Five Lessons from Europe

Europe Impressions_Pandey

Last summer holidays, I did an internship in Germany. I spent 7 weeks there. Well, as most people would have guessed, it was FUN! And the traveler in me just left each weekend to visit nearby places. I was lucky enough to go places that most people dream about… And I loved it all!! Paris, Munich, Vienna, Hamburg, Amsterdam… These are all places that I would never forget. And not because of their name, it’s because every place I went, their people, their architecture, their life… Everything had something to say, everything had something to teach. Here are some of the things that I personally found ‘interesting’, so to speak…

1. Germany

I stayed in Germany the longest, so it makes sense that I start with this country. Hmmm, Germans… Well, First of all, let me tell you, Germans are not at all like how we picture them. No, sir! Not a bit… They are in fact, very nice people. Quite helpful and warm people. The best I like about them is their resilience and their pride. When most of us fall, it takes a lot to come to terms with ourselves again.

But the Germans… They not only came to terms with their past, they bounced back. And boy, did they bounce back… Germany was literally completely destroyed in the World War II. They are the metaphorical Phoenix of this world. It is hard not to respect them. With whatever little they had, they built; they ‘rose from the ashes’. And they don’t run from their past, they embrace it gracefully. The insanities of Hitler are taught to them right from their primary education. That itself is an indicative of their courage and will to change the way people think of Germany, just because of the actions of a person, who, interestingly, wasn’t even a German.

In my opinion, the most important reason why they have been able to achieve what they have achieved is the attitude with which they do things. They never do things half-heartedly. They always put their best foot forward. If I like doing something, I’ll do the best I can. And if I don’t, well, what can we do, life isn’t a bed of roses, and I’ll still do the best I can.’ If we can inculcate this habit in our lives, I tell you, there are no limits to what we can achieve, personally as well as a race.

Another great thing about them is that they always strike a balance in their work and personal life. They won’t work on weekends, come what may. For them the quality of life matters more, it doesn’t really matter to them what car their neighbor drives, or how much does their colleague earns. ‘I am happy with what I have.’ Now, I don’t mean that they are any self-less saints who like charity or anything. All I am saying is that they have a sense of material satisfaction that I generally don’t see in us, Indians.  Germans are certainly a race to admire and respect!

2. Italy -

Italians are hearty people. That’s the one word I can use to describe them. They like to have a good laugh. They like to have a good laugh while they work; they like to have a good laugh while to play, they like to have a good laugh when they eat. They believe in enjoying life to the fullest. They love to cook, they love to eat. And at the end of the day, after whatever successes, after whatever achievements, you do not know how to enjoy those successes; you haven’t really succeeded, have you?

Their architecture, the grandeur of their building, all speaks of a mighty and enlightened by-gone era. Rome, Venice, Florence and the Vatican simply leave you amazed. The Vatican also shows you to value your traditions, your art, to have a faith, to believe in a higher spirit.

3. France-

Ah, France… France told me the importance of romance in life… The need to not be a ‘lone ranger’, as they say… It is necessary to open up to people, whether it’s your friends or your lover (ah, who am I kidding, IITians have lover… HA!). Taking a walk along the Seine River next to Notre-Dame, visiting the Louvre (seeing what is so great about Mona Lisa, BTW), and going to the very top of the Eiffel Tower… Oh! The art, the romance. I loved everything about Paris!

4. Denmark-

I learned a very important lesson in Denmark, the most important one of all, in my opinion. The importance of being humble, not being too proud of one’s strengths… Let me give you a little background, for most of my short life, I have not looked up to people… I am talking literally here, I have been the biggest man in any sample group; the probability of me being the biggest was not approaching 1, it seems till now, it HAD BEEN 1, a true event always.

And now picture this; I am in an amusement park in Copenhagen… I got tired and was sitting on a bench… And suddenly it starts to rain… A family comes and sits with me on the bench; we exchange a little formality, just to get the atmosphere a little light. And by the time, it stops to rain. I start to get up to leave, they also get up.  Now the family was of 4 people, a husband and wife and their two sons, round about my age. I look around, and for the first time in my life I felt impotent, powerless, almost weak… I was the shortest among the 5!! They must have thought of me as a mad man from India by the look on my face! You see, Denmark has the highest average height in the entire world… That day I learned not to be too proud… There are always better and ‘bigger’ people out there.

5. The Netherlands, or rather… AMSTERDAM!!

At the end of the day, a man needs some fun, if you know what I mean ;) I am writing this in the last, because quite frankly, to describe Holland IS actually quite difficult. The differences in culture… this is place where you get to observe it the most; the largely conservative society of India compared to the ultra liberal society of Amsterdam. Prostitution is legal, Ganja is legal. The comparison makes you think about the very questions of what is right and wrong. It gives you a sense of your own identity, your culture. In a way it makes you aware of your own self. But all said and done, Amsterdam is where one goes to unwind; or should i call it ‘wind’… huh?? Nah, whatever happened in Amsterdam, let’s keep it there, shall we?

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