India Here India Everywhere

I write this blogl from a small town in Austria - Graz with a population of 20000.

This last 5 days have taken me to the most odd places in Europe which I never thought will ever visit. My first stop was at Bad Salzgun in Germany – formerly East Germany. Theres still a huge difference in East Germany and West Germany which is clearly visible. I order for my Lunch in the hotel restaurant and only veg food that I get is boiled vergetables and that too things like Broccoli and some goat khane wala leaves.
Mind you its more difficult to search for places as in this small town of 10000 people theres no English – no English TV channels except BBC. No one speakes English and no signboards in English.
Somehow surviving the first day my host eager to look for me some veg food take me from one village to other in different restaurants but no veg food. Luckily in one of the villages ( population 1000-2000) one restaurant owner informs that there is an Indian restaurant there. It was a pleasant shock. In a village of 1000 odd people an Indian restaurant. The guy who owns is from Jullandhar, Punjab and he is also pleased to see some Indian in this part of the world. Goof food but was tough paying 10 Euros for a Dal and 4 Euros for a roti. Any way I survive another day. My next host , sorry hostess , Stefanie is aware that I am vegetarian and she has done her home work looking for Vegetarian food and we go to an Italian restaurant and get good veg pizza. After my meeting at this place – Fulda – with a population of 65000 – my hostess and her boss take me to an Indian restaurant. This one again is owned by some one from Jullandhar. The 9 Euros my host pays for that oily onion pakora makes me pinch. From here I fly to Austria – land in Graz and then 60 kms to my meeting venue at Zeltweg. This is a small town with a population of 8000 people , mostly industrial with one railway track making company employing 2700 people. The hotel room is very small and uncomfortable as nothing again is English except CNN here. Even MTv is german. So after my meeting instead of earlier plan to stay there overnight I come back to Graz and my hosts book me into a hotel here. Feeling hungry I open my home made Puri , achar and bhujia but find the puris have not been able to survive the intercontinent flights. So I set off to locate an Indian restaurant.And I reach the third Taj Mahal hotel of my trip. Again host from Jullandher. The guy is nice to me as he allows me to eat there despite his hotel is fully booked. He is here for last 38 years. As I could see he is doing a flourishing business with almost 20 guest he had to refuse as it was all booked.I order for a sag panir along with one Nan(I don’t know if I should call it Nan but beggars cant be choosers). And yes I get one cup of Chai gratis and Man I loved it despite the adrak and elaichi in abundance. I spend 40 Euros for this dinner( 20 for taxi to & fro) and come back to the hotel. As you must have noticed the only channels I saw on TV through out this 5 days was CNN and BBC. And what India is everywhere. I see CNN discussing how India and china is responsible for the world food crisis. Few stores in US like Costco and Sams club has rationed the sale of rice to each individual and how India is responsible for this. They are always showing that how 70% of our population still leaves for less than 2 USD a day and how a mother has to sacrifice her meal so that she can educate her children. I don’t know what the External Affairs ministry do in India and dont market the India growth story. Then there was a story of how a filthy British rich girls parents spent 1,00,000 pound to celebrate her 16th birthday and you know what – the theme was Bollywood. So a huge set is designed and lot of desi music and choreographers flown in from Bombay train this girl and her friends to dance to Indian Bollywood numbers. And then IPL is covered in CNN. So I am in constant touch with India either through the Jullandhar guys all over or how we are creating hunger with growing population and no irrigation. Seing these Indians here I am never gonna question again how did my great great grandfather reach Purulia all the way from Deshnoke. And how I have reached these places though temporarily – papi pet ka sawal hai.
Tomorrow I start I believe a more adventures trip going to Finland. My whole day tomorrow is going to be traveling. Starting 9Am 50 kms to the airport taxing and then flight to Frankfurt and then connecting to Helsinki and then a bus journey to Turku in Finland reaching there at 9.40 Pm. 12 hrs. Turku- Have you ever heard this name. neither did I before getting this customer. And then Tampere and then lahti – all in Finland. Bye the way I did a wonderful train journey from Fulda to Frankfurt on ICE running at times 185kms an hr. And then waiting at the station to catch my train with temeperature at 2 degrees seing train full of BMWs being ferried But as my trip progresses I am getting more confidante I will get one Jullandhar guy making some Indian food and keeping me full.