes. At 1.00 p.m. we met Professor Haug, a tall man for German standards (too tall for India!), we had lunch together in the Mess. The food was good. I went for some Thai dishes. Fr. Susai was not keeping well, so he chose to have some bland diet, whereas others had typical German dishes. (Pictures : Freiburg from the Münster, traveling on a local train , the outside of the Pedagogical department of the University of Freiburg)

We had range of talks--from experience of Matthias and Johannes, poverty and development in India, some world politics, and Professor Haug's plan to come to a developing country to voluntarily serve for about one year.

Finally, we called it a day and took the tram to the city centre, to the apartment of Johannes. Leaving our baggage there, we went to see the Munster of Freiburg. It is under repair, and yet we managed to climb up to a close distance from the top most point which has been restricted for visitors. We could also see the way the bells rang at 4.00 p.m. We saw the 16 bells of the Church, with the largest of them being as heavy as 7,000 kilos! (picture on the side) We had our train to Offenburg at 5.00 p.m., from where we came to Gengenbach by train. Evelyn was waiting for us to receive us at the station.

Celebrations in Geislingen

We traveled on Saturday 17 after a breakfast at Sonnenhof, to Geislingen. It is almost 300 km South of Frankfurt. We had Edith to drive. Edith is so wonderful because, she had the energy to drive the distance without any problem although she is 70 years old. We took about 2.30 minutes to cover the 300 kms. On arrival in the afternoon, we were greeted by Leonie and Bettina and her family. We had a grand celebration at the Gasthof in the evening to celebrate Edith's birthday. It was 11.00 p.m. when we left the hotel. I and Fr. Susai were put up at the apartment of Matthias. We had no time to relax and so went to bed immediately. (Photos below : with little Lukas and in the house of Mrs. Rose)

The Sunday was more relaxed as we had not much things to do. We went for the mass at 8.30 and then we proceeded to Rose's home. The last time I visited Germany Rose was away. I began to admire at the strength of this aged woman who lives alone, and has no children and husband. She owns a large van in which she spends most of her days on the banks of Lake Konstans. She had come this time just to meet me. When I looked around the house, you begin to wonder if it is really a house or a museum. She has cups, plates, wooden art, tables, chairs, carpets .... all being preserved for over 100 to 150 years! And in the house you are left with no space as the tables, windows, doors and every step is decorated with pictures, art and every fine thing you can find. Even some of the wine in her home was more than 100 years old! We had a brunch that day... which meant, we began our breakfast at 10.00 a.m. and it went on till 5.00 p.m. with lots of fun, jokes and laughter. Then we moved to Leonie's home as Evelyn and Peter, with their son Julian were to return to Gengenbach. I and Fr. Susai sent some of our luggages with them. With a piece of pizza for the night, we went to bed early.

Perfect Landing

Life has suddenly changed! We came smoothly from Kolkata to Frankfurt with a very brief stop-over in Dubai. As I expected the EK 547 from Kolkata to Dubai had all its 320 plus seats fully booked. I slept a lot more than I did last year, besides watching some comedies . Fr. Susai kept waking me for meals. One thing I noticed for sure : the services of Emirates Airlines had remained the same; and that made up for the long haul between Dubai and Frankfurt on EK 047. We reached Frankfurt 10 minutes ahead of our scheduled time. The immigration and customs went without any hitch. So, we were out in no time to be welcomed by Evelyn. For the night halt we came to Bad Nauheim where we were greeted by aunt Edith. She lives in a single room apartment all by herself. Our stay was made comfortable by arranging at Hotel Sonnenhof. We were just given keys by aunt Edith, and we did not see any hotel staff until the next morning at the breakfast table. Once we left our luggage at Sonnenhof we decided to go for a walk as the sun was still out at 8.15 p.m. Bad Naueheim is a small little town of about 20,000 people, with natural springs (which gives the name “bad” to be pronounced “baad”), health clubs, restaurants and parks. Aunt Edith took us to the most important spots of this little town : the homes of Bismarck (the iron man of Germany), Elvis Presley (great Rock star), and the Beneke Institute (Beneke was the person who researched on the medicinal qualities of the natural mineral waters (artesian springs) that are found in the area. The springs are well maintained, with Spas, inhalatorium and health clubs surrounding such. The municipality was sprucing up the town for a big Fair to be held in 2010, and so lots of repair works were going on in the town without giving much trouble to the people. As we were walking back Evelyn proposed that we must taste apple wine that is exclusive to the region. And so we stopped on the market and joined large crowds of people enjoying their drinks and dinners at the beginning of the weekend. At a restaurant, the ladies serving us proposed that we have "Flammenkuchen" for the dinner. It was prepared with garlic, onion, lettuce, cheese, butter, tomatoes, bacon etc on the roasted bread specially for us as we were guests! We got back to our hotel rooms at 10.00 p.m. We decided to call it a day as we need to quickly adjust to the time zone change. (Pictures from top: Homes of Elvis Presley, Bismarck, and one of the natural fountains)

Leaving Home

There are too many things that we take for granted.. and then we end with untold misery. The last time I visited Europe, I had the problem with electrical appliances I carried. This time I am better prepared. I am carrying a special switchboard made by electrician Mr. Mrityunjoy (we fondly call him Don). He did it really quick, so that I can have it on time before I leave Raiganj. I purchased a new pair of shoes in Kolkata as my old ones were worn out. Fr. Sarto, the regional forum director, and a friend of mine, (like an elder brother to me) came to the airport, dropped me and left. The formalities at the airport – check-in, emigration and security check—all went smooth. Once ready for departure, I called up my sister and wished her and her family. I made a final visit to the loo. Oh! It was as dirty as ever; no automatic water dispensers, no toilet papers, and was filled with stench. When I came out I saw several disarranged chairs lying in awkward positions. I arranged many of them in order. I began to wonder. There are tens of people working in the airport. Why no one bothers to arrange the chairs and discourage people from disarranging them? Why should the toilets be as bad as they are? Kolkata can not want to an international airport, if it cannot provide minimum standards. In Kolkata, there are lots of people opposing privatization of airports. For once, I wont mind privatization, if it brings better facility and cleanliness in all places. It is time to depart on the longest journey of my life and leave home!

Preparing for a Long Journey!

As I prepare myself for my visit to the Western part of the world, this year it has been really a tougher times with several audits scheduled, projects just taking off, and more projects needed.... it has been a harrowing time for me. Every night I have been hitting the bed, dead-tired, feeling almost, there is no tomorrow! Do the right thing, do it today, do it now. The Community Care Center will have just started off when I return in the middle of June, it would be the beginning of monsoon, the local government body (panchayat) election results would have been announced, and some new staff would have joined, while a few would be in other positions.... still more the new Human Resource Policy of SWI will be in operation. With too many things in mind, I need to get across to things, as just a few more hours are left for me to leave for Kolkata.... the first stage of my journey--mere 400 kilometers that will consume 12 hours of journey! (That is little more than the time I will spend flying from Frankfurt to Seattle!)

Gruppo India Supports High School Education

Gruppo India and Social Welfare Institute have joined together once again for support for the higher education of tribal children in the districts of Malda, North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur. The two had supported almost 200 students last year; and this year too, they have come together with a pledge of about 200,000 rupees put together. SWI will match the grants of Gruppo India on a 40:60 basis. Sr. Thankamma SDS will do the scrutiny of the applicants, and the scholarships will be issued in the last week of June 2008.

Care Centre for HIV Patients

People living with HIV will soon have a better place to go-- "Aashar Aalo", a Community Care Center (CCC) for People and Children living with HIV / AIDS. Social Welfare Institute will begin the CCC in Malda town 325 km north of Kolkata. The HIV patients will be able get access to free board and lodge and medical assistance during their stay at the CCC. A counselor and group of nurses and out-reach workers will help them and their families in accessing the Link Anti-Retro-viral Therapy Center at Malda District Hospital and will also help the families and the persons with HIV to live a better and more normal life. Initially there will be 10 beds available, and the place will be used as a short-stay home for the patients.

The CCC will be inaugurated on 1 June 2008, and Fr. Markus Mardi will coordinate the day to day operations. The fund support for the program for the next four years has been approved through an agreement signed between the CBCI Commission for Health and Puthumai A. Nazarene on behalf of the Social Welfare Institute. SWI was finding it very difficult to get a place in Malda for keeping the patients due to stigma and false notions among the people. However, a place has been identified and the recruitment for staff is already being done. Generous people may voluntarily support the cause of the CCC through donations to SWI as we will need more support for initial capital costs in setting up.