I never thought in the past that I will study in Germany. It was a distant dream for Indian middle class families in the mid 90's. To cut it short this is a reality now. I am in Germany cherishing my dreams. I was just wondering what kind of changes has happened in me for the last 3 years. I have discussed it with a friend of mine. Interestingly we came out with many changes that have come in our lives after coming to Germany. I think it applies for all the Desi's, we assumed some commonalities with social, cultural and economic background to list out these changes. Most of the Desi's here are from middle class families. Almost all of them are from English medium schools from urban and semi urban background. majority of the Desi's have had a comfortable childhood and have witnessed a phenomenal change in Indian society as a whole.
The first and foremost is with regard to cooking. I have never entered kitchen in my home back in India. Indian mom's don't let you enter kitchen, They never let try your hands at cooking. Most of the time Mom's know what kids want and they cook it according to their children's wishes. So, naturally the need to cook never arises for children or teens regardless of gender.
I have brought few utensils and masaala's with me while coming Germany. I just know few quick and easy recipe's like egg omlet, dosa, tea etc. I haven't given any thought about how life is going to be without cooking. I started like a naive on my second day in Germany with Instant maggi noodles. Fast forwarding 3 years to now, I can say that I am an expert cook. I can cook almost anything(vegetarian food). Sometimes we just feel that we would have been better off as chefs than software engineers. LOL. There is an advantage in it, we feel secure that this skill helps us during economic recession if there is going to be any lay off''s in future in the IT industry. The situation is same for almost all Desi's regardless of how they used to be back in India excepting for those lethargic people who are parasites on others for their food.
The second common change is with respect to attitude. Everyone learns to lead their lives independently. People crave for more privacy. Some slow witted Desi's blame others for being individual in a foreign country and complain for not caring them. They take more than time than others to learn their cultural lessons in a foreign land.
The third one is with regard to punctuality. The definition of punctuality is different in India. If I say I meet you at 10.00 AM. you should assume that it would be + or - 30 minutes. If it is with regard to public transport everyone who visits India as a tourist has a story to tell. I was like an average Indian who is not so much concerned about timing in the beginning. As soon as I landed in Germany I realized that not adhering to time means a lot in Germany, that can potentially lead to a lot of consequences. Many times I just missed my public transport in just 3 seconds or less because of my whole day is ruined. Germans don't like to entertain people who are not punctual. After staying in Germany for 2 years I have imbibed this quality so much so that I was blasting my friends on the phone for not being on time when I visited India. However it took me 3 days to become a Desi again.
The fourth one is with respect to cleanliness and hygiene, Indian mom's are really cool, they have a lot of patience. They silently bear with annoying and undisciplined kid like me, keeping everything in home clean. They teach their kids how to be clean and tidy but some fail to learn it. Now I feel that these kind of kids discipline has to be enforced or should be sent to some kind of exile(residential schools) to make them learn it. For me it came through serving NCC(a millitary reserve). As I live in a student Dormitory, I have share my kitchen along with 6 other people. It is obligatory on us to keep the kitchen clean all the time, It is a collective responsiblity. Hot plates and oven are the only things I use in the kitchen. The Hausmeister(kitchen inspector) comes for a random inspection of kitchen and pastes notices if it is found unclean.
These are the important changes that I have observed in me and most of my desi friends.
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