Itna sannata kyon hai Bhai ??

I had a long day in the lab today and took the late night tram back home. It was few minutes past 10:00 p.m. when I finally reached home. As I was climbing up the stairs, i realised that the entire building was dead silent ! In fact, I was unaware that I was almost tiptoeing up the stairs until i reached my apartment. I was so tired, angry and frustrated since my day long experiments had failed. The gloomy, quiet atmosphere did nothing better to cheer me up. When I saw the pile of clothes to be washed in my cupboard, the frustration was reaching the threshold limit. I had been accumulating used clothes for days since I was coming back home quite late from lab and couldn't use the common washing machine in the basement after 10:00 p.m. It is a rule for all the tenants in my building although I don't see the point since no one stays in the basement. This is not new to me and having spent over five years in Europe, I can safely say that I am fully well accustomed to this. I said accustomed but not comfortable. While I respect the Western* style of living, I cant help but notice the void in their lives. Sadly, I think they don' t even realise it since anything otherwise is 'chaotic and unacceptable' to them. I am not saying every one of them is like that but a vast majority do fall under this category. Routine and organisation are the two key elements that keep them going. If either one is disturbed, their life would come to a standstill. It is not that I don't appreciate the orderliness and systematic way of life but sometimes I feel that there is no fun if life is too systematic. I think it is the 'Indian' in me that makes me think that a bit of chaos here and there does make life more interesting.

When I first landed in Germany from India, I was in awe of the German railway network system. I am a big fan of DB (Deutsche Bahn) and still believe that it is the best railway network in Europe. Although the organisation and infrastructure of Indian railway system is far from being even comparable to DB, I would say that some of my cherished moments in the Indian trains are priceless. I have met different people , had interesting conversations and seen/been a part of some dramatic event in the train. Although, I have had pleasant and comfortable journeys in Europe, none of my interactions with the person sitting next to me can qualify as a cherished moment. I have had people helping me out all the time in the trains but then that is helpful, not interesting ! Does this mean that Indians are loud, talkative and nosy ? No, I didn't mean that and even if they are, well, doesn't matter ! At least, it gives me something to gossip about when I get back home or ponder about later that night.

Another thing that baffles me is the hypocrisy in displaying emotions. While PDAs (public display of affection) are considered as a part of the culture, PDEs (public display of emotion) such as babies wailing and drivers yelling at fellow drivers/honking repeatedly are frowned upon !

Now, coming back to the dead silence at night .... an indian friend of mine told me that she stopped using her pressure cooker at night because she was invariably late from office and cooking afterwards with pressure cooker annoyed her peace loving neighbours. I also heard about another incident from my non- European colleague that the tenants living below his apartment complain that he treads loudly at night in his apartment. Imagine what a nightmare it would be for an Indian family with small kids living in a building with such neighbours. Thankfully, I am living alone and my neighbours are lot more tolerant. That reminds me.... who are my neighbours ? I moved into this apartment only a couple of months back but I have never seen my neighbours. Occassionally, I have heard music from a piano and a baby crying softly but apart from these I have had no real contacts with any of them. I have never met them in the hallway so far. It is not that I am not a friendly person, I have been on excellent terms with some my former European neighbours who happened to be quite friendly. I just haven't yet found the right opportunity to knock on my neighbours' doors and introduce myself because I still haven't figured out how much of this is prying, if at all. Until then, I'll let them enjoy the dead silence....