“Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner). These words were spoken by JFK during his visit to Berlin in 1963. He proclaimed that every free person is a Berliner. Little did he know the nuances of the German language nor was he aware that ‘Berliner‘ is a popular jam filled bun popular amongst the masses, his words really meant he was a jam filled bun. The right phrase should have been, “Ich bin Berliner”. But setting aside the linguistic nuances, the spirit of Berliners was celebrated on that day.

Last weekend, we paid a trip to the city of Berlin. It turned out to be a pretty good experience for a history buff like me, to a massive city, the biggest in Germany.

The first impressions of Berlin came up the moment we got out of the train, Berlin HauptBahnof is a huge railway station opened in 2006 with five different levels serving various local trains like S Bahn and International/National routes. It is modern architectural marvel for its large expanse and design.

Our hotel was near Alexanderplatz, on a cold and wet winter morning, we were standing at the exit of the Alexanderplatz station staring at the  Fernsehturm , at 368 meters it is the tallest building in Germany. It was a TV tower constructed by GDR, as the place was a part of East Berlin. They wanted it to be the sign of the city, and it truly is. One could go up the tower and enjoy dinner at its restaurant.

After a while we attempted to venture out in the cold weather, the first stop was Fernsehturm, we wanted to go up but it had a long waiting period, so we decided otherwise. We then took a train to Hackesher markt and wanted towards the Museum Island (Museum Sinsel). Buildings of Altes Museum, Pergamom Museum and Berliner Dom populate the place. Large hallways outside the National Gallery still bear marks of damage from the WWII.

We spent a few hours at the Berliner Dom, which overlooks the Lustgarten (no, don’t giggle!) park. It is indeed difficult to imagine that Lustgarten was one of the places where Nazis would hold mass rallies and during the WWII it was destroyed by bombs. The Berliner Dom is indeed worth a visit, a very different cathedral when compared to churches elsewhere in Europe, it celebrates Reformation and is worthy of spending time.

Next stop for us was Brandenburg Gate, it is the iconic monument of Berlin. In fact it is also stamped on Euro coins, this monument is probably the heart of any visit to the city. This is where the wall stood, right in front of the gate, a division of the people, this is where Ronald Reagen once spoke, ‘Mr Gorbachev, Tear down this wall‘. Till date three US Presidents have spoken at the gate talking about freedom and peace.

Near to the gate is the Reichstag, we really wanted to visit the place inside, but we did not know that free bookings have to be made in advance. I would have loved to visit the Reichstag dome, hopefully I’d go back again someday. With this we returned to Alexanderplatz and visited the TV tower at night, the view of the city and its light was enchanting.

Next morning, the first place to visit was Checkpoint Charlie. A very touristy spot, it was one of the gates where diplomats from US sector would enter/exit the Soviet sector. That single board of Checkpoint Charlie attracts many visitors, an open exhibition of the Berlin wall and markers on the road illustrating where the wall once stood make it an incredible experience.

On the same street as the checkpoint, one could also visit the Mauer Museum (Wall Museum). It is a private museum dedicated to the wall, to peace and the struggle of German people during the days of the Cold War. Anecdotes, actual escape vehicles/contraptions and pictures of people who escaped through the wall make the place a living memorial of the days which went by. Some of the stories are trying heart wrenching, a couple of pictures shook me up…

The last place to visit on the day was Charlottenberg palace, unfortunately by the time we reached there it was already closing time. With this we returned to the HB and waited for our train.

Tips

Local Travel: Buying a day pass at 5.5 EUR (or if in a group upto 5 people at 15 EUR) will allow you to travel by metro, trams and buses. It is worthwhile to also check out the Bus #100 route, it moves around all major spots of interest (except Checkpoint Charlie) and this single bus could be one of the best ways to move around the city.

Stay: We stayed at Etap hotel near Alexanderplatz, the price for two people was 53 EUR. Rooms are clean and simple, perfect for budget travelers.

If you are of Indian origin, chances are that you have heard the song above, probably sung it at one point or other in your life. It was a translation done by Girija Kumar Mathur

We used to sing the English version of this song in school, the real song “We Shall Overcome”  is in English which had become the Anthem of the African-American Civil Rights Movement.

Standing at the Berlin HB station, we were singing this song, and then the reality struck(akin to the light bulb being lit). The song is probably a reflection of the prepetual state of affairs in India…it talks about overcoming the odds someday, it doesn’t mention when…not today, not tomorrow but someday.

Isn’t that the real Indian way? Infrastructure projects going on forever, to be completed someday? Lokpal Bill in process for over 30 years, will be passed someday? India will be corruption free someday…Indians will be empowered someday…

Maybe it gives us hope to not give up…but it also makes the time period abstract…

What are your views?

Sometime in February, I had written something about the Facebook Revolution; the year is now on its last day. Sadly, the revolutions have not yet resulted in stability and peace. In some cases, like Egypt, the savior army now seems villainous while in places like Syria, violence driven by the autocratic leaders has become the norm. It just stands to prove how short sighted was my view of expected outcomes of uprising. If there is one more additional wisdom I have earned on this, it is the fact that one cannot fast forward to self-rule or self-determination without going through the motions of the transformation. No NATO forces could get a nation back on the road to recovery until a support structure is ready by itself.

But enough of the uprisings, for I was to play soothsayer again…umm..wait I already talked about EU no? Hmm…its already 2012, and EU is still not disintegrated except for the Brits, who weren’t the part of it anyways…but…

The thing is, I am at pains to see that the Euro crises hasn’t gotten any better. Italy and Greece are already seeing new governments, Italy is already in recession. EU is expected to be in recession for the next year, we are in for tough times, tougher than we can visualize right now, because there is no eminent solution in sight. Its like someone hitting the snooze button and refusing to wake up, until the day is already bright enough that you can’t help it.

People still laugh at me when I mention that such a crises could have huge political and social repercussions, they say that its Europe not Africa. Well, here’s the logic…if you refer to the recent Youth Employment rates for EU(not this is NOT a direct percentage, click on the link and understand it). So the Youth Employment rates are as high as 48.9% in Spain and 45.1% in Greece, if this is compared to the Germany figures of 8.5% you will understand what I am referring to. The recent roits in UK may be a sign of what could happen. To complicate the situation, free movement of people across Europe allows citizens of one state to apply for a job in another, so for an already shrinking number of opportunities more people can apply. This in turn can lead to resentment in people belonging to an economically better off state, and is often used as an issue by the politicians to play upon.

Maybe my view is very cynical, afterall EU East consistently has bad youth unemployment, and we don’t see them screaming. But what we miss here is, for people who suddenly see themselves as not being better off or equally well off as their parents were, it means that the state is failing them…once the numbers start adding up it doesn’t matter if it were civilized europe.

Maybe am just being paranoid, but things back home also don’t seem ripe. The Parliament didn’t vote for Lokpal, Hazare just finished another fast. Its silly that some people say that he keeps doing his fasts again and again…he should do something different. Wonder if thats what people felt with Gandhi too. Indian rupee is the worst performing currency, market is down, inflation is up…well…just hope that 2012 is NOT like the 2012 Mayans predicted.

A ring, a ring o’ roses,
A pocket full o’posies-
Atishoo atishoo we all fall down

And so I got married (you should read my last post here) and had a nice trip to Bali and am back in the midst of cold Alps on what is the day of the Christmas eve. Someone had asked me to write about Bali, normally I would jump at the idea of writing a blog post on any new place visited. However, giving a review of your own honeymoon didn’t seem to make sense (no no, not the juicy details but of the location itself!).

I remember watching it on Discovery that the real moments of life which we truly remember are the ones which were unique experiences, this is exactly the reason we hardly seem to remember details of what we did 2 months ago on this date at office, because life is often very regulated(or as Morgan Freeman said, Institutionalized). The mind tends to recall most the specific moments which were unique, these could be visiting new places, first kiss, first love, first breakup, first job interview and so on…

Now the trip to Bali was something which I wanted to be unique, and it indeed was, yet today someone has pasted pictures on facebook about the same Island, their honeymoon and well a lot of similar places…and the trip suddenly doesn’t seem as unique as it was. Its strange, even the iPhone 4S which I bought standing in a queue here on the second day of its launch seems not so unique when I see some other newly wed bride getting the same from her hubby. Jeez…we first try to prove we are different and then we do all the same things as others! How predictable no?

But then, my experience in Bali or my emotions while buying the phone are unique to me, nobody in the same place even at the same time could feel the way as I did. That special feeling or experience is privy to me, it can never be duplicated.

Oh and one more thing, to have unique experiences one doesn’t need to do big things, sometimes even the smallest things are big enough to leave a sweet mark in our memories…

Here’s a song I love, Rob Thomas – Little Wonders

Its been more than 6 months since the day was decided upon with due consultation from the holy men, November being the wedding season in India, my D-day is on the 20.11.2011

For the past few weeks, with an increasing frequency (and thanks to Mr Zuckerberg’s facebook) I have been a party to these questions, the thing is, for most of them nobody believes my answers or they just drown my answers in their own way (of course with all good and sweet intentions). So here’s a primer,

• Now that its just xyz days left. How do you feel? Honestly, I haven’t been feeling any different, am so far away from home that I don’t feel anything different than I normally do! But then, most people either feel something is wrong with me or am just not speaking the truth!
• Aren’t you excited or nervous (or maybe scared)? To this the standard response is neutral, but people feel you are just denying the excitement…umm…but why would I do that?
  The fun part of this question is, most of my European colleagues refer to a phenomena called the cold-feet and they believe that we have a choice left till the last day to say I do. But I have explained them the dynamics of a few gazillion guests visiting you in an Indian wedding, and thus making your escape impossible. Hey, I don’t even know if you can successfully get a loo break in the process without being a victim of some humor. But honestly, am NOT over the top, neither am i scared to death. I have been trying hard to scare my fiance a bit, but she doesn’t seem to fall for my pranks yet!
• Then there’s the classic, the statement that wedding resembles an sweet which those who don’t eat they regret, and those who do eat regret eating it! Hmm…surely they are referring to an obese person on a diet…who could not resist a donut…and then regrets eating it later. Anyways…am bored of this one, I was never regretting my not eating the sweet, was trying to defend it (click here), and I still don’t and I hope not to regret the next phase either. Afterall, I remained single by choice (or by other peoples’ choice?) and now I’ll be married by my choice. 
• You don’t know what you are getting into! Hmm…well that holds true for anything we do in our own personal and professional lives. We step in with an assumption, give it our best and wish it turns out well.

• Beta, how are you feeling? Umm…make a guess…there are a couple of hundred folks all at my wedding eating away all the food while I look at them…i have been smiling constantly for hours, haven’t slept in 3 days…there is no part of my body which isn’t in a state of rebellion. And yes, am dressed like a magician who is just going to pull up a bunny from his hat!
• When did you arrive from Zurich? You are so lucky to be there, Switzerland is a very beautiful place. Yes indeed its a wonderful country, sadly I work there unlike most people who go there for fun…everyday i struggle to meet deadlines, attend meetings, cook food, communicate like an ape-like sign language to the kind Swiss folk who speak German, and yes…watch no TV as nothing is in English. And yes, I DO NOT see snow covered Alps out of my window (thanks a lot Yashraj Chopra)
• Where are you going for honeymoon, oh wait…isn’t Switzerland a honeymoon destination? Umm…yes…but do you realize what month this is? Its November…do you know how cold it is in November? Sigh….
• And the event called Jaimal(or the garland exchange)…so here you are tired as hell…and the girl arrives and now you are supposed to exchange the garlands. But…and this is a big massive BUT…everyone now wants you to stand up and wait for the other person to do it first…and then there are a few overzealous cousins who want to lift you up so that the girl cannot reach out…Guys, do you realize, it hurts my bottom and the magician outfit doesn’t help either! Moreover, if you get tired of the joke and try to get over with this exchange of garlands, you are also labeled as a joru-ka-gulam (umm…means something like a slavish husband?). Honestly, guys I don’t care…you want to do the garland exchange after a few hours, fine by me, just allow me to sit down and chill!
• Photographers and the likes, Oh don’t get me started on these creeps, they blow up a super warm light on your face to blind you, so that you don’t even realize whats happening behind their back! They charge you by the number of pictures they take, and then they fill it up with pictures of people gobbling up all the food you paid for and of young teenage female guests, who you probably don’t even know.
• Cousins and the aunties and the uncles and the people who-you-are-meeting-the-first-time-yet-they-expect you to remember their name, Well…they are there to support you, or is it? They are there to make sure that no opportunity of pulling up a prank, joke or a snide remark is missed. Hmm…engineering college ragging was better? Maybe, but this has its own special charm (thats what I have been told)…ah well…once I get married, i can pull them up for the rest of my life…
• Vidaai (the time when you take the bride with you after the wedding), this is an emotional moment, suddenly the bride starts weeping, all that extra layers of make up starts to wash away. But what about the groom? He stands there alone, feeling utterly guilty of taking the bride away. Its as if he is taking her away forcibly without her consent, and he is the villian of this story. Well..sweetie if you are feeling so bad, maybe you can stay for another day…I can take you home the next morning…just don’t cry okay!

I know many of my guests who may read this blog may not approve of it, don’t worry am thrilled to be married and I am glad that you all will be there to pull my leg and make sure that I don’t run away

Do I regret traveling? No, I love it.

So it was a fine sunny day in September, not like the suddenly gloomy, dull days of the fall, devoid of any Sun. Early around 8.30 we left from Zurich HB towards Milano Centrale. Yes, Yes I know I should have taken an earlier train, but a weekend is all about lazy beginnings right?

Anyways, it was already around noon when we landed up in Milano Centrale. The first taste of Italian hospitality came in when the Tourist counter lady at the station acted super rude and just gave me a tourist map to the city, she did not respond to my query about this thing called Milan Card (a coupon which gives you free local travel and discounts in shops). It took us another 10 minutes to find our way out of the station, deciphering the map…The station itself is huge, with connections to the Milan Underground system. The station was opening in 1931 and was, at one time, an attempt to showcase the impact of the power of Mussolini’s regime.

Next step was to look into the map and select the places we’d visit, afterall we had to return the same day. We were hungry, and ended up at the McDonalds across. First tragedy stuck, the lady at the counter said yes to vegatarian burger, and what i ended up with was a salad burger without any patty. It was yuck! Anyways, we marked around 10 places on the map, and figured out the  Azienda Trasporti Milanesi route.

Next halt was the massive Piazza del Duomo, a huge expanse of a square with buildings all around it. I have never been to a place like that, a huge square with hundreds of people. It was indeed a crowded place, a novelty in Europe I suppose? The square is faced by the famous Milan Cathedral on one side, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and a series of other important buildings and shopping arcades.

The square had like a zillion pigeons with sellers trying to lure outsiders like me to feed corn to them at a price or get a picture taken at a price. Sounds familiar? Yes, this reminded me of India. The impression of Italy was reinforced in the rest of the day.

The Duomo di Milano (cathedral) is a huge building which started off back in 1386, finally ordered for completion by Napolean. In fact Napolean was crowned as the King of Italy at the Duomo. The church with its extensive glass paintings, sculptures, halls and the treasury is THE place to visit in Milan. I have been to a lot of churches here, but nothing compares to Duomo.

We later headed to the Art museum (Pinacoteca Ambrosiana) nearby, it started as the personal collection of Cardinal Federigo Borromeo it has expanded to over 12k paintings and a huge collection of artifacts and manuscripts. The notable elements of the place Raphael’s School of Athens sketch, designed for the fresco in the Vatican’s Stanza della Segnatura, and manuscripts by Leonardo da Vinci, including the Codex Atlanticus.

From here on, we returned back to the square and searched for a small chapel nearby, we could have almost missed the place as the opening was hidden. After this, we took a walk around the Piazza and visited the  Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, this huge building houses the most premium shopping brands with plenty of food joints. It opens on one end towards the town hall facing the Opera house.

It was around this time when we wishes to return, but the return journey was not as fun as i had thought. For the day we traveled to Milan, it was the same as the F1 GP in Milan. We managed to get reserved tickets to Zurich (only 1st class was available). Only to realize on boarding the train that the ticket agent gave us tickets of the next day! We went back to argue, the man just denied it. It annoyed us because he had himself proposed us to buy 1st class as reservation was available! Sadly it was the last direct train to Zurich, we then took another ticket to reach a place called Arth goldau, hoping to catch the last connection for the night to Zurich.

But the train was delayed, it was indeed similar to India again! Our worry was that our connection was in Switzerland, thus there was no way we could now catch it. Everyone was quite uncomfortable, afterall most were visiting from der Schweiz, trains getting late is not a common thing.

As the train entered the Swisss territory, a terrible thunderstorm started off…well i had no hopes left, i thought I’d reach home the next day. But, soon a train announcement was made, the train would now be going to Zurich and Basel. Any passengers who were going to Luzern (as in the original route) should get off on the next stop and they would have a bus waiting to drop them off. You can only expect the Swiss to do this!!!

We did not have a ticket to Zurich, and we explained it to the ticket checker, he said, ‘No problem we are delayed and its on us’.

]]> http://www.ankurwrites.info/2011/10/25/bello-milano/feed/ 0 http://www.ankurwrites.info/2011/09/28/from-boom-to-gloom-a-crises-for-all/ http://www.ankurwrites.info/2011/09/28/from-boom-to-gloom-a-crises-for-all/#comments Wed, 28 Sep 2011 09:40:44 +0000 Ankur http://www.ankurwrites.info/?p=494 Continue reading →]]> No matter how many times you save the world, it always manages to get back in jeopardy again! Sometimes I just want it to stay saved, you know? For a little bit. I feel like the maid: “I just cleaned up this mess! Can we keep it clean for, for 10 minutes?! Please?!” –  Mr. Incredible from The Incredibles

Not too many years ago, the West was ravaged by a storm of complex financial debacle, it was known as the Sub-Prime crises. The crises brought upon the death of Lehman Brothers, large scale bailouts by the Federal Reserve, unemployment and bear markets. It also was often hailed as the end of Capitalism as we knew it, for the Federal Reserve was bailing out private financial institutions using the tax payers money. It was also the time when I was about to finish my B School studies and was promptly the victim of the recession, I wrote about it here.

Three years on, this is another September of gloom, and this time its bigger and badder than ever. I am no economist, while I can often understand the trail of disasters, I am not able to interpret the complexity or the severity of the crises which is about hit both Europe and US (or has it already hit us, and we are just sitting in denial?).

US with its trillion dollar debt, failed housing revival, and stubborn unemployment is barely growing. On the other end European Union is battling its debt crises with Greece in tatters, and the other members of the PIIGS doing no better. It is only a matter of time, when general constipation of better solutions will fail to avert the crisis which could explode in a few weeks.

While I have been closely tracking the situation as the crises unfolds, it puts me ill at ease when I cannot picture how insulated will I be from this crises. The current world is deeply interlinked, it is chaos theory redefined, the ripple effect is global.

Economic crises often results in political crises, is this the doom of capitalism? Maybe not, maybe what the world needs is a mixture of capitalist and socialist(or state involvement) philosophies being balanced as the situation demands…or maybe it is a cyclic phenomenon between the two extreme concepts

These are turbulent and exciting times for us, and I hope we all survive long enough to tell the stories on the life and times we lived in.

I had never expected to fall in love with Vienna, the rich town where you could hear music anywhere you’d go. The soul of the town touched me, right from Stephensdom to the Danube, Vienna had so much to offer, and I had so little time accept it all.

Streets filled with musicians, dancers, random performers, quartets there was always something which demanded my attention. The architecture of the town from the Opera House to the Parliament left me spell bound, and to top it all was Sacher Torte. The dessert, which is an institution in itself, a trip to Vienna is not complete if you have not tried this delicacy.

What I did do was not take any guided tours except a small Ring tram across the town for a quick overview, and then a walk from the Opera House towards the Parliament, covering each building like the Imperial Palace, Art Musuem, Museum of Natural History and the People’s Park. A useful tip was to buy the Vienna card for 18 Euros and using it for all local travel and a few discounts at various places, the underground system in Vienna is fairly straightforward and would take no effort in figuring out.

I know there is more, for the country which gave birth to Mozart and Beethoven, for the people who love spending time in kaffeehaus, life is filled with music and art. I bumped into folks dressed up as Mozart selling tickets to Mozart concerts, mime artists whisling Mozart tunes and chocolates in the name of Mozart. It was indeed a surprise to know that Mozart was from Salzberg.

I also chanced to visit the Prater and the Madame Tussauds wax museum, the first wax musuem that I’d have visited. It was indeed an impressive affair with Arnold Swachzennger (an Austrian by birth) welcoming you in!

Yes, the time was limited, and there was so much to see, but I know that this is cannot my last trip there, Vienna shall call me again, until then just follow the music…

Ever wondered, if you didn’t wake up the next day? Will it be easier for you? Will it be easier for the people around you?

Sometimes life is swirling vortex of sticky situations, and all you wonder is if your not being around would have made life easier for people around you. Sadly, these are those days when you don’t have better thoughts and neither do you have any comfort. I often plunge into such situations, at work or home…strangely i blame human interaction as the culprit. The lesser I interact the fewer are the sticky situations, but then isn’t this the first stage of turning into a sociopath?

Ah well, why do you care, you are another unfortunate visitor to this blog, which is plunging in popularity and meatiness of content…quick click the back button to never return.

I don’t know what is required of me to disprove the impression…