পরবাস.MUC ১৪২৯

Diya is an Indian Lawyer, consultant and a researcher in the field of Law and Technology. She relocated to Munich in 2021 alongwith her husband Sumeet. Coming from a traditional Bengali family, art, culture and music is close to her heart. She is a foodie Bong, apart from taking interest in reading, writing, travelling and photography. She is an amazing cook and an amateur artist.

Mahishasurmardini - DIYA SARKAR

EDITORIAL

A premier vernacular News Channel has provoked an issue that has been simmering below the surface for some time now. With their new talkshow hosted by a renowned poet the Channel has thrown open a challenge. Is the Bengali individual at odds with the Bengali language goes the rough title of the talkshow The answer appears to be simple. Yes.

And it is manifesting in all creative art forms If Bengali cinema is being battered in its hometurf by the RRRs from South, Bengali literature, music and all other art of the creative economy is struggling to find its vernacular audience in the democracy of digital disruption and plethora of choices.

Yet, talkshows as this and the very acknowledgement that such challenges exist is perhaps good reason to be optimistic. Hopefully through this apparent crisis, Bengalis will rediscover their belongingness to the language as we navigate the post COVID era. And we as 'Sampriti' will continue to play our part in expanding the Bengali outreach overseas, while staying anchored to our Indian roots. A manifestation of such participation is the current issue of our magazine পরবাস.MUC, into its 7th edition now

The UNESCO inscription of Kolkata Durgapuja in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage is a remarkable achievement that we celebrate in this issue. Three eminent personalities with direct connection with the UNESCO process share their backstories. We remember 100th year of Tagore's first visit to Germany through Dr. Martin Kämpchen. Celebrated Netaji biographer Leonard Gordon picks up his pen, to reminiscence his friend Satyajit on his centenary And we continue to celebrate Netaji's 125th year through two guest columnists, about their fathers' deep connection to Netaji's mission.

Elsewhere, Sampriti members bring their own color to the magazine through their travelogues from Abisko in Lapland, Colmar in the heart of Alsace and Abensberg in Niederbayern. Beyond the borders of Europe, we visit the Martian plains of Jordon. Together with the paintbrush by the kids, short stories, essays and shutter bugging I hope you enjoy going through the pages of this edition.

Bouquets and brickbats on this issue are welcome at shaibal@sampritimunich org Wishing everyone all the best for the festive season.

SHAIBAL GIRI EDITOR

THE BACKSTORY

This year, as we begin to emerge from the shadow of the pandemic, October beckons us with a capricious smile Khuntipujo has begun all across the city as I write this and the construction of pandals will follow The sky is turning into a riot of colours and the nip in the air is a familiar, much loved one An inexplicable joy creeps up and brings a smile to our lips In a couple of months, the fragrance of shiuli and the gentle waving of the kaashphool will signal the arrival of our Ma

Birendra Krishna Bhadra’s baritone still slices through the dawn on Mahalaya, the pitch and fervour of akal bodhan still raises goosebumps and the nabapatrika snan at Belur still marks the beginning of the festivities in Kolkata, the snaking lines of thousands of people out for nightlong thakur dekha still defies logic, but change is in the air. Our beloved Pujo has transformed from the simple neighbourhood event into a world famous festival.

In December 2021, an Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage inscribed ‘Durga Puja in Kolkata’ on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This Representative List currently has 492 elements. It includes forms of expression that testify to the diversity of intangible heritage and raises awareness of its importance. This recognition is undoubtedly a matter of great pride for the Bengali community all over the world. What we always knew but could never adequately express in words has now been acknowledged and appreciated by the entire world.

Radhika Singh lifts the layers behind the journey of Kolkata Durga Pujo being inscribed on the Representative List of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage

Photo Pradyut PChoudhury hoto Pradyut Choudhury

The journey to achieving this extraordinary milestone has involved people, institutions, agencies and officials from all across India I feel blessed to have been a part of this community which worked single mindedly towards showcasing Pujo as a world class festival that transcends caste, creed and economic status My own contribution has been nominal, but I had the privilege of a ring side view of the developments leading up to this recognition

It began in 2018, when a MoU was signed by the Government of West Bengal and the British Council to improve awareness and cultural relations between the United Kingdom and West Bengal A joint delegation visited UK with the aim of highlighting Durga Puja and promote international tourism to our state It was an unforgettable visit, packed with meetings and opportunities to position Pujo as one of the worlds largest public festivals that transcends the boundaries of caste and creed An exhibition of images of Durga Puja, commissioned by the Department of Tourism and taken by Kolkata photographer Manjit Singh Hoonjan was organised as part of the Thames festival 2018 This exhibition saw thousands of visitors and generated great excitement and interest

In 2019, the West Bengal Government's Department of Tourism invited the British Council to carry out a mapping exercise on their behalf to determine the economic importance of West Bengal's unique creative industries This initiative titled ‘Mapping the Creative Economy around Durga Puja 2019’ looked at 10 creative industries that drive the festival. The research was conducted by IIT Kharagpur, Queen Mary University London and an agency named Smart Cube and their report estimates the economic worth of the creative industries around Durga Puja in West Bengal at Rs 32,377 crore which is the size of the economy of many smaller countries across the world. Durga Puja accounts for 2.58% of the state GDP.

It was after this that the idea of submitting a nomination for the UNESCO representative list arose. Numerous academics, experts, clubs, civil servants, public representatives, government officials and civil society organisations contributed to a series of consultations over three years that then resulted in the formal submission of a nomination dossier from India. The rest as they say is history!

Everyone can help! Many communities of the creative industries in West Bengal, such as the dhakis, have suffered significant losses during the pandemic. Each of us can help by encouraging and enthusing friends and family abroad to visit during Durga Puja. There are over 36,000 pujos in West Bengal and 2500 in Kolkata city alone. All the different agencies and services now come together to make it a safe, clean and thoroughly enjoyable few days. Hotels, restaurants, tour operators and club organisers offer a variety of plans to suit every pocket.

The guests will get the experience of a lifetime while contributing to helping local communities keep our culture and traditions alive.

Radhika lives and works in Kolkata and likes to define herself an 'obangali' by birth and 'bangali' by choice. She is a committed activist for the protection of heritage and tradition. She works for the British Council and was part of a team that contributed to the nomination dossier for Kolkata’s Durga Puja.

A TALE OF TWO PUJAS

Sudeshna Banerjee writes of the pujas of her childhood and those that left the deepest impression

As one born and brought up in Bengal and writing on Durga puja for over two decades, how many Durga pujas have I seen in my life? The answer will be the same as for most of you countless

When I was a child, there was an urge to add to the tally, which means to run from one pandal to the other, following the hint of lighting at the far corner of the street While pandal hopping in a car, the call of conscience was whether to count the deities in the roadside pandals we did not stop to enter as “seen” Yet there would be enough to see in the city on Sashthi evening and on the way to our ancestral seat in Ranaghat, Nadia on Saptami morning for me to hit a century of ‘thakur dekha’ by the time I bowed my head before Ma Dugga in our Madhyapalli puja on Rabindra Sarani, founded by my uncle and his friends, and carried on by my cousins and their pals

In the districts, we had what we called lorry pandals, where a simple canopy propped up with bamboo poles and open on three sides, would have a porch with pleated cloth of two or three colours as the sole decorative element, jutting out much like the driver’s cabin in lorries The bamboo poles arrived on Mahalaya and even on Sashthi afternoon, the decorators’ men would be still at it

The Calcutta pandals were always in a league of their own Though far more elaborate than their district counterparts, many of even them would hardly be ready before Sashthi So Sashthi evening was my only chance to see ‘Kolkatar thakur’ before we left town During that pandal hopping trip in the city, counting the number of asuras or noting their body colour at the Mohd Ali Park puja was an important task Once there were eight asuras! Another time, he was sea green! The themes of lighting at College Square were another point to note The challenge there was of not letting go of my father’s hand in the crowd while being engrossed in watching the lights These would be the talking points when my district relatives would ask “E bochhor Kolkatar pujoy ki holo re?” Those were the days before the Internet, phone cameras and 24x7 news channels

Calcutta pujas have come a long way There is no chance of covering Md Ali Park, College Square, Park Circus and Baghbazar in one evening and claiming, as I did as a child, that I “had seen Kolkatar pujo” The crowd has multiplied, as has traffic But it is not just logistics that comes in the way, despite Kolkata Police doing a fabulous job There are simply too many “good pujas” in any locality to leave the area in a jiffy

Some people therefore choose their stops these days going by established theme maker names or choose areas with the highest concentration of big budget pandals The aesthetic splendour never ceases to surprise That is the biggest and most unique selling point of our Durga puja Ganapati Utsav of Mumbai may tower with their gigantic Ganesha idols but when it comes to finesse of the setting, Durga puja of Calcutta ranks with the finest demonstrations of public art anywhere in the world

Yet when I asked myself after all these years which is the most memorable puja I have seen, I found myself thinking of two for radically different reasons

Years ago, I had been at risk of suffocation I will not name the puja and learnt the hard way the need to check the theme before visiting any pandal They had created an underground cave a recipe for disaster with uneven surfaces, dim lighting and little ventilation Such pandals, thankfully, are a thing of the past at least in the city as they would simply not make the cut on the scales of puja awards or pass the more stringent fire safety checks

Thinking of the other puja still warms the cockles of my heart The year was around 2007 08 It was a wee little pandal, barely four feet in height, installed on a natural mound of clay The idol could be measured in inches The decoration of paper cuttings and such was done by the young volunteers, much like for Saraswati puja in schools. It was clearly an economically backward neighbourhood and I had found the puja by a happy accident. The youngsters, seen helping the priest with a lot of enthusiasm, said their budget was Rs 36,000 and they said it with a smile, without the faintest trace of regret or sense of deprivation.

When speaking to outsiders, I may be talking of the fantastic themes and spectacular monuments that Calcutta has witnessed coming up on its streetsides for Durga puja, and these may rightfully be the reason why Durga Puja of Calcutta features today on the UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Hearitage of Humanity, but when I put the question to myself, that intimate puja, away from the spotlight, whose name never hit the news headlines or made the awards lists, has remained my personal favourite.

Sudeshna is a journalist with The Telegraph, a leading English daily of Calcutta and the author of 'Durga Puja: Celebrating the Goddess Then & Now' published by Rupa & Co. Her book has been cited as a part of the submitted dossier that resulted in Kolkata Durga Pujo being inscribed on the Representative List of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage.

T R A V E L O G U E

AURA OF THE AURORA

As a kid, geography was my favourite subject, as it always intrigued the explorer in me. Learning about the different parts of the world andvariedphenomenaofnaturealwaysexcited me One of the key reasons to move to Europe was also to travel to different places, experience other cultures and try new kinds of food

Of all my travel journeys, and the most memorable one till date was Swedish Laplands, where I was fortunate enough to experience the magnificent Northern Lights, a phenomenon which I had only read about in school I had studied about it extensively from the perspective of a traveler, and through this article, would like to share a bit of my winter wonderlandexperience

We started from Munich to Stockholm, and from Stockholm headed to Kiruna (local airport), and then to Abisko our final destination The number of flights are limited, and sometimes due to adverse weather conditions, the flights may get delayed or cancelled So, please keep additional days in hand

Abisko is an extremely secluded and remote location in the Laplands, and is one of the favourites for Aurora Borealis chasers Couple of things which we always need to be keep in mind when selecting a Northern Lights destination are 1 Lowest number of Cloudy Days, 2 Longer nights (hence winter is preferabletimetovisit, butAuroraBorealiscan happen anytime during the year), 3 No Light pollution Abiskochecksallofthem

Sucheta Sarkar writes about chasing the Northern Lights in Swedish Lapland

If Abisko is in your mind, make sure you book well in advance, as there are only 4 5 hotels with limited room and food availability. We stayed in 2 places, one was STF Abisko Turiststation, and the other is Abisko Mountain Lodge. Both are just fantastic locations, but I had a slight inclination towards the latter. Usually, you need to book Northern lights chases, but we saw the lights in its full glory, dancing and putting up a complete show for us for more than an hour just outside this hotel.

Make sure you have a minimum of 4 nights for Northern Lights experience, as that gives you 82% chance to see the beautiful green lights in Abisko (one of the highest in Europe) Get an app to check for G Storms (anything above 4 is great), as that is when the possibility to see Northern Lights is maximum Check for no/new moon nights, as darker skies give better visibility of Northern lights

For peak winter months, appropriate clothing is key Mitten gloves are essential, as the regular knitted ones have no effect Layers of socks, and snow boots are extremely important Tight clothes are to be avoided, and warmers/inners are must Frost bites are extremely common in winter months, which, in some cases, may lead to amputation too Layers which help in warm air circulation should be packed In case you forget to bring things, the hotels also have their own little (though expensive) shops

And last, but not the least, get a good camera for photos. Make sure you have extra batteries as it tends to discharge faster in cold weather, and also keep your focus at manual infinity. You would not want to miss this if nature is kind to you!

Sucheta is a foodie, an avid traveller and musician by passion, living in Munich since 2016 with her husband. Coming from Kolkata (though roots are from North Bengal), Sucheta is a firm believer of the city's Chinese being the best in the world.

MARS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

An out of the world experience on his last Easter vacation. Dip Nag writes

‘Where next?’ It was another typical chilly Munich winter evening, while sipping a cup of coffee, Urmi asked me this question

We were still hungover from our almost two month trip to India, partly because of our craving for Kolkata food and weather and mostly because of our tryst with Covid back home. Feeling a desperate need to plan a vacation (Easter holidays were the next in line), we called up one of our friends, a regular companion in our trips. It so happened that he already had itineraries ready for a few countries among his bucket list, and Jordan happened to be the common thread linking all our wishes. What started as a casual discussion culminated into a full fledged vacation in the next two days, and we were all set to embark upon our much anticipated trip to Jordan.

R A V E L O G U E

Although we travel with our son from when he was one month old, yet there were quite some challenges and apprehensions for this one ranging from security concerns, to concerns regarding driving on Jordanian highways (and deserts) to travelling by our own with a 3 year old without a so called guide with us At the end, we decided to take a leap of faith and planned our travel all by ourselves

Come the day, we landed from Munich to Amman, the capital city of Jordan The chaos at the immigration counter, the sound of traffic outside the airport and most importantly the gushing warm wind on our face reminded us of our very own city For the next day, our base was Amman, and we travelled around the city, exploring its citadel, walking down the Rainbow Street and eating at some of the best local eateries around the city at astonishingly cheap prices. Our visit to Amman was culminated by a dinner at Hashem Restaurant, which, according to most travelers, serve the best falafel and humus in the world (Urmi may disagree to this ‘myth’). However, what we all unanimously agree is that Jordan has the best Baklava and Konefe in the world, and any food lover should not miss it!

The next day, we picked up our car from the airport and started our journey to Wadi Rum, which is famously called as ‘Mars on Earth’ for its unique red soil and topography. In spite of all our apprehensions, we found out that highways in Jordan are quite well-constructed and barring a few exceptions, Jordanians are not crazy drivers (Yes, I have driven in South Italy too)! The journey was 4 hours long, and I still remember the first view of the Wadi Rum Village from the hilly highways, which was breathtaking to say the least. We arrived at the house of the Desert Camp Owner and were greeted by Tea and local sweets. We parked our car there and went on a 4x4 deep into the desert to stay in a ‘Martian Dome something which has gained into prominence after the movie ‘Martian’ was shot in this protected area. We went around the vicinity of our camp, watching one of the most beautiful sunsets across the red desert soil of the Wadi Rum. We spent the next day doing desert tours, climbing high bridges, making bon fires in the

desert, and then feasting on local food called Zarb in the evening An exhausting but an outright enchanting day thus came to an end

Our next stop was Petra, approximately 3 5 hours drive from the Wadi Rum Village However, we decided to take a short detour and visit the coastal city of Aqaba On reaching Aqaba, we went on a tour of the Red Sea in a glass bottom boat It was nice to get a quick glimpse of the underwater marine life in such a short while The border between Israel and Jordan passes almost through the middle of the Gulf of Aqaba and we could only go that far, to see the landscape of Israel in front of us

As we reached Petra and retired for the evening, we were eagerly looking for the next day to unfold, as it was the day planned for Petra With my son on my back in the carrier, we had never planned to cover the entire valley, but to see some of the most important sights like the treasury and the Monastery However, destiny had something else in mind for us!

We happened to meet a local guide, who lured us with the promise of walking down the slope (usually from the main entrance following the Siq Trail, one goes uphill) through a separate entrance and trail than the most popular one The lazy but greedy traveler in us woke up and we started Petra trail from the usual end point I can vouch for the fact that those 17 km of trek, with my son on my back, was the toughest trek I have ever done in my life. Although it drenched us of all our energy, we were rewarded with magnificent views of the Monastery, the Tombs, and the Treasury. Also, it gave me the confidence that if I can successfully complete this trail and still be alive, I can complete perhaps any trek in the world. However, back to this day, when I reminisce the journey, I have forgotten all the pain and struggle, but I could never forget what we saw and experienced. One more wonder of the ancient world ticked off!

After a small hiccup with the Airbnb accommodation, we finally managed to successfully round off our trip with a visit to the Dead Sea. Finally, a phenomenon about which we had read in Geography textbooks in our childhood, was in front of our eyes. Floating in the Dead Sea one more off the bucket list!

Barring the few usual tourist place nuisances, throughout our trip we realized how beautiful the country is, how welcoming its people are and how much one can gain in terms of lifetime experiences from it. So much so that even my 3.5 year old son remembers almost every place we visited throughout our trip. But I guess that’s what all travels are like each one comes with its own unique flavor and stays with us for a lifetime. Until next time Auf Wiedersehen!

Dip is a cyber security professional on weekdays, traveler on weekends and vacations, and a full time father all around the year. He loves to capture travel experiences through his lens and into his travel blogs at www.dipintotravel.com

A BAVARIAN GETAWAY

Rohit Ghosh is again back with a new travel story, this time closer home

Whenever we think about Bavaria, the first thought that comes to our mind is all about Munich, the Oktoberfest, German alps and gorgeous alpine lakes making this region a truly wonderful place to live in. But if we start exploring Bavaria a little bit, one of the most underrated areas to visit lies in the heart of Hopfenland which is the engine to the core ingredient of beer making that the German are famous worldwide.

A 3 4 day trip should suffice really if you are looking to explore a bit about the history of beer brewing and the area around Abensberg is perfect blend of nature, beer making , historical monuments and the wonderful views around the river Donau (Danube).

Abensberg is an hour drive away from Munich. The town lies on the Abens river, a tributary of the Danube, around eight kilometres from the river's source. The area around Abensberg is characterized by the narrow valley of the Danube, where the Weltenburg Abbey stands, the valley of the Altmühl in the north, a left tributary of the Danube, and the famous Hallertau hops planting region in the south. During our trip, we wanted to spend our time checking out the Kuchelbauer Turm and the famous Hunderwasser museum and spend our time exploring the Klosterbraueri Weltenburger and hiking in that area.

This was our first trip since the birth of our first baby Judith and it was important for us to make this trip less hectic and a bit more relaxing. We arrived on a hot Friday afternoon and spent the rest of the day settling in. We rented a big airBnb in Neustadt an Der Donau and spent the evening walking through the old town, checking our the remnants of the

Roman wall which once encircled the area After grabbing a nice dinner at Restaurant Rothdauscher's, a stone throw away from the local Rathaus, we decided to retire early

Our Saturday morning started with a quick visit to the Kuchlbauer turm Before starting the tour of the turm, it is important that you should spend some time going through the Hundertwasser museum which contains some of the greatest works It also gives you a deeper understanding of how he perceived life so uniquely, and clearly illustrated it through his creations After the completion of this museum, you should book in advance the actual tower tour Trust me on this, you might have attended a lot of beer gardens but the sheer sight of this beautiful tower while sipping a cold beer is a moment to behold During the tour of this tower, you will witness a beautiful panoramic view of Abensberg, but also witness different ingredients to creating beers through a magical storyline through Hundertwasser´s eyes. Part of this tour also includes the brewery tour and it gives you more insights about the beer making traditions in the regions and now the business moved from the model of independent breweries to a few established brands dominating the market. After this strenuous day, take a relaxing break at the biergarten and sip onto their specialty Weissbier. The rest of evening was spent strolling through the streets of Abensberg before retiring early for the night.

We started quite early on Sunday, and we directly drove to Kelheim. The day began with a nice relaxing boat tour across Danube before checking out the Liberation Hall. After the nice boat ride on the banks of Danube, we made a short hike upwards to reach our destination. What awaited at the end of the hike was the imposing structure of Liberation Hall, built by King Ludwig I. The memorial hall commemorates the defeat of Napoleon during 1813 1815 and the unification of all German races. The building was begun in 1842 and not completed until 1863. Inside the hall 34 goddesses of victory hold hands in a circle around the interior of the building. The 45 meter high dome has a coffered ceiling. Slowly make your way the interior of the circular monument and you will be greeted by a ring of beautiful statuary. We climbed the 165 steps

to the top of this magnificent building , which provided an amazing view of the Danube

The last part of the trip was a visit to the Klosterbraueri Weltenburger and it is officially the oldest monastery brewery in the world ! The brewery is not directly accessible by car, and you need to make a small walk from the parking area to reach this beer garden I must say that the food is really amazing, especially the prices are quite reasonable for such a historic location, and don’t forget to try their specialty beer: the Kloster Barock Dunkel Unfortunately, we were not able to visit the Brewery museum because we arrived a bit late but definitely worth if you have sometime available From Weltenburg, you have access to Naturpark Altmühltal and make sure you do the hike upwards to the Felskopf vantage point to catch a panoramic view of the Weltenburg abbey From the vantage point you look directly at the famous monastery Weltenburg, which is directly opposite the bank of a wide Danube loop A beautiful sight The picture from here is world famous and motif of countless advertisements, postcards, etc Unfortunately, we were running short of time and was quite challenging with the baby but we would definitely come back very soon to visit many other pending gems in this area

This small weekend getaway really encapsulates what Bavaria is all about : beers, hiking trails, historic monuments, great food and Bavarian culture around traditions & history

P.S. : If you are driving down by car, make sure to stop and take some pictures of Hopf plantations that are visible everywhere during the summers. It is definitely a moment to treasure if you do love your beer

Rohit is a 36 years old strategy and business planning professional embracing his first steps in fatherhood. Currently employed with Merck Group, Rohit is passionate about Liverpool football club , reading scientific journals, cooking, fine dining and traveling to new places. Rohit has been based in Germany since 2012.

CAPTIVATING COLMAR

Artistic, colorful, symbolizing love and fashion from every nook and corner, flaunting its Frenchness in every sense that is Colmar for you !

We had planned to visit the birthplace of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, designer of "Statue of Liberty", during the Easter weekend

The first day would have been mostly the four and half hours journey to Colmar from Munich by car In our case we made it a full day, stretched over seven hours and multiple breaks

After arriving at the hotel, we added an entry to the top ten most embarrassing moments of our lives The card machine at the desk declined to accept our German EC card We were supposed to pay the booking amount at the reception, and they would adjust the total payment during checkout Out of practice for trips, we forgot to transfer cash in our international card So, the only option we were left with was to pay by cash But who carries that much money in the wallet ?

Rituparna Goswami writes about her Easter weekend at the capital of Alsace

Seeing a pair of wiped out parents and two overtired kids, the receptionist gave us the keys to our room, without completing the check in formalities The man of the house left to get some cash after dropping off the luggage and the other family members in the designated room Once everything was resolved, we set out to look for dinner

After 10 15 mins stroll, we reached the small bridge over the river, "Lauch" The view on both sides of the bridge was breathtaking The locals rightfully named the river's course as "Little Venice"

We crossed the bridge and found ourselves in front of the beautiful fountain "Roesselmann Fountain" After quick photo session, we packed some dinner and returned to the hotel, which we later relished it with some obvious French wine

The next day, after loading up on a fantastic breakfast at the hotel, which included a wide variety of croissants and their close cousins and getting ample rest, we finally went out around midday.

Colmar was surprisingly very busy at that moment Following the crowd, walking down the tiny lanes, passing the weekend market and the cathedral, crossing the river, and witnessing the bridge rails full of red heart shaped locks, we reached an Easter market centering the famous "Schwendi Fountain" Lunch was a quick nibble on tarte flambée, which my kids know as Flammkuchen (in German) It is a French German take on thin crust pizza, which is layered with crème fraîche instead of pizza sauce and some toppings

After visiting the market, we went to the chocolate museum, "Musse du Chocolat" It had a wonderful self tour with audio guides and lots of fun games for the children They also have many chocolate made statues of world famous characters/wonders, including their beloved Statue of liberty

Next, we went to "Parc du Champ de Mars" park. It's the biggest park in the centre; the "Champ de Mars" is a privileged place for walking, lined with 193 lindens. In the alleys, there are statues of "Bartholdi" , "General Rapp" and "Fontaine Bruat" . They also have a carousel for the kids, which was super fun.

After that, it was time for "Petit Train touristique à Colmar" .

We wrapped the day with a snack break of churros and Nutella crepe, followed by grilled chicken and roasted potatoes. Later once the kids were down to sleep, their daddy went to the hotel bar to taste some local pur malt.

During breakfast on Day 3, our older one decided to have boiled eggs So, he went to the buffet counter and picked one egg that resembled a boiled egg When he tried to deshell it, it turned out to be raw One of the puzzled parents went to the counter and found some simmering water beside the eggs and figured out that we needed to place a raw egg in a special sieve and hang it in the simmering container for 7 minutes We did as instructed and returned to our table to enjoy other delicacies Seven minutes later, we went to the egg counter and found five more eggs happily accompanying ours, and of course, none of them had the name of their beholder tattooed on them So, based on guesswork, we picked the one which looked like ours I remembered the scene from my favourite movie, call me by your name, where the American apprentice Oli makes a fool of himself trying to open a French breakfast egg at his host research professor's house Instead of deshelling, I tried to open the egg in the French way, but it didn't work either as it was again raw I do not know who would be more frustrated with this, us or the hotel guest who would finally take our egg and end up having a rough over cooked egg instead of a soft silky French style breakfast egg

That day we started even after midday. We decided to visit the train museum "Cité du Train" , in nearby town Mulhouse. It was a fantastic experience, with loads of activities and displays both indoors and outdoors.

After returning, we took a short break at the hotel and set out for the town centre. After some refreshing walk, we, found a less crowded and cosy restaurant. They decorated the interior with lots of witch dolls, which fascinated the kids.

It was a simple dinner with French onion soup as a starter, tarte flambée and a potato tart "Tartiflette" as the main course and apple strudel and creme caramel as dessert. We took our long lazy stroll back to the hotel, with some souvenir and toy shopping breaks.

The day ended with savoring the last bit of French wine while the kids were asleep.

The last day was uneventful, starting with breakfast then a shower, and driving back home with a short lunch break at Strasbourg.

Rituparna moved to Munich in 2015 with family. She lives a very predictable life, balancing work and family. When she has free time, beyond work and kids, she likes to cook, read, travel and indulge in "nirbhejal adda" (not sure how to translate that expression into English; hanging out with friends may be quite close).

G

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M N : R A Y A T

MY FRIEND, SATYAJIT

May this year was completion of the centenary year of Satyajit Ray Author and historian Leonard Gordon writes about his association with the maestro

In Calcutta he was just "the Big Man" At six feet four or so he was much taller than most Bengalis, but the reference was not to his physical size but to his cultural stature Among a large number of creative people in a city that prizes the arts, many agreed that he was the most accomplished, the most creative, the most fully realized artist

Even with all his gifts, he did not have an easy time. Once he decided to become a film maker, he needed funds to make his movies and he always had to struggle to raise them. He learned how to make extraordinary films on a low budget and often sold away the distribution rights to them before they were complete in order to finish them.

Watching him make a film was a wonderful experience in itself. He wrote the script, the music, often operated the camera, and did most of the editing. He watched every detail and the big picture as well. On the set he frequently had a corps of musicians, performers of Indian and Western music, for whom he had written the piece at hand. At certain moments, he would point and say, "You, you, you, and you, please play this theme now." Suddenly he would become a conductor. He told me once that in an early film there is a piece of Western classical music played backwards used in the soundtrack. Cast, crew, musicians all loved working for him.

Many people will write appreciations of his films and that is as it should be. He was one of the greatest film makers to ever set himself to this particular art and he has left us more than 30 beautiful, moving, oft times funny, oft times profound films to watch again and again. But I want to add to these appreciations a brief story of him as a friend.

I had first gone to Calcutta in the 1960s to work on my doctoral dissertation about nationalism in Bengal Through my Bengali teacher and friend Edward Dimock, I met David McCutchion, an Englishmen who taught comparative literature at Jadavpur University We shortly became fast friends and David who seemed to know everyone in the cultural elite of the city frequently took me with him so that I could meet these people as well Among these was Satyajit Ray How they became friends, I don’t know, but Ray respected and likely David immensely Among other things, David translated French reviews of his films for Ray, but, more importantly, did the English subtitles for his films I participated in one of the early sessions of preparation for such translations when Ray sat with the two of us and showed us the unsubtitled Bengali film to be called “Charulata” He had wanted to call it “The Broken Nest,” the title of the Rabindranath Tagore story on which it was based, but a Hindi film with that title had just been issued, so he decided to call it “Charulata,” after the main character Once David had seen the Bengali film with Ray’s comments as it went along, he went home and started to do the subtitles If I was present, he would read out two or more versions of a particular line and ask me to give my opinion on the preferable one Although David did this work for a number of films, he never received on screen credit, though Ray referred to his role in an essay about David which he wrote a few years later I asked Ismail Merchant years later to put this credit into the films he was having re mastered, but he said that since Ray had not done so, he could not

I left Calcutta in 1965 and did not return for a few years It happened that I met David in London in 1971 while I was awaiting my Indian visa A few months later, I was shocked to read in a British newspaper that David had died He was weakened by chronic amebic dysentery and then contracted an unusual form of polio Paralyzed, he fell down in his flat Taken to the hospital, he died a few days later. Both Ray and I contributed remembrances to a memorial volume edited by our friend P. Lal and published by the Writers’ Workshop. After David’s death Ray and I became more friendly with each other as we had each lost the man we considered special and loved.

Although I had been awarded a senior Fulbright grant to make my second research trip to India, there was a false police report in my file and at first I was refused a visa. I was en route to Bangladesh, when I got a three week transit via for India in the New Delhi airport. After the intervention of friends, one the leader of the communist opposition in the Indian parliament, the Government of India reconsidered the matter and I was allowed to stay in India while the matter was reviewed. I asked some of my Bengali friends to write a joint letter to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on my behalf.

Satyajit Ray looked at the letter and said, "I will not only sign it, but I am determined that you will get this visa. I will do whatever it takes to get it for you." He said to put his name on the outside of the envelope containing the letter to the prime minister. "She does not like me, but she must," he said, "open a letter from me." He also called his cousin, Siddhartha Ray, the chief minister of West Bengal and had the West Bengal government express itself about my scholarship and character. The visa was later granted and I was most thankful to my friends including Satyajit for their help at the very time when there was a lot of anti American feeling in India over America's role in the Bangladesh war.

As an expression of my friendship, I gave him a long term subscription to The New York Review of Books. This was the periodical he most wanted from the United States. Then I heard in 1981 that the Museum of Modern Art was making an Indian film festival including a complete retrospective of his films. I decided to throw a party for him and it was the first one during his stay in New York. I was able to find old friends, Indian and American, and gather them for the party. He was particularly pleased to meet a Bengali woman who had been a childhood friend and whom he had not seen for many years. He chatted with her and other friends, talked to new admirers, and gazed at the Hudson River from my living room window. "It reminds me," he said, "of Calcutta." And whatever its shortcomings, he loved his native city and stuck with it through its hard times. He could not think of living anywhere else.

On one visit, the French minister of culture was with him, besieging him to come to a festival for India in Paris. He said, it would not be complete without him. He demurred, said he would think about it. Once the minister left, knowing he had had a heart operation, I told him: your health comes first; forget the festival and take care of yourself. I think he agreed.

After I had presented him with a copy of my Bengal book, I was asked by Columbia University Press if I knew any prominent people. I mentioned Ray and they wrote to him. He responded with a nice, brief note of praise. Later when I was working on my book about Subhas and Sarat Bose, we talked about the Boses’ place in Calcutta. Once the book was published by Penguin India, I gave him a copy. He rolled it around in his hands and noted its squatty character almost as wide as fat. Whether he a chance to read it, I don’t know. He died not too long after that.

He stuck with his friends through their hard times. So while I mourn the passing of a great artist and celebrate his centenary, I also remember and treasure my memories of a devoted friend.

Leonard A Gordon is a historian and academician who taught in Columbia University and the City University of New York. His research on the Bengal nationalist movement brought him to Calcutta over and over again which led to his deep association with Bengal. His book, 'Brothers against the Raj: A Biography of Indian Nationalists Sarat and Subhas Chandra Bose', is considered as the foremost and definitive books on Netaji written till date. During the late 1970s he interviewed the Japanese survivors of the Taihoku aircrash involving Netaji in 1945, thus providing conclusive evidence on that controversy. He lives in New York and is presently working on his memoirs.

G U E S T C O L U M N : N E T A J I A T 1 2 5

A rare photograph of Netaji seeing off the Indian Legion from the Anhalter Bahnhof in Berlin, on 26th Jan 1942. Also featuring with BLM (rightmost) are ACN Nambiar (leftmost), later free India's first ambassador to Germany, and famous film personality, Thea von Harbou (only lady in the middle).

NETAJI'S ENGINEER SOLDIER

On 75th year of Indian Independence and on the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji himself, here is a story of his soldier from being a Xaverian in Calcutta to being a Legionary in INA in Germany From being the voice behind Azad Hind Radio to being perhaps, the first person to have rendered the National Anthem Jana Gana Mana by Tagore. Kiran Mukerji writes

My father, Braja Lal Mukerji (BLM), was born in Midnapur, West Bengal, in June 1912 He grew up in Bhagalpur and Calcutta, and studied textile chemistry at St Xavier’s College, Calcutta In September 1937, he left for Germany to undertake post graduate studies and practical training in Chemnitz

When World War II broke out in September 1939, BLM could not return to India and had to look for a job, which he found at the German Fashion Institute in Berlin, where his future wife, Evamarie Jelitto (EJ), was the textile designer Since BLM was in a pretty bad condition, due to the cold winter, food shortage and no proper accommodation, EJ took care of him, gave him sufficient food and found a suitable accommodation for him

Netaji’s arrival in Berlin in April 1941, caught my father’s interest, not only because he was the famous Bengali leader against the British Colonial Government, but because my father’s maternal uncle, Sisir Kumar Banerjee, had been a co student of Netaji at Presidency College, Calcutta On a few occasions in the 1930s, Netaji visited his friend in Mominpur, Calcutta, where my father lived This was the ancestral home of his mother’s family This indirect family connection was probably the reason why my father was able to meet Netaji in Berlin

In the two years that followed, BLM and EJ became close friends of Netaji and his wife, Emilie (Mimi) Schenkl, and spent a lot of time at Netaji’s Free India Centre in Berlin, where Mimi Schenkl was the secretary A very close friendship developed between her and EJ Anita was born to Netaji and Mimi Schenkl in November 1942, and according to German tradition, Mimi Schenkl chose my mother (EJ) to be Anita’s godmother In 1944, when my sister, Gita, was born, Mimi Schenkl became her godmother

The Indian Legion

When Netaji got permission from the German Government to set up the Indian Legion, BLM was one of the 8 Indians who founded the nucleus of the Indian National Army (INA) on 26 January 1942. After intensive training and service, his rank was Senior Lieutenant and Captain Designate. In this capacity, he served at different places along the German Atlantic Wall, in Holland, Belgium and France

One of the highlights of the two years Netaji spent in Germany was the founding of the Indo German Society on 11th September 1942 in Hamburg On that occasion, the song written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1911, Jana Gana Mana, was publicly proclaimed for the first time as the Indian National Anthem of Free India During that event, BLM volunteered to sing the song This can be considered as the first official presentation of Jana Gana Mana, which became the Indian National Anthem after India’s Independence

When Azad Hind Radio began broadcasting from Berlin, BLM was one of the speakers in Bengali language BLM’s family in Calcutta heard these broadcasts and thus came to know that BLM was alive and had joined Netaji at Berlin This was very fortunate, as they had not heard from him for a long time and were very worried, not knowing his whereabouts

In early 1945, when the situation in Berlin was precarious with the Soviet army closing in, it was decided to close the Berlin office of Azad Hind Radio and move to Landshut, Bavaria, in southern Germany However, the radio broadcasts could not restart from there, as the war ended before that could happen

My parents’ marriage

Having been together for about 3 years (1940 43), BLM and EJ wanted to marry, but on account of the German racist policy of that time, they were not given permission to marry When she applied for this permission, my mother was abused by the officer, who said that good German blood should not be mixed with the “inferior” blood of some foreigner In her distress, she told the story to Mimi Schenkl, who was already married to Netaji Mimi discussed the issue with Netaji, who brought up the case with senior German officials and finally got the permission for BLM and EJ to marry This was probably one of Netaji’s last actions before he left Germany in the submarine on 8th February 1943 On account of my mother’s marriage to a British Indian national, she lost her German citizenship and was issued an alien’s passport

BLM and EJ married on 23rd Feb 1943

After World War II ended

Before the war ended in May 1945, my parents had moved to Landshut, where they stayed in a refugee accommodation In June 1945, BLM was arrested and interned for 11 months in a British internment camp in Northern Germany, together with many INA members of Netaji’s Indian Legion

After his release, he was ordered to stay at Brunswick, where my mother and sister joined him In January 1947, they got permission to travel to India, where they arrived by ship on 20th January 1947 together with other former INA members and received a very friendly welcome by Congress and INA representatives Their arrival was also reported in the media

My parents and sister proceeded to Calcutta to be with BLM’s family But due to the increasing political unrest there, they moved to Dhanbad (then in Bihar), where I was born in August 1947. Later, our family settled in Bombay, where I grew up. In all these years, we have been regularly in contact with Mimi, Anita and her husband, Martin Pfaff, and their children and grandchildren.

Kiran Mukerji was born just three days before India's independence, so he almost became one of the Midnight's Children. By a remarkable coincidence, he studied in the same school as Salman Rushdie while growing up in Bombay and then went on to study architecture in Munich. After graduation in 1972, he specialized in building projects in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. He lives in Landshut near Munich.

At the docks in Bombay on 20th January 1947, having just arrived by S.S. Strathmore from England

AN UNTOLD STORY

“Ami, complete this work if I happen to die in an air crash”

Subhas Chandra Bose told his nephew Amiya in handing over to him two exercise books containing the handwritten manuscript of his unfinished autobiography Subhas Bose was boarding the plane at Croydon (south London) on 19 January 1938, bound for India as the President elect of the Indian National Congress for the ensuing year Amiya was then a student at Cambridge University studying Economics Tripos

Subhas had spent the previous Christmas in his favourite Austrian mountain resort Badgastein, where over a period of ten days he had written his autobiography An Indian Pilgrim Amiya later reminisced in his memoirs

When I arrived in Badgastein just days before Christmas of 1937, I found Uncle Subhas (my Rangakakababu) had a few friends staying with him at Kurhaus Hochland Among them were Emilie Schenkl from Vienna and Hungarian Opera star Hedy Fuellop Miller A C N Nambiar joined us from Prague and Dr and Mrs Richter from

Madhuri Bose writes about the manuscript of Netaji's autobiography

Netaji with A.C.N. Nambiar, Hedy Fülöp Miller, his nephew Amiya Nath Bose and Emilie Schenkl in December 1937, Bad Gastein. Photo by A.K. Chettiar. Courtesy Netaji Research Bureau.

Rome. Ms Schenkl who had worked as Uncle Subhas’s secretary when he wrote The Indian Struggle in Vienna in 1934 was typing two copies from the handwritten manuscript of the autobiography. Uncle told me he intended to conclude the book with three additional chapters entitled: My Faith Philosophical, My Faith Economic and My Faith Political. He was only able to complete the first of these three proposed concluding chapters.

There were many hearty conversations among us about Indian and international politics. There were a few light moments too. I remember once during that bitterly cold winter I immersed myself in a warm bath and must have dozed off until Uncle Subhas came to my rescue and saved me from drowning!

Subhas Chandra Bose never had another opportunity to complete his autobiography being caught up in the maelstrom of political life in India, and then after his departure from India in January 1941 with his missions in Germany and in South East Asia.

While in England Amiya was able to tune in to hear the radio broadcasts of his Uncle Subhas from Berlin. He had also received messages from his Uncle slipped under his door. Subhas had wanted him to come to Berlin via Ireland but the plan could not be implemented. British Intelligence had clearly kept a watch on Amiya and their files show that they knew that he was following his Uncle’s activities in Germany.

When Amiya returned to India in December 1944 as a newly qualified barrister, father Sarat was still in detention in faraway Coonoor in south India. Uncle Subhas was in Japanese held South East Asia as the head of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind and Supreme Commander of the Indian National Army (INA). By then the tide of war was clearly turning in favour of the Allies.

Once back in India Amiya found that Subhas and his INA were ‘blacked out’ by the British Indian Government. It was only through carefully coded messages sent through secret agents that any news filtered through to the Bose family in Calcutta.

The news of the plane crash on 18 August 1945 in Formosa (now Taiwan) and Netaji’s death as a result announced by the Japanese Domei News Agency on 23 August 1945 came as a thunderbolt to the Bose family. Still in detention in Coonoor, Sarat Chandra Bose learned of his beloved brother Subhas’s death from the local newspapers.

By the time Sarat Bose was released in September 1945 and returned home to his residence at 1 Woodburn Park in Calcutta, the Indian independence movement was reaching its final phase, but alas with the frightening spectre of partition of the sub continent looming large. With Subhas no longer on the scene, Sarat Bose was swept into the vortex of Indian national politics and on the personal request of Gandhiji rejoined Congress, and in December 1945 was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi In January 1946 he was appointed leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party and thus the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly

About this time the British decided to put captured INA officers and soldiers on trial But the consequences of the INA Trials in Delhi took the British completely by surprise Those the British had considered traitors came to be seen by the rank and file of the British Indian Armed Forces as

পরবাস MUC | Page 41 I stayed with Uncle Subhas for about ten days and then returned to London to help organise his visit to England in early January 1938. This was Uncle’s first visit to England since he had left in 1921 after resigning from the ICS.

KURHAUS HOCHLAND

well as by the Indian masses as heroes. As so graphically described by British historian Michael Edwardes:

The Government of India had hoped by prosecuting members of the INA to reinforce the morale of the Indian Army It succeeded only in creating unease, in making the soldiers feel slightly ashamed that they themselves had supported the British If Bose and his men were on the right side and all India now confirmed that they were then Indians in the Indian Army must have been on the wrong side

Sarat Chandra Bose saw the urgent need to preserve and propagate all that his brother Subhas, and he himself, stood for. He thus acquired the ancestral property at 38/2 Elgin Road in Calcutta and named it Netaji Bhawan after his brother and dedicated it to the nation.

500 metres from Bad Gastein station was Haus Hochland referred to in the first part of this article, and also in the letters between Emilie and Subhas

Anita Pfaff once said, ‘’The previous owner who was a service boy when my father stayed there has died He had bought that place many years later, and his family had already sold it off when we went there You can still have a cup of coffee though, if you still want to do something my father liked to do there.’’

Today Cafe Dorn at Stubnerkogelstraße 42 in Bad Gastein, Austria, stands conspicuously apparent with her aged structure amidst the new constructions in the locality.

Recalling his Uncle Subhas’s parting words at Croydon, Amiya with the endorsement of father Sarat and aunt Emilie, arranged for the original manuscript of An Indian Pilgrim to be published. Amiya also arranged for a Bengali translation of An Indian Pilgrim to be published, with the book cover designed by famed Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray.

Madhuri Bose is the daughter of Amiya Nath Bose and therefore, a grand-daughter of Sarat Chandra Bose and a great niece of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. She has pursued her professional career as a human rights advocate for over three decades with United Nations

agencies and has written extensively on human rights issues. Madhuri divides her time between London and Kolkata and is the author of ‘The Bose Brothers and Indian Independence: An Insider’s Account’, SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd, 2016.

RELIVING TAGORE'S VISITS TO GERMANY AFTER 100 YEARS

Lost in the jaws of the pandemic, perhaps is the fact that the early part of summer in 2021 marked the centenary of Tagore's first visit to Germany At a turbulent time when, even the Passion Play in Oberammergau (which Tagore visited in his third visit) got shifted by two years, it is never late to remember the poet's travel through the German heartland and the legacy it left behind for the future Excerpts from Rabindranath Tagore: One Hundred Years of Global Reception, Edited by Martin Kämpchen and Imre Bangha published by Orient BlackSwan

Tagore visited Germany, Austria and Switzerland each three times:

Germany: May June 1921, September October 1926 and July August 1930; Austria: June 1921, July and October 1926; Switzerland: April May 1921, June July 1926, August September 1930.

These dates indicate that Tagore combined the visits of these countries, possibly seeing them as a single cultural entity Tagore had contemplated visiting Germany even before 1913 and again during his first trip to Europe after the Second World War in 1920 The difficulty of getting a visa at short notice prevented him from entering Germany.

In 1921, the poet entered Switzerland from France and first stayed at Geneva where his birthday was celebrated (6 May) by a gathering at Geneva University. He travelled to Lucerne, Basel and Zürich, lecturing at each place. Tagore’s meeting with Romain Rolland and his friends at Villeneuve near Geneva was the most noteworthy part of the trip. The second visit to Switzerland

Martin Kämpchen

Foto Christina Schr ö der

G U E S T C O L U M N : T A G O R E I N G E R M A N Y

again started off at Villeneuve to meet Rolland and continued to Zürich and Lucerne. On the third visit in 1930, Tagore visited Geneva yet again with the intention to address the League of Nations. From there he travelled straight to Russia.

In May 1921, Germany had been suitably prepared for Tagore’s visit by the wide dissemination of his books. Accordingly, the response to Tagore’s visit was highly successful. He lectured in overflowing halls, received attention by politicians, public figures, by scholars and writers. Hermann Keyserling who lived in Darmstadt (near Frankfurt), suggested to Tagore that, rather than him travelling around Germany, he ask Germany’s intellectuals to gather in Darmstadt to listen to him. Tagore rejected this attempt at monopolizing him in no uncertain terms. Arriving from Switzerland, Tagore’s first brief stop was, however, in Darmstadt. From there he went to Hamburg and spent some days in the company of Helene Meyer Franck and her husband. This visit is amply documented in their correspondence. Tagore briefly visited Denmark and Sweden to formally receive the Nobel Prize. He then returned to Germany, visiting Berlin, Munich and Darmstadt. In Berlin, he lectured at the Humboldt University and had to repeat his lecture on popular demand The police had to pacify the crowds which could not enter the packed hall Hermann Keyserling had been successful in persuading the poet to spend a week at Darmstadt From 9 to 14 June, Tagore delivered daily several lectures in the palace of Archduke Ernst Ludwig which were translated by Keyserling He addressed a gathering of enthusiastic people from a hilltop making them sing German folksongs, he received groups of children with flower bouquets These carefully orchestrated events mythified Tagore into the Wise Man and great educator of the people as which he is being remembered in Germany

Among the personalities of repute who congregated at Darmstadt for the ‘Tagore Week’ were the philosopher Paul Natorp, the Jewish religious philosopher Martin Buber, the Protestant theologian Rudolf Otto, the cultural philosopher Leopold Ziegler, the writer Helene von Nostitz and Tagore’s publisher Kurt Wolff, the Indologist Heinrich Jacobi and the Sinologist Richard Wilhelm None of them, except the latter two, had any personal or academic relationship with India or Indian thought, yet each of them expressed a profound and sophisticated interest in Tagore While his personality in its dignity and genuineness was highly appreciated, some critics commented that the exotic and romantic image Tagore created in spite of himself was exploited and even sensationalized The lecture Tagore gave in most places bore the title ‘The Message of the Forest ’ It detailed his ideal of education which he was about to implement at Santiniketan by founding Visva Bharati Wherever he went he asked for donation of books for Visva Bharati’s future library From Darmstadt Tagore visited Frankfurt for a day and then moved on to Vienna

In 1926, the fervent interest in Tagore had died down to a great extent Germany had plunged into an economic crisis and was on the road to recovery. No new books could be published after 1925. He also had to realize that, sadly, the honorarium for the sale of his books had been devoured by inflation. Although the public response was more modest, Tagore visited more cities than on his first visit and delivered a larger number of lectures. He revisited Hamburg and Berlin and toured Munich, Nürnberg, Stuttgart, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dresden before returning to Berlin. From there he left for Prague.

The visit of 1930 was unique as Tagore arrived specially to promote his own paintings. Returning from England, he once again stopped first at Berlin where he mounted his first exhibition at the Galerie Ferdinand Möller from 16 July; next, he exhibited his paintings in Dresden at the Kunstmuseum and finally at Munich at the Galerie Caspari.

Tagore himself denied any direct European influence in his paintings, but this did not stop the public from making speculative comparisons Those most frequently made in newspaper reports were with Edvard Munch, Emil Nolde and Paul Klee

During the same visit, Tagore took a special interest in the German Youth Movement, visiting at least two castles associated with it, the Hohnstein castle near Dresden and the Waldeck castle of the Nerother Wandervögel, a popular Youth Movement group, in the Rhine Valley near Koblenz Some members of that group had visited Santiniketan in January 1928 Moved by the play they had performed, Tagore had promised them a visit when he next toured Germany, a promise he faithfully kept A high point of that stay in Germany with considerable consequences was Tagore’s visit of the Odenwaldschule (Odenwald School) near Heidelberg and meeting their founders, the well known educationist Paul Geheeb (1870 1961) and his wife Edith Requested by one of his earlier students at Santiniketan, Aurobindo Mohan Bose (1892 1977), who was associated with the school, Tagore came on a visit and discovered a great deal of similarities in the educational concept Paul Geheeb practiced, and his own The aim both pursued was that their school children had the freedom to choose their subjects according to their interests Apart from conventional subjects, they both integrated practical activities and spontaneous learning processes into their syllabus Tagore and Geheeb kept up a decade long relationship The school which had to be moved to Switzerland in 1934 for fear of Nazi repression and was renamed Ecole d’Humanité, continues to foster its Santiniketan ties. Bose continued to live in this school until his death in 1977, and became Tagore’s translator (into English and German) and in some ways his ‘ambassador’ in Europe, delivering lectures and publishing articles on Tagore.

Tagore visited Germany for the last time in 1930. Apart from the cities mentioned, Tagore lectured in Frankfurt and Marburg and attended the famous Passion Play in Oberammergau which moved him deeply. This experience was the basis of Tagore’s well known English poem The Child.

Tagore’s three visits to Austria were confined to Vienna, where he lectured at the University and among others met Sigmund Freud. On his way to Vienna in 1921, he changed trains in Salzburg and talked with the well known writer Stefan Zweig, an urbane, widely educated personality of public life who was in touch with other pan European figures, particularly with Romain Rolland and Hermann Hesse. Zweig was enthusiastic about his meeting with Tagore, describing it to Kurt Wolff: ‘I have encountered this great personality, of whom I formed a strong and profound impression.’

Rabindranath Tagore had a special appreciation for German culture and expressed this often during his three visits to the country. He felt deep empathy for a country vanquished in the First World War. The German people responded with an enthusiasm and zeal to absorb Tagore’s ideas and ideals which was probably not equaled in any other Western country.

Since 1980, Dr. Martin Kämpchen lives in Santiniketan and visits Europe once a year. His field of activity is the cultural dialogue between India and Germany, specially in the area of literature and religions. Kämpchen translated the poet Tagore and the Hindu saint Ramakrishna from Bengali to German, he compiles anthologies, writes essays and short stories; he has also published one novel and two children's books. He regularly contributes to the cultural section of the renowned daily “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” about India. www.martin-kaempchen.de

G U E S T C O L U M N : S C I E N C E

THE INTELLIGENT CROWD

In early November last year, nine people lost their lives and dozens more were injured at AstroWorld, a music concert in Houston, US, in a massive crowd crush A similar mishap at the Love Parade music festival in Duisburg, Germany, killed 21 people in July 2010 Stampedes in crowded gatherings at pilgrimages, sports stadiums, music concerts and other public places claim nearly 400 lives every year across the world

Such tragedies occur when “group think” results in wrong decisions and people fail to behave intelligently as a collective. Stampedes are also observed in cattle, elephants, sheep, zebras, wild horses and walruses. However, the so called lower animals birds, bees, ants and especially, fish amplify their individual intelligence by forming flocks, schools, shoals, colonies and swarms.

These social creatures, when working together as unified systems, can outperform the vast majority of individual members while solving crucial problems and making vital decisions. Scientists call this “swarm intelligence” and it proves the old adage many minds are better than one.

Scientists Ralf Kurvers and Pawell Romanczuk, based in Berlin, study swarm intelligence in fish and humans. They investigate the role of individuals and social interactions in collective decisions when collectives make good decisions and when they go wrong. Kurvers and Romanczuk delivered a talk “Collective Intelligence or Collective Stupidity? From Fish Schools to Human Groups” at the Berlin Science Week, a 10 day international science festival that brings together the most innovative scientific organisations every year.

Kurvers said in an exclusive interview to the author, “We have observed that the intelligence of an individual fish gets amplified as a school, shoal or swarm.” He explained, “When a predator is attacking a single fish, it is vulnerable and often not very good at avoiding being predated. By joining a school, a fish can benefit from the presence of others, and much more effectively avoid the predator.”

In other contexts too, individuals can profit from the information inputs of others. Says Kurvers, “A beautiful example is migration. For an individual it may be complicated to

Humans can learn a thing or two from a school of fish, Prasun Chaudhuri finds out from German researchers at the Berlin Science Week 2021

It's not the beginning or the destination that counts. It's the ride in between. This train is alive with things that should be seen and heard. It's a living, breathing something you just have to want to learn It's rhythm.

Arpita is a stay at home Mom of a son and a daughter whose hobbies are cooking, DIY crafts and capturing beautiful moments.

P

T A

Sitting amidst the grandeur of nature, a mystical tune seems to emanate from the leafy trees and the mossy water. And soon, I find myself swaying to its harmony as it resonates with the strings of my heart

Aditi recently moved into Germany and currently work in an IT company. She has a passion for photography and someday will be able to pursue it more seriously, she thinks.

U T T E R B U G G I N G | A D I T I P O D D E R

I have always wanted to capture the Milky Way and twinkling stars in all their glory, but it’s difficult, given the high light pollution in the city After managing to capture my first few Milky Way/star trails in Iceland, and being comfortable shooting the night sky, we recently visited a relatively dark sky site in the Austrian Alps, where I set up my kit around 11:30 at night for a couple of hours to get a series of shots that I loved. One such shot featured here.

Abhirup is a combination of impulsive, traveller, foodie, techie, and lazy individual. Passionate about driving, travelling , and dabbling in photography.

S A M P R I T I I N P I C T U R E S

FLASHBACK 21 21 21

From Netaji to Abir Chatterjee our actions steered past the pandemic through the grandoise of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati Pujas and then on-stage for Poila Boisakh before the final blast at Hallstatt.

Presenting 21 defining images of Sampriti in the past 12 months. If you have not seen some of these on our social media, thats because we were busy with these businesses.

THE ANITA DIALOGUES

Our tribute to Netaji through a monthly conversation with Dr. Anita Pfaff and other eminent personalities continued till his actual 125th anniversary in Jan 2022.

Photo : Tufan Das

Photo : Arya Banerjee

Photo : Somdutta Kundu

A STITCH IN TIME…

Anit Roy writes about a bad day in office

The day started off terribly today.

I overslept and then tore a button while putting my shirt on. Not a big deal, but I had a choice, iron another shirt and be late, or put a tie pin on and somehow get through the day.

I chose the latter.

After all, it’s not much that I needed to do all day anyway. As front office staff at the local bank, all I usually did was greet customers, some paperwork, and some errands for the ‘seniors’.

I brushed my hair as I ran down the short way to the bank from my apartment block. I reached and walked in through the revolving doors a little out of breath, just as the manager Mr. Fernandez emerged from his office with two customers.

I put on a sheepish grin knowing full well that I was barely making a good impression coming in late again during my probation. Mr. Bose, our senior most officer was standing just outside the manager’s office and glaring at me. Sheila, standing right beside him had her usual indifferent stare.

It must have been a big deal going in our favour, because Mr. Fernandez looked up at me, smiled, and said,

“Ah here is Joy. He is one of our experts in this area Mr. Sen. Like I said, I will put together our best team including bright young sparks like Joy and have all the paperwork sent over to your lawyers and to you to sign right away.”

Me ? An expert in what, photocopying ? or using the coffee machine ?

I remembered in the nick of time to hold my hand out and say, “Good morning, Mr. Sen” not knowing who. All I was seeing were two old grey men in suits.

I got back a limp disinterested palm and an inaudible grunt from the nearest person.

Mr. Fernandez ushered the group outside.

They got into a big car with a chauffeur holding the door open

I went behind the front desk and put my bag down next to Sheila’s and asked who they were

She said, “Mr Sen from Badlow Enterprise ”

I knew Badlow I had been seeing paperwork for them ever since I joined Our bank had been chasing this account for more than a year and we were almost there

A personal visit from THE Mr Sen meant only one thing we were at the finishing line

As expected, within a minute or so, I was called into Mr Bose’s office and got a telling off about my sense of responsibility and a question about my seriousness about this job Almost everyone at the bank heard

I believe I gave my best performance then, expressing my love for this job, as Sheila nodded when I got back

Things soon got back to normal I went about greeting customers, printing statements the usual stuff

Just before lunch, a note arrived for Mr Fernandez

He read it in his office and burst out immediately calling for Mr. Bose, Sheila, and me. We had been invited by Mr. Sen for lunch at the fancy Rényàofēngle immediately. We left everything and rushed. With a short brisk walk, we arrived and were ushered into to a private room at the back.

Fancy restaurants have their unique ways of putting people off their game and Rényàofēngle was no different. The private room had small wooden planks with small back and arm rests as seats basically we almost sat on the floor. Really uncomfortable in formal office wear.

Mr. Sen’s nameless associate, Mr. Fernandez and Mr. Bose carried on with small talk as the food was ordered. Mr. Sen grunted now and again, and Sheila and I smiled and nodded along.

The food and wine arrived quite quickly and was placed on a small round table with a rotating top in front of us. We ate. Good food !

The meal got over and a plate filled with freshly cut fruits arrived on the table as the last course. Everyone took a piece until finally it was my turn.

I bent forward, but something caught the side of my shirt. My outstretched hand and momentum carried me forward.

Remember that torn button ? Well disaster struck in full force then.

The tie pin holding the shirt over my belly gave away. The rest of the buttons gave out one by one. Within a second, I was there frozen with a piece of melon in my outstretched hand with my shirt torn open from below my neck. My movements had also tipped the open bottle of red wine over and the rotating table had ensured an equally measured pour over everyone around the table. A series of stunned looks stared back at me.

Mr. Sen took a moment and then burst out laughing. Everyone else joined in. I too joined in nervously.

The rest of the time is a blur where I vaguely remember being offered a shirt by one of the waiters The lunch ended abruptly thereafter, and we went our different ways

We walked back to the bank in almost complete silence Mr Bose tried to tell me something, but Mr Fernandez stopped him At the end of the day, I faded away as unnoticeably as possible from office The signed papers from Mr Sen had still not arrived by then

I am calling in sick tomorrow!

Anit has been living in Munich for the last 7 years with his family. An expert couch potato, he is passionate about the three primal arts of eating, sleeping and watching videos on his mobile.

DISCLOSURE

Rajarshi Basu writes about a dilemma called love

Soumen is looking outside through the window of his plush office. The sky is covered with dark clouds. Soumen’s mind is obscured by layers of deep thoughts. Every year, this time, decisions need to be taken to reward the best performer in his department and he is doing this activity for the last 10 years with utmost professionalism and integrity. This year it is different.

His desk phone rings. “Hello Soumen, you are yet to submit your recommendation. We are already delayed.” HR lady Rashi quips.

“I know Rashi. I will complete it today for sure,” Soumen assures.

“You always finish ahead of time, any problem this year,” Rashi says, trying to drag the conversation.

“I told you, give me some time, please.” Soumen is agitated and abruptly disconnects.

Everyone in the department knows Mahima and Prasenjit have delivered stellar performances and will be the contender for this year’s award. Soumen’s evaluation is slightly tilted towards Mahima as she has outscored Prasenjit in two key parameters.

“Hey, let’s have a coffee?”Mahima’s message popped up.

“You carry on, I have some work to finish,” Soumen replies. This dilemma is at the heart of Soumen’s anguished indecision over the wisdom of his actions and he might fumble.

He picks up the phone and calls Rashi. “I have chosen Prasenjit. I will send my evaluation shortly but you can start the process. Also, I am transferring Mahima to the Marketing division as there is a need and I believe she will do good.”

“Are you sure Soumen? She is one of your best performers,” Rashi says concerningly. “Yes, I am it is more important for the organization,” Soumen asserts.

Soumen has not disclosed his relationship with Mahima to HR and they kept it under wraps. A shadow of guilt darkens his eyes, thoughts of professional and personal failures engulf him. Heaven breaks to release a torrent of rain.

Rajarshi is an avid sports lover, passionate about Indian music, a novice script writer, curiously interested in different cooking recipes.

“It appears like an intimate moment when the light breaks the horizon as you look at the morning arriving. But it's so beautiful, you can't look directly at the light so you look back at the velvet night being whisked away gradually, inexorably the sky fills with colors and the stars flicker out one by one, as if the universe has been consumed by pure light. And then you look at the solitary grain of sand in the palm of your hand and it twinkles like the memory of those departed stars. You look deeper and find there's a swirling dark void that's pulling you towards it like a black hole and you remember those moments as a child when you could sit so still and close out everything in order to feel the weight of the entire universe on your skin as everything that has existed and will exist slowly condensed into a single tiny grain of sand in the palm of your hand.”

My history class in Berlin

A trip to Berlin is like visiting the pages of history. Neelabho Giri writes

Last winter, right after Christmas day, we caught a train to Berlin I was very excited because I had never been to Berlin before Our train was at 12:15pm, so we arrived at Munich Hauptbahnhof at around 12pm The train ride was uneventful except that there was an hour’s delay because of some technical problems We finally reached the Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 6:30pm We downloaded a new app for the Berlin public transport and loaded our tickets there Then we took the S bahn to Teltow Stadt I noticed that in Berlin the S Bahn colors are yellow while they are mostly red in Munich When we reached Teltow we met Kuntal uncle who was waiting there with his car Then we drove to their house and was delighted to meet Sonu dada and Mahua mashi after a long time Teltow is on the southern outskirts of Berlin and their huge apartment was on the topfloor The first thing that caught my eye was the view of a beautiful church, and its lighting, in contrast of the night.

Once we settled and had a great mutton for dinner, people were fresh and raring to go. Hence, even though it was quite late in the night we still made a quick plan to the iconic Brandenburger Tor. It was way bigger than I thought it was. It was also very cold and our hands were freezing at minus seven temperature. Since it was almost midnight not many people were around, which gave us enough chance to click photos with the backdrop of the shining landmark. Once we crossed the gate we saw the road behind had marks of the Berlin wall that once stood there. The metal writing on the road said Berliner Mauer 1861-1990 - marking the first piece of history I will see in that trip .

We woke up late on the second day Once we got ready we took the S Bahn to Potsdamer Platz We had brunch at the well known South Indian restaurant, Saravanaa Bhavan We had some tasty dosa and loads of other food from the menu We walked around Potsdamer Platz and clicked the Berlin Wall standing there as a memorial Potsdamer Platz has huge skyscrapers which we don’t see in Munich One of those high buildings was of Deutsche Bahn On our way to the Brandenberger Tor from there, we walked past the memorial of the Jews who were massacred in World War II Then we visited the Madam Tussauds museum close to that place There are wax models of famous people like Angela Merkel, Leonardo Di Caprio, Manuel Neuer etc This was on Berlin’s famous central road “Under den Linden”, which my father explained this was once a boulevard supposedly full of lime trees From there we went to a Christmas Market in front of the Rotes Rathaus near Alexanderplatz We did not go for any rides but we cosied up inside a tent to have some roasted nuts and Kinderpunch After reaching home and having dinner I played some rounds of Forza Horizon with Sonu dada and then went to sleep

On the third day we went quite near but not a very touristy place It was the infamous mansion where the Wannsee conference took place I learnt, it was in this beautiful villa on the lake that the massacre of the Jews were planned by the Nazis We saw the people who were the brain behind it and heard about Hollywood movie Operation Daybreak and Netflix movie Operation Finale on two main characters from this conference, Heydrich and Eichmann From there we went to Sonu dada’s school in Dreilinden. That building too has a history with the Nazis and later with the American soldiers. We, the three kids then went back home while the parents went for a movie.

On the fourth day we planned to go to the Museuminsel to look at the Berliner Dom and the Altes Museum. We walked around the Spree beside the museum and we saw the magnificent structures. After that we went to Hitlers Bunker right beside the Anhalter Bahnhof. This is called Berlin Story Bunker and not the one where Hitler took his life. But it was recreated with all details about Hitlers life. We spent a lot of time in the bunker and by the time we were finished it was already dark outside. After that we went to Saravanaa Bhavan to have dinner.

On the fifth day we planned on going to Potsdam which is kind of a sister city of Berlin. We went to an iconic castle, Cecilienhof, where America, UK, Russia and others met in July 1945, after the surrender of Germany to negotiate the fate of the world. It was here the American President gave his order to drop the atom bomb on Japan. After lunch in a Vietnamese restaurant we went to the huge Sanssoucci Palace compound. After that we went to a shopping street nearby. Interestingly, it was here I saw Potsdam also has a Brandenberger Tor right at the heart of the town.

On our last day in Berlin we went to the famous Checkpoint Charlie. Checkpoint Charlie was the crossing between the East and the West. From there we went to the other side of the city to visit the the largest section of the Berlin Wall at the Eastside Gallery. After lunch we went to the newly opened Espionage Museum in Potsdamer Platz that wrapped up our Berlin trip. This was New Years eve so we watched the fireworks too in the evening through to the night.

With this trip to Berlin, I learnt so much history over six days which otherwise would have taken many years.

Neelabho is a grade eight student at the Erasmus Grasser Gymnasium. He was born and brought up in Munich but the best vacations he enjoys are the ones with his big group of cousins in India. He loves timing the cube and playing games like Flight Simulator.

K I D O S P H E R E | A R T W O R K

Arshiya Dasgupta 11 years

Abhirup Sarkar 14 years

D O

P H E R

A R T W O R K

Aryan

Raina

K I D O S P H E R E | A R T W O R K

Riana Pramanik 7 years

Noyonika Giri 13 years

Chirag Goswami

K I D O S P H E R E | A R T W O R K

Riniska Sengupta 6 years

Shriyadita Ghosh 9 years

Rishon Roy 6 years

Evyavan Mishra 8 years

K I D O S P H E R E | A R T W O R K

K I D O S P H E R E | S T O R Y T I M E

GEWITTRIGES PROBLEM

Eines Tages ging Leon und sein Hund Bello zum Baumhaus Es war ein sonniger Tag am Nachtmittag

Leon sagte: „ Bello ich habe Lecklies im Baumhaus für dich Wenn du ein braver Junge bist, bekommst du sie!“

Bello wurde alles tun für Leckerlies. Deshalb wurde Bello ein braves Hündchen.

Nach ein paar Minuten als sie das Baumhaus hochgeklettert sind, hat es begonnen zu gewittern. Leon dachte : „Nichts wurde im Baumhaus passiern.“

Aber Leon war falsch, die Leiter stürtze als ein riesiger Stein vom Himmel fiel und es war zu hoch runter zu springen. Leon dachte und zitterte: „Was kann ich machen?“

In der Zeit fraß Bello alle Leckerlies und wurde dick wie ein Fußball. Leon sagte: ,, Wie kommen wir jetzt runter, Bello?“ Leon sagte:,,Hilfe!“.

Zum Glück kam Papa zur rechten Zeit und brachte Leon runter. Bello war zu schwer runter zu tragen, aber Papa schafte es. Das Baumhaus war dierekt im Garten, so könnten sie blitzschnell nach Hause. Da gab Mama Leon eine Tasse Kakao.

Am nächsten Tag reparierten Leon und Papa die Leiter vom Baumhaus.

Chirag is nine years old living in Munich. He is about to start in Grade IV. He likes travelling, drawing, crafting and hobby is playing games. His favourite foods are PIzza and Paneer.

MUC | Page 79

Chirag Goswami schreibt über ein Problem zu Hause

E S S A Y

THE REAL STOCK EXCHANGE

Avana Maity writes about a Bourse called life

“The stock market is filled with individuals who know the price of everything, but the value of nothing”

Phillip Fisher

Are you an avid investor, do you have a constant watch on the share prices? You must be making a huge fortune if you know how the stock market reacts and if you can foresee the changes coming and can peg your shares at the right prices. But does that fortune give you a fearless, satisfied life without worries ?

Well, I have always been very optimistic with my life, I never thought much about the conclusions of the decisions I made so far. I guess childhood for everyone remains the best phase of life, protected, loved, nurtured and happily selfless, so was mine. Then with the school, university, there was so much focus on getting decent score, all the thoughts were in the direction of shaping an average career and being financially independent. Then with the journey from youth to adulthood, there came some parental, some societal pressure to structure own family and therefore those decisions were influenced partly by brain chemicals and partly by the experience of the amalgamated families of both sides. Well one spends easily 30 years while achieving all milestones successfully. But then starts a weird phase of life where there is a small family you

have built at the place you earn your living and the part of the original family whom you left at your home land.

So, if you are really wondering what I meant by stock exchange is it is our entire life. The real assets or shares are what you have earned in life respect, faith, trust, health and peace and the real investment is time. Like the stock exchange, life is always unpredictable Well, some might already know the moves of the market better while some are truly naïve like I am I assume with time; one gets experienced in this real life game When one should divest the right asset and what earnings or loss one should expect from this divestiture But it’s an open and honest question I would like to ask all, do you really know when exactly the market

crashes and all the different strategies and techniques to save your shares in the best possible way?

Honestly, it would be the best if there would be no such life cycle, no pressure Parents are aging, we are getting busier with own sprawling families, friend and neighborhood and time is ticking away Things are getting darker even more with the climatic changes, with discoveries of unwanted microbes, global criminal emergencies or sudden appearance of force majeure Would you mind sharing your thoughts with how each one of you is managing all these external disruptions and still balancing the internal balance of our emotions or feelings? Now, I definitely question my decision of coming so far away from my family, now I coming so far away from my family, now I question my risk taking abilities, and henceforth I also question my knowledge of share market All this while I was looking to the brighter side of the life, trying to hold the self esteem on the summit point But now I have become very dubious about the path forward, so this is a labyrinth in front of me Each move could make my end point different and the time spent within would be either scary, confusing or straightforward, that solely depends on my fortune Does it sound very familiar to all or am I overexerting my anxiety? Have you found answers yet?

There could be thousand different manifestations of life, but I found the best analogy as a stock exchange. Life is an exchange of time with the assets you earn, it can bring you fortune and it can bring you to roads as well, it is just the correct technique of trading that one must be aware of. I am going to consider all the possibilities that might unfold after my dilemma reaches to the readers. But being a single child is making the labyrinth more difficult to cross.

Like investments, in life as well, comfort does not bring profit. So, when you don’t understand how to deal with the stock market, you diversify your investments to reduce the losses that might come. Or else you take a huge risk and enjoy the sweet profit later. So the calm I see in many faces around might be the appurtenance of a balanced, controlled life. But the distressed faces like mine are the concomitants of all the single children, staying far from the aged parents desperately seeking the right value of their investment in the real stock exchange called “life”.

Avana is living in Munich since 8 years now. She came for studies but settled here due to job and now being a new mother she has two full time jobs. A 100% Bengali at heart, she loves to eat, travel and sing. But right now her music is just in lullabies.

Vijayakantaka RICHA SAXENA Richa is a contemporary Madhubani artist by passion but an Engineer by profession and holds Masters in Life Science Engineering. She has a keen interest in mythology, an eye for detail, and a love of creating things with her hands. Her work 'Padayatra' won the first prize in the art competition 'Gandhi 150 years' held by the Embassy of India, Berlin.

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