„Es ist nicht zu wenig Zeit, die wir haben, sondern es is zu viel Zeit, die wir nicht nutzen"

4^th December 2018

I had been studying hard for an exam from my Faculty, the subject being Maintenance Management. It talks about keeping stuffs in good condition, so we don’t lose them over time due to wear and tear. I put a lot of effort into this, I want to get myself back into the state, when I used to be strong in Mathematics fundamentals. It is a great thing to be a problem solver – both in life and in Maths 😉

I slept that night on the floor, to avoid taking benefit of the Bed’s comfort and luxury and ending up sleeping late and miss the early hours of the morning. Back home, my father always encouraged me to wake up early morning and do my stuffs. The positive vibes is different, we are more fresh and absorb things faster in comparison towards the end of a tiring, fatigued day.

As I got home post exam, I was satisfied, not because I did the exam well (I don’t have the result yet, I don’t want to be over-confident 😉), but simply because I prepared for this well. Three days, I put myself into a state of fear and pressure, to make sure I waste less time in doing unwanted stuff.

Soon after arriving at home, I saw a message from my nice friend Pawel, who’s Photography skills are incredible (Do have a look at his work here, I totally recommend him if you are looking for a nice Photographer: https://www.icuimages.net). The conversation lasted hardly one or two lines and we agreed to meet the next day at his place at 12:00.

I cooked Pasta Aglio Olio e Peperoncino for dinner, with the traditional Parmesan cheese, Barilla’s Sphagetti and spicy pepper. The satisfaction of having a delicious meal can make the person very positive and feel nice about it. I was tired post the exam preparation, yet the good food made me feel nice. I like cooking and hosting people to eat together 😊 

Joining me sometime? 😊

6^th December 2018

I woke up at 11:15, realising I had only less time to make it to Pawel’s. I made a cup of nice Indian Tea (we call it Chaai), made a video call with my Parents and soon set off to leave.

As I walked out, I saw the tram 14 cross by to reach the Tram stop at Plac. Narutowicza. No time to think, I made a nice 150m sprint, to successfully catch this tram. I’m not sure how many of you feel happy about getting the transport which you planned to take; even when you’re late and make it possible by running and catching it. There’s a joy. On the other hand, the bright sunny sky over my head, a Rock playlist on my ears. 

I have this feeling, when I have a nice overnight sleep and some rock music to listen, it makes me feel happy and confident. Do you share the same thought?

As I scrolled through Facebook, it showed me the memory from 2016, the time when the Storm Vardah hit Chennai and the surrounding region, making havoc with shattering winds of 120 Km/hr. Although time has passed by, the sight of the storm remains in my eyes.

The year previous, same day, I was in Chennai, the massive 2015 floods. We did a lot of relief work, I feel happy about being useful for the society. Life changed post December 2015.

As I get down from the tram stop, I soon made a quick Jog to reach Pawel’s apartment. His location in Mokotow is my favourite place in Warsaw, if I would be lucky to continue living here post my studies. This was the locality where I stayed for a week in a lovely hostel, before setting off to Alcatraz, my home now.

Pawel captured a few nice portraits of me. He showed me the works of his inspiration, the brilliant guy Platon. The latter has had the unique chance of photographing the great politicians Obama, Putin and many other famous people. As I look at the pictures, I could imagine a narration, a story. That’s Photography. I’ve been a hobby photographer before, I can imagine it. Pawel, I’m sure you are one such narrator!

I was flabbergasted looking at the portraits of myself which Pawel captured, that I had to pinch myself to realise, that it was me (we use this phrase often back home in India).

Pawel made me a cup of nice hot Italian coffee, the traditional way with the Italian coffee maker and soon we sat to have a really nice conversation.

We spoke about Dyslexia, the symptom where one has problems in reading/ writing… Having had the chance to meet and talk to many people, I believe we need a change in the way education works. Each one of us are brilliant at something, maybe we need the support to focus on it better, to see ourselves excel at it. Don’t you think so?

Pawel& I :) 

Pawel grew up in Poland and lived in London for a couple of years. His narration of having seen the Communist life in Poland as he grew up, in comparison with today’s – earlier, where one would be satisfied with a bottle of Milk (you buy what you get, there is no choice of brand or cost), sold in glass bottles (to be exchanged every time, but never dumped as waste unless broken)– Hey! Today, do we really need to buy so much plastic? We’re destroying the environment ourselves; don’t blame someone else for it. We pay for all this garbage which we dump& also blame the society, right?

I agree with this. When I was a kid, the provision store used to sell rice/ lentils in used newspaper, wrapped like a cone. We enjoyed shopping this way – what we need at that moment, right at that time; instead of today’s need to hit the supermarkets – face the pressure of having to choose between prices and brands, make an advanced forecast and spend hours of waiting and choosing – only to not see shopping for the next few days! No human face to face contact like before, but just pick what you want and head home straight.

Being here for over a year now, away from home and being able to communicate all the needed phrases and conversations in Polish, I feel the change when I speak Polish with the people around. Who doesn’t like to hear a foreigner, or an outsider speak their language?

Living in another city, which doesn’t speak your language? Learn the language, get to learn the culture. It breaks the barrier, both for you and for the local. 

A nice recent experience which I’d like to mention here:

Yesterday, as I got to the tram stop to head home, I saw an old woman struggling to walk all the way to the tram stop. I couldn’t simply stand watching her, hence I asked her “możesz usiąść”? (I know only my own way of remembering Polish, I’ve never been to a language class, my friends help me learn it), I think grammatically it wasn’t right, she looked at my face and corrected the sentence grammatically, with a smile. But hey, this small gesture made me feel nice, like being at home 😊.

Thank you, Old lady. I don’t know if I will see you again.

The conversation soon moved towards cities and Public transportation. Pawel narrated to me about his friend Ravi Singh, the huge heart, who runs a charity/service organisation based in London and about how life looked. Public transportation is a nice topic to talk about, one gets to know different places and easily understand a city’s topography. He in fact, opened London’s subway map on the laptop and showed me the transport network. I can relate it to Chennai or Mumbai. Public transportation in Warsaw is to us like a walk in the park. It is not crowded.

I narrated about how I miss the early hours in Chennai – going to a Tea shop, radio playing on one side, ladies after taking a shower, getting to the entrance of their house to spray water on the ground and put Kolam (Rangoli in Hindi), on a far range , one could even hear M.S Subbulakshmi’s voice narrating the Suprabatham. We used to describe these as “Morning blues”. When one wakes up in the morning, one gets to witness the life around, it is special, it is positive.

After living in such a crowded city, both of us were of the same opinion, that life here in Warsaw was quiet and we felt always happy coming across foreigners. That’s true.

I like meeting new, different people all the time. I look at it as learning. Each one of us have something to teach, learn and share. Who’s your Idol of inspiration? Who’s your Guru, the well-wisher?

Children carrying huge loads of books to school, being under the pressure of having to make loads of assignments these days. No playing in the sand, no playing football with friends…. Hard life ahead! No support to what we call “Our Passion”?

Both of us (Pawel and I) know each other through Smile Warsaw, the event that takes place every Sunday at 3:30 PM in the Centre of Warsaw. We feed the homeless, collect old clothes from people and give the homeless, serve a cup of hot beverage (lemon tea or water or maybe even juice sometimes). What Pawel and I spoke, was about the feeling of satisfaction we get, after this one hour of service. When we can make someone smile with a positive gesture – it means the world to them and to us, a sense of great satisfaction. Don’t you agree too? 😊

Problem solving is a big thing today. Everyone of us face a challenge, maybe even you as you read this! Do you solve it, or do you find a way to procrastinate it?

I prefer to be a problem solver.

Every one of us run a race! We’ve got to fall and be ready to wake up and keep running. 

Thank you, Dad, Mom, my dear Granny for putting this phrase into my ears always.

Our conversation ended with this feeling of having found someone to have a nice conversation with, someone who is like-minded with similar thoughts. Our age isn’t a question here. One last question to Pawel which I suddenly asked, if I could ask him when his birthday was.

Of course! 25^th December. I’m Jesus, he said with a laughter.

Or maybe did I see a reflection of myself over the last 210 Minutes? 😊 Time is already past! 😊

I thanked him for the 210 minutes, the time I will never forget. It put me into an interesting thought process as we waved to each other with a nice selfie 😊

15:35, as I took the tram towards home, the sun started to set and the sky soon got darker.

“Mayakkam Enna? (in Tamil) – What is this illusion?” 😊

Der Schmerz geht, der Stolz bleibt

Being a guy who's used to a Tropical climate along the Coromandel Coast, with a normal day which seems to look Hot, with 35 degrees Celsius at 100% Humidity, to a European climate, which touches minus temperatures quickly as soon as the winter starts, the experience I got today is a unique one and I felt it would be good to put it in a few words 🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃

Sneak peek onto the streets from my Window. Oh what a Sunny Day!
Today's run is going to be amazing😆😠

"Oft höre ich jemanden sagen ‚Ich bin kein richtiger Läufer‘. Wir alle sind richtige Läufer – einige laufen bloß schneller als andere. Ich habe noch nie einen ‚falschen‘ Läufer gesehen" -Bart Yasso 

 Hola Pablo! Amigo! 👏

As Pablo (My Spanish friend on Erasmus from La Rioja in Spain) and I started to run today, our attire looked so:

1. Myself - A Thin multi purpose Muffler for the head, Base skin fit full T-shirt, Running T-shirt over and a thin Pullover, with upto 0 degrees capable gloves from Decathlon, Shorts (open legs) and barefoot on my Terraflex from Xero shoes.

2. Pablo - Three layers of T-shirt, skin fit pants and shorts, shoes with socks, basic gloves from Decathlon.

We withstood 12 minutes of running in the starting days of the cold Winter in Warsaw; the experience seemed like :

As we started, the cold winds hit us hard, right at the turn towards Wawelska. 400 metres into the run to stop at signal for a minute. I could feel the Cold weather waging war with my open legs, my nose getting frozen, breathing through the mouth, I jumped up and down for a few times, rather than simply standing 😱
The signal turned green, we did quite a faster pace than the usual 5:30-5:40 minutes/kilometre.
Around 900 metres into the run, I could feel my energy levels go down and a drowsy feeling, it was a strange weird feel.

I told you, it was so cold!😒

With a right turn, leading to Banacha, the stretch was nice. I felt normal again and could feel my pace getting stronger and steady.
Couple of by-passers gave a strange weird look, seeing me run in bare shorts - they were all fully covered in winter jackets, heads closed with the caps and so on. Of course, bright sunny morning, -4 degrees, who would go bare-body and fight with the cold weather.
As we run, we come across these funny thoughts as we come across people on the street.
with the last stretch of over 700 metres, I felt it would be nice to do a sprint. I could feel my legs tending to fatigue on one side, become slightly numb on the other side.
As we crossed 300 metres, the signal at Wawelska welcomed us with a green light, with me trying a faster sprint, until I climbed the steps of my dormitory, to finish upon touching the giant big door at the entrance.

I'm serious. It was -4 Degrees Celsius, with a feel of -11 Degrees 🙈😖
I was sure you wouldn't believe, so I posted a screenshot of the weather above! 😕

Post 12 minutes of Running- Alive😎😅💪! Hands frozen, legs okay, feet okay, Nose back to its own feeling, Mouth back to its warm state.
I was good without any socks to cover my feet. One more positive insight about my Terraflex shoes. I totally recommend you this, if you are keen on a Zero-drop, Minimal light weight shoe! (Here's the link to the brand: https://xeroshoes.com/xero-heroes/harikrishnan/)

"Ich werde meinen Trainern immer zuhören. Aber als Erstes höre ich auf meinen Körper“ - Haile Gebrselassie

Well done Pablo, I'm lucky to have a nice friend like you 😃

Strava link : https://www.strava.com/activities/1992332708

Mama weiß viel, aber Oma weiß alles

I'm struck by the fact that all of us are getting older day by day.
I wish to talk about two amazing roles that all of us have and cherish that we own them.
"Grandparents" or Großeltern" or "Thaatha-Paati" or "Appoopan-Ammooma" we call it.
When I quote these words, there is a drop of an emotional feeling within myself, don't you feel it?

Granny, the unique person, who wishes you on your birthday without looking it up on Facebook! Courtesy : Google

I remember, being a kid, spending almost 30-40% of the time every week with my Grandparents in Nanganallur, it was a beautiful house "Premananth".
In fact, our WiFi connection at home was named by me as "Premananth" after a week long fight over this with my father (Like poles repel each other, so are we, we love each other and quarrel as much, don't mind it ;) )

Dad and Me quarrel over a lot of things, lol. This was when he complained that I was too fast and he wanted to drive. Finally he was driving faster than me. Dad, come on ! 😅

Premananth is nothing but both, My Mom's and My Uncle's names put together - Prema+Ananth -> Sounds sweet, doesn't it?

Nostalgic times with Grandpa at Premananth, along with local friends. I'm the guy to his left

Of course, I draw a lot of inspiration from both of them - 
My Mom - the most social human being I've ever come across, if you think I'm so easy going, I have one more better person than me to show 
Uncle Ananth - Being a sportsman and his love for driving cars - probably my idol of inspiration - now you get the connection between my interests right?
My Father - his strict way of life with time and passion for machines and nature - you realise why I love animals, machines and the "keep doing something" attitude.
My Sister Ammu, come on, we are known to be the toughest people when you let us alone and the most loveliest people when people are around us. 
Aunt Raji - Fellow Scorpion, Runner, she's seen me grow up to where I am today, we've been a motivating face to each other when either of us take part in Running competitions

I wish to quote about what makes my Grandparents win a special place in my heart.

Every since the day I remember being a kid, these two people have been Idols in my life.
They were the best couple you can ever find, being so supportive between each other and also a big morale support to the family.

If you want to know the real meaning of Word-of-mouth, these people will be the pioneers of it.

Probably, in my entire family, the words "Kunjappa-Kunjammai" are quite familiar - My grandfather was the youngest of all his siblings and "Kunjappa" is the name for the "Youngest Chitappa (Uncle to be simple)". They were a big pillar to the family, taking care of most of their sibling's children, helping them get into better educational standards and setting up a great life ahead. When you see them in person, you would never feel it seeing their faces, they're so down to earth.

If my parents had the right in correctly parenting me, it was the same with my Grandparents too, they were alike for me. Being a very naughty kid, I recollect getting a lot of beatings and scoldings, I miss those now :(
My Grandfather used to depict an imaginary character, which was our major play toy "Echimi"

The conversations used to be "Echimi enga olinjindu irukka paaru, andha thunistand ku pinnadi irukaalo nu thonardhu " - "Find out where Echimi is hiding, I think she's behind the Cloth Stand" or, he used to fold his palms, face them downwards and ask us to open it, to find it was nothing and later say " Echimi took it and ran away". Such was the type of engagement we had, both me and Ammu, my sister, while visiting Nanganallur.

Othappa(Ramachandran is his name, Othappa for me and my sister, Chitappa in the family), my Granpa's elder brother stayed with us all through his life, he was also one of the important persons in life, for being a nice and a great person with whom you want to talk when you feel bored.

His imaginary depictions about life and boasting about them will fill your minds with enough thoughts, you would either laugh or simply atleast enjoy the conversation.
Stories such as The Russian President visiting his Sports shop back in Kerala to buy a Badminton cock and he offering him one extra, for being the Russian President.
You could always expect this kind of humour-filled-realistic stories while cutting a nice conversation with him. He used to craft us cricket-bats from the fallen coconut tree leaves, it was great fun to play on the streets with them. I don't think nobody does it today even.

Entering Nanganallur after a nice bus ride in 51N and walking all the way to Premananth, one can find my Uncle and Grandpa reading the newspaper, smell of nice Kaapi (read my previous article, if you want to know the speciality of this Kaapi), a busy Granny in the kitchen and my aunt Raji taking part in the house activities.
We had this funny dog Jimmy, a black and white Mongrel, which was with us for quite some time and I never recollect playing with him, probably because he had a cut-tail and would bark if someone touched him. 

Spending a wonderful time in "Premananth" with my Grandparents and Jimmy - 1990's

Typical morning routine was to walk around the streets and pluck flowers for that day's Pooja.

My grandfather always had a routine, until he passed away. He would spend two-three hours of his day for prayers in the morning and an hour in the evening to chant Vishnu Sahasranamam. His depiction of life was an interesting thing, which nobody would want to miss hearing.

And then, I recollect my Uncle putting up his savings to get home our first car, a Maruti Omni. For me even now, that was an amazing moment.
When uncle wasn't in town, my father would use it occasionally. 
It's probably from my Grandparents and my mother, that I inherited the habit of socialising and making friends.
When my sister or my mother of me used to visit Nanganallur, we could expect our Grandfather at the Bus stop, waiting for us; such a nice gesture, isn't it ?
And then, they had to shift to Velachery, so my uncle Ananth wouldn't be so away from his work, "Wellington Plaza"; one of the buildings you wouldn't miss seeing, when you travel towards Central station.

And soon, we shifted to CIT Nagar, so I could get to my school very easily.
This made it very easy to commute to my Grandparents' with a direct bus M7 or 5G.
It's a big culture in our family to talk about bus routes, you should try to be in the situation when there is a conversation, interesting stuff guaranteed.
Now that I got older to start travelling alone, the ticket was 5Rs back then to Baby Nagar and a 200m walk would lead to this wonderful house where they moved.
It had everything you would need; a supermarket, a temple, nice neighbours, a saloon and every basic thing you would need in the vicinity.

Othappa's  every day routine was to go down in the morning to pluck flowers and sit on the slope of our car park with his walking stick along and read the newspaper.
Almost every passer-by, I recollect, used to say hello to Othappa as they cross by our entrance; there was some nice charm in him.
One of the best thing about being there was to take part in interesting conversations - be it religion or politics or sports; it was always a great ambience.

There were days when I had to take my Granny (Me and my sister call her Ammamai) for errands, such as Bank or post office - she was the most comfortable person one could ever find.
Be it boarding a over crowded bus (Indian one, not the European type of crowd) or driving her in my car or train; she wouldn't have a problem.
The one reply she would give when somebody would ask her - Why should I worry, my grand son will take care of me <3 

I recollect the first week after I started to drive my car. Everyone at home knew how passionate I was, since being a kid. My Dad and Uncle Ananth are the best drivers I've ever come across in life.

It was our bright white Hyundai Santro, I hadn't received my license yet, with my learners one in hand - I asked my granny if she would want to join me for a drive.
I took the car straight into Mambalam (You can never predict what kind of chaos it could be) and both of us had a wonderful time, I'm sure she enjoyed this little adventure.
She was even telling my Mom why she didn't mind - "For me it is important that he drives, if something happens and I'm hurt, it's okay. I trust my grandson"

Am I not correct ? (Courtesy : Google) 

If something works based on trust, I've seen it the best.
The best example I would ever quote - When Ammamai orders for Filter Kaapi from Parameswaran Coffee (To know about this Coffee, read my other blog where I've tried to fully describe it).

The conversation between her and the person who picks the call from Parameswaran Coffee, would look like this:
Her : Hello, is it Parameswaran coffee? This is from Thoomani Madom (Name of our house)
Coffee shop : Yes, tell me, how are you? 
Her : I need coffee, 1 kg, in two packing for sending it to my son.
Coffee shop : Okay, You will receive it soon

Trust me, the next day, the coffee would arrive through someone or sometimes even by Courier.
The coffee shop wouldn't even bother if he would get his money. 
It's his trust, which he has seen through so many years of selling coffee - he has the best customers.
My granny would write a cheque and post it the next day and sometimes she would even get a call to confirm that they received it.

Show me this kind of a relationship today. Very hard to find!

Courtesy : Google
(Why are Grandpa and Granny always together? Because they repaired broken things instead of throwing them away)

What if I tell you ? When I was less than 10, she took me for a wedding in Kerala, just me and her; in the train. I remember this vaguely! She took so much care of me, made sure I don't stay bored. 

If I ever miss something today, it's just my granny. She's the best ever friend I've had in life.

Even now, the way my Mom and My granny co-ordinate between each other is something unique.
We lived earlier in CIT Nagar, hence our place was the meeting point for all our relatives/friends who pass by this area, since it was in the middle of the city and very convenient to access it.
This way, my grand parents used to come to our place, so all of us could meet together, rather than the relatives/friends making an additional visit.

All of us together at Thoomani Madom with Thangakka (My Granny's mom)

Likewise, when we moved to Perambur (closer to the railway station), it became so, ones accessing the Airport would head to my Granny's place in Velachery (convenient to access the airport in comparison to Perambur), those accessing the Central railway station would head to my parent's place in Perambur.
My Mother co-ordinates all these so well over phone, now I realise how nice it is.

It was 2017, during the CTC Swimmathon, I was enrolled in the 3Km category and my granny was interested to come along with me.

Cheering me at the 3Km Swimmathon. In pic along with Peter Van Geit, my Guru!

At home, everybody encourages Sports and in taking up an active lifestyle.
She picked up a chair and watched me and all our friends swim the Openwaters in Ottiambakkam.

Granny finished the 3Km Pinkathon in Delhi, won a medal for completing and one medal for being the oldest person to have taken part. Age is just a number. In photo with Milind Soman (Model, Actor, Triathlete) and Aunt Raji

As I continue to write, I'm lost into thoughts and Nostalgic memories.
I'm happy to have had a great Inter-generational relationship.
Thoughts? Happy to hear if you would like to share!

Granma in Singapore, 2017. Her first trip abroad!

P.S : I'm thankful to my Mom for all these photographs she sent me over phone. Film developed photographs are a rare sight today! 

Ein kleines Gespräch

 The Joy of having a short conversation in our daily life brings about a few seconds of smile, from what I’ve experienced.

Let me quote a few scenarios which I found to be very nice:

•         Myself getting into a tram with many empty seats. I find the girl standing near the door with a big trunk in her hands. I ask her, why wouldn’t you sit, and she replied with a smile that she was fine and later got off at the next stop. She remembered to say bye to me 😀 

•        An Accordion player sitting in the subway playing some nice music. I had a small coin to offer him. He replies with a smile – Where are you from, India? Me- Yes. He- Oh, Mumbai, Kolkata very beautiful. The conversation ended with a big smile on both faces and a hand shake.



Eugenie& I, with the sweet Australian Couple; near Zapiecek, the Polish restaurant! They took a picture of us too! 

•          An old couple whom we ended up in a conversation (Eugenie and I were planning to walk around the old town) with after realising they spoke English. They were from America and were so happy seeing us and had a similar passion for learning languages. We got down the stop, walked till a restaurant and even clicked a nice picture together                      

•          While running in a park here, I was finishing my run and waiting near the signal and came across a runner. Seeing her run, I wanted to join her along. We smiled at each other, had a small conversation introducing ourselves, although our run together hardly lasted a few furlongs.

•          I get into the tram on a sunny day, watch a mother bring her child with the trolley and stood up to let her park the trolley in the place I sat, which was also meant for trolleys/ wheelchairs and could be used as normal seats when not put to this use. She refuses it with and later give me a nice smile and a small talk in English.

•          While on a tram, I come across a lady and two teens speaking English. When I come across people speak English or German in the public, I try to compliment them for the fact that there are seldom speakers of these languages from my experience. They gave me a weird expression with a hidden smile and pointed towards Centrum, saying, Oh you need to probably go to the other side, a lot of them speak. My reply was – Oh, I’ve been living year for over a year and this is from my experience. Although our conversation didn’t go well, there was a conversation!

Different scenarios, not about the gender, but either initiating or encouraging a conversation has a positive impact, even if it lasts for a few seconds in the daily life!

Remember to smile!😁

Who knows, it could also end up in a strong friendship!

Have you ever come across such an experience? Share, let’s have a nice conversation!

Regel machen vs Regel folgen

"Das Leben gehört den Lebenden an, und wer lebt, muss auf Wechsel gefasst sein"

There’s a big difference between forming rules and following rules. My mind has been going through a lot of different thoughts. Some are depressive, some are thoughtful and some, positive.

There’s an interesting story, which I recollect reading as a kid, which I still narrate to friends.

Let me try to put this in simple words. 

There was a nice king, who ruled a big kingdom. One day, a priest approached him, asking for some help. It was his daughter’s wedding, for which he needed some money. The king, astonished by the Priest’s knowledge and character, offered to share even half the worth of his kingdom, to make the wedding a grand success. The priest refused it gently, wished from the king for some money, earned out of his own hard word and his hands; which he would collect the next morning. The king, in turn was surprised and yet, agreed to it. That night, he set out in disguise along the streets and found a blacksmith, working hard near the fire. He offered the disguised king some work and the next morning, with the arrival of the priest, the king offered the few coins which he earned from the last night. Everybody was surprised, the priest took the coins and walked towards his home. His wife felt ashamed that the priest didn’t accept the kingdom’s wealth, instead took the few coins and walked back happily; went outside their home and threw the coins outside into their lawn. The next morning, the wife was astounded to find new plants grown, with money all over them. It had money, even more than the kingdom’s wealth. With a grand success at the wedding, the priest made a visit to the King and thanked him with a whole heart. The King couldn’t understand what was happening and asked the priest, how this could happen. The priest’s humble reply – “The kingdom’s wealth belongs to the people and the kingdom, the coins which the king offered to the priest – were offered out of hard work and toiled effort”.

I keep thinking of this story often, which lets me to understand how valuable money is; be it even a few coins.

We always come across these lines from people “Try to stand in someone’s shoes / Try doing it yourself to know what it feels like “ – Be it while leaving empty plates after eating on the table (sometimes with food not eaten fully) or ordering someone to do things. I’ve always thought about what it would feel like, to stand in someone’s shoes and see the perspective. While some souls cry for a single meal, how would it be to waste food! Maybe this narrative below could try to convey the thoughts I came across, while I sat to write this.

I got a chance to work in a restaurant, although the fact that I was wanting to find some Internship, which could give me good experience and put my vacations to good use. With the results not turning up positive, I took up a small job which came reaching me, in fact; as a kitchen help.

Two philosophies, which I always believe and try to follow.

•        Every job is worth it. Just because one doesn’t like it or feels one can’t earn so much money; doesn’t mean it has to be a bad one. There is still a hard-working candidate, who is ready to take up this job.
•         Respect money; appreciate even if it is a small value. Sometimes, a large volume of money is more difficult to handle.

I had to wash a lot of plates, mop the floor, carry bags of potatoes and sometimes, help in preparing food, if I turned up early that morning. Some days, I worked 10-12 hours; remember, hard tedious work. I was the only one, who couldn’t speak the local language; yet I found it nice to work there, it would help me learn the language much easier. The colleagues were friendly, sharing what they had to eat, although be it even small portions.

The first day after work, I got back home in the evening. It was a nice cross-fit training, I would say. In the olden days, people who worked in the kitchen, were always healthy and didn’t complain of any back or leg problems. I liked it, for it was much better than wasting time, doing nothing. After cooking and having my meal, as I stood in front of the wash basin at home, to wash the vessels back, my mind went through different thoughts, which I’ve never come across in my lifetime.

A look at the vessels, with the mirror in front and watching myself; feeling my ears on both sides, with voices saying, “Hey could you clean these plates too?”; which in fact took me deep down into an endless road inside the mind. After a while, I went to sleep and when I woke up the next morning, I was surprised to understand how things change within a small span of time.

Even though one boasts of high education, even the simplest of things could look challenging and hard. It is an interesting lesson for one to come across in life.

When I had my friends here in the dormitory, we had this interesting way of having food together. When one cooks, one takes part in preparing all the necessary things, one helps to wash the vessels after eating – both the plates and the cooking vessels, one gives a final wash. This kind of team work is an interesting chapter, which one can experience only whilst being a student; for it helps later in life. It puts one into an accepting thought process, making it simple, yet striking.

I could still sit and regret about not making it successful in what I always wanted to do. But, these small chapters add a strong value. It brings the confidence, that even small amount of hard earned money has so much value; which I conclude by comparing it with the story mentioned above.

It is making me more open& calmer. I hope to be a good listener, nothing more! Open to thoughts, if you would like to share (Private or as a comment below, any thing is fine 😊)

"Die besten Gedanken kommen allzeit hinterdrein"

Proverbs from : http://ceoworld.biz/2016/02/08/30-famous-inspirational-quotes-sayings-and-proverbs-in-german-with-translations/  

Machen! Nicht denken, nicht reden, einfach machen. Im Schlimmsten fall wird es eine neue Erfahrung!

When everyone from around were thinking of making a trip to the Trans-Baltic countries and ticking the list of countries from their bucket-list, 5 International friends(2 Italians, 1 Portuguese, 1 French and 1 Indian) decided to do something else.
We stuck to our plan of the Tri-cities in Poland - Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia. We in fact didn't spend a lot of time thinking of this trip; but stuck to the thoughts - Only Couchsurfing and Hitch-hiking, yes, not a joke!

Say hello to Us! :D

The rough plan was to stay there for 3-4 days, depending on how things work out, considering a long holiday in hand. The previous night in Warsaw, we had dinner together, I wanted to cook them some traditional Indian food and it worked.
Rafael headed the Couchsurfing ideology and managed to find us hosts for two nights, while Tristan accomplished it for the 3rd night; he also headed the idea of Hitchhiking and sharing us tips- splitting into two groups, using the sign board he prepared and trying as much as we can!

"Man muss einmal an seine Grenze gegangen sein, um zu wissen, wo sie liegen"

The saturday morning, we took the tram to Metro Mlociny together, it was fun, we were cracking a lot of jokes and making noise (Of course, in the entire trip).
We decided to top our stomachs with some food, to make sure we don't fall hungry on the way, considering the fact that we were going to be hitch hiking and wouldn't know if we would be successful or not!
Some yummy burgers from McDonalds (Oh guys, where ever you want to travel, be happy to spot a McD Sign and to eat cheap and fill in; until you get some nice food); we went to a Petrol station nearby and started our Hitch-hiking business.

The Trip has officially Kick-started!! 

1. Rafael and Tristan stood near the office of the station, so they could ask the car owners, as they come to pay their bill
2. Andrea, Michele and I, took the spot right opposite. We decided to approach cars as they enter the station, hoping someone would assist us.
Michele tried to talk to few cars, but it didn't work. I asked one lady, who was driving alone, but refused it since she had her baby onboard!

After some time, we switched spots to another place, a little ahead, where few guys ahead of us managed to find a hike successfully. We folded our hands, hoping for some grace!
An orange car passed us and we saw the two guys waving to us, they managed to find a car and went ahead!
Meanwhile, in this time-gap, Andrea found us a car; a gentle man, who kindly took us in and would drop us around 50 Kms from there.

Andrea's courage to be in the middle of the highway! Brave Italian!

It was a funny ride as we started to talk and introduce ourselves - seems like he was also a student in Warsaw and lived in the same dormitory as us.

Michele also tried, hahaha :D

The cool Trio!

It was his wife's birthday and on receiving her call, he wanted us to shout as much as we want and wish her a great day; you think we didn't shout? Hahahaha

Who doesn't like Haribo? Haribo is supercool :D

It was a non-stop conversation and a funny drive, this man was used to driving Automatic cars and this Ford Fiesta with Manual Transmission was strange to him and sometimes made sudden stops. (Me and Andrea are Automobile engineers, now you know why! :D)
He dropped us at some point and we had to find a way to the S7 Highway, the route to Gdansk.
We tried our luck around, but kept walking along the highway and stood almost in the corner of the last point where one could enter into the highway.
Luckily, after a few minutes- Oskar and Mariana (they were so nice), stopped for us and first wished to take two of us but we agreed to adjust and they obliged kindly.
On getting inside, Mariana started to talk Italian (seems like her Mom lives in Italy and she grew up speaking this language) and soon followed Oskar!
I was ashamed for a moment, because the rest 4 of them were talking in some strange language according to me and the only Italian words I knew were Bella, Grazie and Come va, which I kept telling once in a while, haha.
And soon I discovered Oskar spoke German and I could breathe for a moment, that we have another language in common. Sounds super, doesn't it ?
We even became friends on Facebook and agreed to catch up in Warsaw some time for a beer. They were amazing travel companions, while Oskar drove, Mariana was taking care of Navigation and did a great job.
We even stopped en route on the Petrol station for them to tank-up and a small talk.

"Die beste Möglichkeit deine Träume zu verwirklichen ist aufzuwachen"

They dropped us at one point, suggesting it would be luckier for us to spot a car! This turned out be another small adventure! We were walking over a bridge and there was a small farm house below and the people there understood we were lost and were helping us.
The little Polish we knew and the little English they knew, came so handy both ways. The man humbly came all the way, showed us the way and suggested us to jump onto the highway from a point 200 metres ahead.
But, we had to get down a bush, jump and cross to the other side and then jump onto the highway. It was a good on-the-go tiny adventure.

We kept walking along the road, peed on the fields and Michele suggested that one of us could hide and the rest two try to pick a car. We took turns and finally, Andrea's luck worked out.

It was Dawid, the next hike. It was a wonderful Nissan old SUV, on which he spent time to modify and get it to shape. We had a lot of things in common to talk about. He's also from a Production engineering background.

The little aforementioned adventure en-route!

We spoke few things in life and exchanged ideologies. Know what? He sent me a picture of his garage, it was amazing. He was driving to see his cousin and we had a great time, also on board was his dog Sasha. She looked so cute and calm.
Dawid and I, became friends on Facebook. When you find amazing people, what's wrong in staying in touch and maybe catching up again?

The two dogs in our trips! Say hi to Sasha!

Tristan with this cute dog!

He dropped us off at a Shell Petrol station, it was the biggest mistake we did in this trip. We first went inside the shop and took something to eat.
I was happy when the staff on the counter told me to take another bottle of coke, it was a buy 1 get 1 free. Thankfully it gave us some energy. In this semi-hot climate, one wouldn't feel like drinking a lot of water.
We approached a lot of people there, who were filling the tank if they could take us along. Almost everyone refused. One couple had space only for one, but we wanted to do it together; that's the joy of travelling right? Why let one person go alone!

A lot of people on the highway acknowledged us, some waved a Hi. Michele got so angry some times and was shouting " Hey, I'm not getting paid to stand on the highway and say Hi to the cars"
We kept going away and into the petrol station, since nothing worked.
Things fuelled up when we saw our two guys in another car, waving us hello. We thought "Why the F*** aren't we finding any car" Haha
One lady was so funny, Michele approached her and the conversation was like this :
"Michele : Hi, do you speak English?
Lady : No
Michele : Okay, have a nice day!
Lady : No"
We were laughing our lungs out hearing this, for over half an hour and also in the entire course of the trip.
Later we approached the highway once again and walked further.

"Wenn du denkst, Abenteuer sind gefährlich, dann versuch's mal mit Routine. Die ist tödlich"

To our luck, it was Pawel, a young student, who was on his way home, over 12 Kms from this point and we got inside.
He was very nice and vibrant, we spoke for the entire drive, even though it lasted long. We also became friends on Facebook and he offered us help in this place if we didn't managed to find anything.
At 22, he seemed a great entrepreneur, he was working as a seller for welding equipments. Amazing guy!
At the point where he dropped us, the climate was really nice and so was the background. Few country side villas and green grass & trees all around.

Was für ein schönes Aussicht!

We kept trying for cars, since we felt it might get dark soon. Once again , luck was on our side. We found a guy who stopped the car few metres ahead and we ran towards the car. Bear in mind, we were tired and carrying a heavy backpack. Who wouldn't run and catch the car, given this scenario, in the middle of no-where.
All through the way, I was remembering the scenes from Mr. Bean's holiday, how he hitch-hikes and finds the same Mini-cooper he had! It was funny, relating it to our story- 3 crazy guys.
This guy was very funny. After getting in the back of the car, since the front seat was full of his things. He offered us a cigarette, we refused though and he started smoking.
Me and Andrea were alarmed, since the windows weren't open and we had to find a way and open the windows. Crazy guy.
My Polish knowledge was over by now, since I used all the words I knew, but the guy kept speaking something in Polish.
He showed us picture of his girl friend and we also took a picture together.
In the process of clicking, Michele was alarmed and shouted "Hey, look in the street and drive, hahaha, he was driving at 120Kmph with his eyes on the camera, who wouldn't get alarmed! LOL!
Michele gave him company with the conversation. For every line the guy spoke in Polish, Michele's replies were these two words at frequent intervals - Dobra and Tak! Me and Andrea were left with no option, but to laugh at their conversation.
He dropped us off at Elblag and was telling something about with Money, because he was going to Kalingrad and the currency exchange is useful in some countries to buy cheap stuffs. I understood it only this way, but it was funny. He was going to the destination and drink Vodka with his family.

From the point he dropped us, we spent 10 minutes trying for the next car, it was around 70 Kms to Gdansk from there.
Thanfully, we finally found Bartek, who was driving to Gdynia and was so polite and humble. He dropped us off at the point where Rafael and Tristan were waiting for us.
And finally, woohooo, we landed in Gdansk! This trip was already supercool.

Once again, together, in Gdansk! Andrea says this was the best picture from the trip!

"Eine kleine Reise ist genug, um uns und die Welt zu erneuern"

We met together at a restaurant on the street near the old town of Gdansk. Their menu card was so funny, because Michele spotted Pasta with Carbonara, Mushroom and Peas - Which according to him was a big crime to commit. Carbonara has to be Carbonara; a Patriotic Italian, what to do! LOL!
We walked towards the railway station, it looked vintage and very nice.

Lukasz, our first host for the trip was supposed to receive us from the mall outside.

Do you see the Carbonara in the Menu? LOL

Since it was a little cold, we went inside the mall and soon these guys started to play the Computer games there. Michele played Basketball and was so funny seeing him play.

Lukasz finally received us and we decided to cook pasta for dinner. Andrea cooked yummy Carbonara and these guys were playing Fifa on Lukasz's Laptop, like a professional league, Tristan won it!
After dinner, I picked up a spot on the corner in the floor, put my mat and the sleeping bag and slept off. Sleep first, everything else next, agree?

We woke up in the morning, I made some tea for all of us, thanks to Tina for the wonderful Srilankan Tea she got for me, it was really nice.

Politechnika Gdanska!

Lukasz made breakfast for us, we ate and left together, since it was time for him to attend class. A very self-motivated and determined guy, we had a lot of things in common - Running Marathons, swimming and biking.
We visited Politechnika Gdanska, he showed us a room where students could sleep and take rest. I thought "Why don't we have this in our university?" Come on, it was so cool.

The Room for students to sleep! How nice is it?

On this day, nothing special happened, we walked around Gdansk, walked up a viewing tower and saw the whole of Gdansk, walked along the river and it was fun.

Near the old town of Gdansk!

Hunger persuaded and we had to find something to eat or drink, we found a cafe and sat there.
The waitress was amazing, she spoke British English fluently but was Polish. 3 years in England and she picked up the accent.
The Italians found company with the chef, who was Italian and the Pizzas tasted amazing, along with some nice Tyskie.

From the top-most point in Gdansk!

"In der Fremde hast du hundert Augen, zu Hause bist du blind"

And then, in the evening, we took a train to reach Stoyana's, our second host for the trip.
While introducing, she thought I was from Spain, and I even joked that I was from Granada in Spain (I don't even know where it is nor I have been to Spain before,lol)
She was amazing, we spoke a lot, cooked Pasta and had an amazing time.
We went to the beach, I was so happy and relieved to see the beach after 6 months (Back home, I was visiting the beach atleast once in three days).

Me, Rafael, Lukasz and Andrea went to swim in the cold Baltic sea (temperature was 7 degrees), it was my first ever experience with cold water, I don't even try showers with cold water.

We swam in the Baltic Sea <3 WOW!

It was a nice feel, discovering my legs going numb and losing sensation. But was a great experience.
We met Stoyana's friends, One guy was an Ecuadorian and three of them were German and I found good company. Kim, who's been to India before, was sketching in her book and drew a sketch of me.
The outline was nice, I really liked it.

Kim, the sketch she drew of me! I liked it very much!

We spoke over common things, from her visit to India, it was nice.
Later that night, we were discussing over a lot of things and finally I found a place on the floor and retired for the night.

Living life, the simple way! Travelling teaches a lot of things!

Next morning, I woke up and made some tea, while Stoyana prepared yummy Pancakes for breakfast.
Around Mid-day, we left from there and went towards Sopot, to see the beach and try and find luck, so we could ferry to Hel, a wonderful place in the corner of Poland.

Stop! Smile!

We walked around Sopot, asking for directions. We found a lady on the way, who spoke Italian and these guys were so happy to talk to her.

Parli Italiano? 

Come on Michele, what are you staring at? LOL

We ate in KFC and drafted our forthcoming plan.
We bought the tickets to Hel and took the ferry. It was a joyful ride, we found a couple who've been to India and I was speaking in the little Polish I knew.

Authorised personnel only! Shhhhh!

I clicked a lot of pictures and the ferry was nice and breezy.
We walked around in Hel, it was a beautiful spot, especially for those who are looking for a spot after retirement.

The so-nice couple with whom we only spoke in Polish!

The weather was Top Notch, in Polish they say "Wladne mame dzis Pogoda"; the sky looked flamboyant, with rains in some distant place.

When it rains in HEL(L) :D

We took the train from Hel to Gdynia. I would recommend this train to anyone, who wants to see some amazing scenary, beach on both the sides of the travel and maybe in Winter, it would look even better, for those who want to click beautiful pictures.

Rafael and his National flag! <3

On reaching Gdynia, we walked to Piotr's, our third host. It was a beautiful route and a beautiful country side house, belonging to his grand father.



He also sells Honey and gave us some to taste. His family has bee-hives and they sell jars, I hope to pick one from Piotr soon.

We visited HELL without an "L" :D 

He was a little shy but we became good friends in a short span of time. Stoyana also joined us, I wished for it, so we could meet once again.

We were laughing a lot, especially to Michele's funny experiences and some games together.
We cooked Pasta al Pesto and had a tasty dinner together with some nice beer.

Piotr's old villa in Gdynia!

The next morning, we left to Malbork castle; supposedly the largest castle in the world, in terms of the total area.

Picturesque view of the Malbork castle!

We walked our way, with a stop near the railway station for a Kebab and nice American cone Ice cream.

The castle was very nice, I decided to wait outside and not go in. The rest of them went.
I found a beautiful spot - a bench under a tree and took some rest until Tristan came and we had a nice Lech Beer with some Frytki together.

Hey, the camera is on the floor, say Cheese! :D

Who doesn't like to take a power-nap in a beautiful bench under a tree?!

Finally these guys returned and we walked our way to the railway station, only to pick our train to Warsaw, finishing our trip and the amazing experience.

"Reisen wäscht den dreck des Alltags von der Seele"

Like Stoyana said, it's good to have a break between frequent travelling. We come across many new people, some become very close and to take all of them into the mind at the same-time is a stress. I totally understand it now!

Google Maps told me there is a castle here! I don't find it!

I feel like I really need that silence! But I will miss these amazing people in life, who knows, we may do crazy trips once again ,swim in the ice, who cares?
Isn't that the reason, friends are meant for?

Flowers symbolise Peace and Harmony! Agree?

My dear friends, make a lot of travel in life. You will really discover - both yourself and this wonderful world. There's a lot to see - Not just Facebook, WhatsApp and Gossips!

Amazing lines in German - Courtesy : Pinterest 

The people, because of whom our maiden Hitch-hiking experience turned out to be an amazing memory! 

Say hello to our CS Hosts! Lukasz, Stoyana and Piotr! We're all a family now :)