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Showing posts from 2012

Christmas time

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A beautiful Christmas tree at Astrid's home My first Christmas celebration began with a warm welcome at the Franfurt Airport when I returned from India after a month long warm holiday. It was not as cold as expected in Germany. Just got lucky with the weather. Every year during Christmas there will be Christmas Market in all cities here. Full of lights, colors and Christmas trees. Somehow it reminded me of Deepavali back home. I found myself lucky to be invited by Astrid to celebrate Christmas with her. She did it the German way. We attended Christmas Service at a church near her house on Heiliger abend (Christmas Eve). At the church they gave lyrics of the songs that were going to be sung so it was easier for a stranger like me to get along as I'm completely ignorant of the German songs.  After the service we were back home. There were Guests from different parts of the world. We had kids from China as well. Astrid shared memories of her childhood Christmas celebratio

Interview Experience

Interviews will remain a puzzle for me forever. Some say it has got to be your day to get the job. May be. But I tell myself that one has to prepare to the best before the Interview. After the interview leave it as if it's a matter of luck.  In a foreign land it's more challenging to find a job as the priority goes to the native. For many reasons I find it quite agreeable. Be it in Germany or any other country with the day-to-day language other than English, for  foreigners it poses a great challenge with the job opportunities. One is required to have a mastery of the language to land in a job. After all the hurdles you get the interview call that you have got to handle like an "endangered species" :). I also had to handle the "endagendered species" a few days ago. There are many things one need to take care but I found interview etiquette remained same as it is in India. I was more prepared because the job interested me more than other opportuniti

Be careful before you help a puppy

I received a mail titled "A warning" from one of my friends whose writings I read without giving it a miss. This time I decided to share with as many as I can because of the important information is carried. A Warning Something bad happened today, passing on the story, so that this doesn't happen to you too :) -   A 74-year-old British friend of ours and I went for a walk this morning near Indira Nagar, at 6.30 AM, and we happened to come across a small wounded puppy in the middle of the road, in a quiet residential area. Now my friend Rowena is an ardent dog-lover, has dogs back home in Venezuela, and she immediately bent down to pick up the unconscious puppy to move it away from the centre of the road, where it would have been run over.  Before we knew what was happening, the mother dog, which was hiding under a car nearby, rushed out and attached her viciously. 4 times, she came back to bite her. And then it came for me, but she just managed to get the loos

Drama - Film Music Review

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ಟಿಪ್ಪು ಹಾಡು , ಅದರಲ್ಲೂ ಭಟ್ಟರ ಲಿರಿಕ್ಸ್, ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಹರಿಕೃಷ್ಣ ಸಂಗೀತದಲ್ಲಿ. ನಾನು ಕೇಳಿದ ಮಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಈ ಮೂವರ ಜನಪ್ರಿಯ ಚಿತ್ರ ಸಂಗೀತ  'ಜಾಕಿ'. ಹಾಗೆ ಏನೋ ವಿಶೇಷ ಇರಬಹುದೇನೋ ಅನ್ನೋ ನಿರೀಕ್ಷೆಯಲ್ಲೇ 'ಡ್ರಾಮ' ಚಿತ್ರದ ಹಾಡುಗಳನ್ನ ಆಲಿಸಿದೆ. ಭಟ್ಟರ ಕವಿತೆಗಳದು ಅದೇ ಧಾಟಿ. ಬಹುಶಃ ಕೇಳಿ ಕೇಳಿ ಜನರಿಗೆ ಬೇಜಾರು ಬಂದು ಹಾಡುಗಳು ಸಿಕ್ಕಾಪಟ್ಟೆ ಫ್ಲಾಪ್ ಆಗೊವರ್ಗೆ ಹಾಗೆ ಮುಂದುವರಿಯತ್ತೆ. ಹಿಟ್ ಫಾರ್ಮುಲ ಹಾಗೆ ಬಿಡುವುದಕ್ಕು ಆಗಲ್ಲ ಅಲ್ವೇ? ಆದರು 'ಶಿವ ಅಂತ ಹೋಗುತಿದ್ದೆ' ಹಾಡಲ್ಲಿ ಏನೋ ಹೊಸ ಕಿಕ್ ಅಂತೂ ಇತ್ತು ;). ನಾನಂತೂ ಟಿಪ್ಪು ಹಾಡಿದ ಧಾಟಿಗೆ ಮರುಳಾಗಿ ಬಿಟ್ಟಿದ್ದೆ. 'ಡ್ರಾಮ' ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಟಿಪ್ಪು ಕಂಠಕ್ಕೆ ನಿಜ ಮೋಸ ಮಾಡಿವೆ ಹಾಡುಗಳು. ಆದರು ಸೋನು ನಿಗಮ್ ಕಂಠದಿಂದ ಏನೇ ಬಂದ್ರು ಕರ್ಣಾಮೃತ ಅನ್ನೋಥರ 'ಚೆಂದುಟಿಯ ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲಿ' ಹಾಡು ಕೇಳ್ದಾಗ ಅನ್ಸತ್ತೆ. ಶ್ರೇಯ ಘೋಶಾಲ್ ಯಾಕೆ ಮಿಸ್ಸಿಂಗ್ ಅಂತ ಖಂಡಿತ ಅನ್ಸತ್ತೆ. ಆದ್ರೆ ಸುನೀತಾ ಗೋಪುರಾಜ್ ಹಾಡಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಶೇಷ ಮಾಧುರ್ಯ ಖಂಡಿತ ಇದೆ. ಹುಡುಗರು ಚಿತ್ರದ 'ನೀರಲ್ಲಿ ಸಣ್ಣ ಅಲೆಯೊಂದು' ಗೀತೆಯಲ್ಲೇ ಅಂದುಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದೆ  ಇದು ಮತ್ತೆ ಮತ್ತೆ ಕೇಳಲೇ ಬೇಕಾದ ವಾಯ್ಸ್ ಅಂತ. ಆದ್ರೆ ಕಾಯ್ಕಿಣಿ ವಿರಚಿತ  'ಹಂಬಲದ ಹೂವನ್ನು' ಹಾಡಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾವ ಭಾವ ಸಂಯೋಜಿಸಿಸಾಲಾಗಿದೆ ಅನ್ನೋದೇ ಗೊತ್ತಾಗ್ಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಚಿತ್ರ ನೋಡಿದ್ರೆ

Mitfahrgelegenheit - A Ride

Mitfahrgelegenheit : Similar to car pooling. You can search for a person who is driving to the city you also have to travel to on the internet. Mail them/Phone them to find out availability of the seats and book. If he/she confirms, you can travel with him/her on that day+time. My first ever car-pooling experience was drive to Munich. It gave an opportunity to meet different people. Though silence floated for a larger part of the drive, it was entertaining. The biggest concerns remain time and luggage. Everyone has to be on time or it irritates all to a great extent. Bigger the luggage bigger would be concerns. For your ride in Europe : mitfahrgelegenheit.de

Learning and finding Job in Germany

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There is always a new experience in a new world waiting to bewilder you. So has my experience with finding Job in Deutschland/Germany been. Land that is known for the pünktlich(punctual) people, land know for robust automotive technology and known for perfection in whatever they build. I've been pretty impressed with the perfection they attain in whatever they do. I guess they even look for a very perfect resume to fill the job. In India I hardly spent my time on writing a cover letter. Why would I spend my time writing the cover letter if I could get interviews just by uploading my resume in a job portal?!!! Here everyday I spend hours only writing the cover letters. Brighter side is that my Vocabulary has really improved, specially adjective ;). I sat with a book on Resume and Cover letter, spent hours understanding how to write an impressive Cover letter. With all enthusiasm sent first few to different employers thinking that i'd get call in a week. But to my surp

Maibaum

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One who is in India need not wait for Sun, not so in Germany. I had heard the song " Sommer Sonne " and had thought why this? Do people miss Sun so much. I did realize it within few days of my stay in Germany. It sure makes a lot of difference indeed. Without Sun day is dull. Weather forecast said it's gonna be Sunny on Sunday. With our German guests, we set out to Ahrweiler which was around 50 km form Bonn. These cities (Bonn and Ahrweiler) are on the bank of Rhine. There is a beautiful stretch you can drive along. Going by train is more fun as you can see the river's magnificent flow. City was full of hotels. Typical tourist spot. People came here to trek n to camp. We sat in the coffee shop with an ice cream under the Sun in the evening. Sun was really bright at 7. We chatted for a long time about the plants, the hotels, the crazy bike riders and the cars. Waitress came to us to remind that it was gonna be 8 and she had to leave for home. Evening 8 means in

As kids grow

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We ( I n Pannu) took out our beloved-not-used for long Keyboard. He likes to play the preset tunes that are already present in the Keyboard.We sat on floor with the keyboard. He started pressing the buttons randomly as he would usually do. Yet he'd try to figure out what button does what? Over a year I've seen a magnificent change in the way Pannu perceives the instrument. When he was barely 2 year old, he quickly got bored. Sounds that keyboard produced didn't engage him longer. He was less interested in playing it. Rather he loved to jump on the keyboard n turn it into a spring-board. Now, he imitates my finger movements on the keyboard. Then says "hegena?"(Is this how?) He loves to move his little fingers from the lower note to the higher n enjoys every bit of it. Number 34 is the number you need to press to play "twinkle twinkle little star".... I told pannu. I showed him the numbers 3 n 4. He memorized the keys. Pressed the same. As the keyboard

Where's the Sun ?!!!

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Image Source: 123rf.com Evening 7:30. Took my three year old nephew, Pannu out to play. He wanted to bring his little cycle along. I did agree. Dare I not to !!!!. When he asks something, he leaves us with only one choice. That's to say "yes". Then I didn't want to waste time quarreling with him about what to take and what not to take. We went down to the children's play ground. He was playing around with his cycle and got some question on his mind. Pannu:  yaak night time aagide? Me : Sun ilvalla adke Pannu: yak sun illa? Me: (puzzled. how do i explain him the revolution and rotation!!!!) ratri urig hogatte. ninu Mysore ge hogtiyalla haage.  adu americage hogatte. He seemed satisfied a bit. So natural to kids these questions are. Their observation is a learning experience. They question every small aspect. Interpret in a new way. It's so much fun being with them :).