It was late autumn. Hues of red and yellow could be seen on many Trees, some less colorful, some more, but all of them made the landscape remarkably beautiful. There was a chill in the air, especially in the night and early morning.
Nilesh had only a few days back arrived in Munich from Bangalore, a city of dreams and aspirations for many Techies in India, also known as the silicon valley of India. But he was not alone; his daughter Kavya and wife Bhavna also landed with him in the new country, the new culture, and the completely new world.
At the Bangalore airport, they were seen off by quite many friends and relatives. His father, a devout Hindu, a Brahmin, on that day, had offered prayers to Hindu God Vishnu, chanted some Sanskrit Slokas and put a sacred vermillion mark on his forehead to ward off any evil forces for a smooth and hassle-free journey to a new continent, to a new country, far off from Bangalore and India.
After bidding farewell to all and sundry, Nilesh, his wife, and his little daughter, finally boarded the flight to Munich, a city in the South of Germany, surrounded by breathtaking alps.
After 10 hours of flight, they arrived in Munich. After finishing all the modalities of the airport, they took a taxi and reached the hotel, which was booked for them by Nilesh’s IT Company. It was already late at night, and the family was totally exhausted. They changed their clothes and went to sleep.
The next day was Sunday. The clanging of the Church bell forced them out of their deep slumber. First the mother, then the father and finally the little Indian girl got up from the bed, went to the bathroom, washed their faces, took out the rheum from the corner of their eyes, bathed one after another and settled for the breakfast in the dining hall of the hotel .with some reluctance, they started eating the food, which was quite foreign and not very palatable to their taste. The last morning, they had a very sumptuous breakfast – alu dam, puri, Halwa, chole and mango lassi. Today they only have different types of bread, jam and coffee to contend with. What a drastic fall in a day!
After spending few weeks in the hotel, the Indian family moved, on that autumn day, when the trees were full of colors, red and yellow, into a new apartment, not very far from the office of Nilesh. It was a little far from the city center but was well-connected by various means of public transport such as trams and buses. The locality looked much cleaner and peaceful than where they had lived in Bangalore. Lushed in the greens, the apartment had a very serene look about it. There was hardly any noise or din that can be heard from the rooms in the apartment. There were utter calmness and serenity in the air. The neighbors only muttered, whispered, and hissed. The pets – the dogs never barked, and the cats meowed only very softly. The silence was a God to be worshipped and maintained in its total sanctity, and noise was a taboo.
But, the taboo was soon to be broken.
They say, “you can tame a Lion but not a restless Child”. As soon as the Indian family reached their new home, the little girl started scampering from the living room to the bedroom and back and forth. It was as if she wanted to announce her arrival in that boring, silent neighborhood.She had brought a beautiful ball to play from India, which she started throwing on the floor and running after it. The pounding of her footsteps, the thud of the ball with every fall on the floor, sent shockwaves in the house of the family living on the ground floor just underneath them. The German family saw it as an act of invasion, an act of blasphemy which unsettled their peaceful lives and torn it asunder. It couldot be tolerated, and silence was to be maintained at all costs. The noise was an act of sacrilege, an insult to God of silence.
The fat German Lady hurried out of her house indignantly and, in a rage of anger, rang the bell of the Indian family. with a puzzled look, Nilesh opened the door and saw the blonde standing before him. She wore a white skirt and a blue top, her hairs done in a bob cut. Her eyes were red with bitterness, and she was gasping for breath. she lashed out in German ” was ist los hier, warum gibt es so viel lärm(whats the matter, why is there so much noise)”. Nilesh was startled and said, “sorry”.He could not understand one word in German but could only make out that the Lady was furious. Once the woman was gone, he shut the door with a sigh of relief, and scolded her daughter to keep quiet. He switched on the television and coaxed her into watching a cartoon movie to prevent her from causing any further trouble on that very first day of their arrival in that locality. The little girl pursed her lips in an act of defiance, pushed herself on the sofa and started watching the cartoon while dangling her legs.
So, on that eventful day, the Indian family arrived in the serene German locality, where the dogs had never barked, and the cats meowed very softly…
interesting !!