Die Erfahrung (Our experience with German language)

,,Ein japanisches Sprichwort sagt: Nur die Reise ist schön –Nicht das Ankommen!

Vielleicht liebt man an einer fremden Sprache genau diese Reise. Man macht auf dieser Reise viele Fehler, aber man kämpft mit der Sprache, man dreht die Wörter nach links und rechts, man arbeitet mit ihr, man entdeckt sie.

Meine deutschen Wörter haben keine Kindheit,aber meine Erfahrung mit deutschen Wörtern ist ganz körperlich. Die deutschen Wörter haben Körper für mich. Ich bin ihnen im wunderbar deutschen Theater begegnet.”

Above lines are from the book that we referred during our German exam preparations.

Translation:

'' A Japanese proverb says: Only the journey is beautiful – Not the outcome!
Perhaps one loves foreign language exactly for this journey.  He makes a lot of mistakes (rather blunders) on this journey, he is wrestles with the language, turning the words to the left and right, he works with the language, and he discovers the language.

My German words have no childhood, but my experience with German words is quite physical. The German words have the body for me. I met them in the wonderful German theater. "

We have been learning, fiddling, exploring this new, foreign language since quite some time now and these two paragraphs completely summarise our experience of learning German. We are just the beginners but the process of studying the language is so much fun that we feel really connected to it.

As quoted by Lao Tzu,

“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving”

We just stumbled into this hobby of learning language with no particular purpose or intention and before we knew a lot about it, we had started loving it. (A big thanks to our teachers who made it so interesting for us!)

Language is the path to the culture of the nation. It is reflection of people of belong to that nation. Learning foreign language is the bridge that connects whole world together. It expands the limit of ones world. 

Our experience with this foreign language has no childhood, but we’d definitely love to learn it till it becomes non-foreign to us!

The other side!

Today, while waiting at a signal, I happened to see something that is probably the reality of our country we ignore, after all ignorance is bliss!
So I saw these three kids, from their ways I deduce that they might be siblings! When I looked from far, it was scene of three street kids playing around.  But when i looked close, one of them who appeared to be the elder amongst the three was getting himself and his brother n sister ready for a day’s job!
They all undressed to bare minimum and folded their dirty torn clothes and packed them in a cloth. They kept it at a secured place. 
Took to their tools of the trade:  tin box each with a coin in it to make the 'sound' during the job. The sister was frolicking looking at the birds around. The eldest brother snaped her back saying ‘dhande ka time hogaya, chalo!'
Off they went in three different directions. A hard day at work awaited them.
The heartbreaking realities of the incredible India!

Exploring thin lines

I have been listening to this song by Coldplay and one of the lines that stuck in my head

'I drew a line,
I drew a line for you,
Oh what a thing to do!'

Somehow these words manifest thoughts of those unseen yet existing lines. The drawing and crossing of which changes your reality completely!  Sometimes crossing these lines is a huge mistake and sometimes it’s a brilliant breakthrough.

 

So we had a small discussion over this topic and thought of different contexts in which we use this term thin lines separating one thing from another. Here’s the fun list that we have come up with.

These lines are invisible but they sure do exist!

• ·      Love and hate
• ·      Arrogance and confidence
• ·      Bravery and stupidity
• ·      Worthless and priceless
• ·      Hunger and greed
• ·      Brilliance and insanity
• ·      Respect and fear
• ·      Crazy and genius
• ·      Right and wrong
• ·      Determination and desperation
• ·      Yes and no
• ·      Dreams and reality
• ·      Superstition and belief
• ·      Wisdom and foolishness
• ·      Ego and self respect
• ·      Heaven and here
• ·      Words and wounds
• ·      Confidence and Over-confidence
• ·      Madness and eccentricity
• ·      Obsession and love
• ·      Pleasure and pain (;))
• ·      Success and failure

YOU!

Starting from scratch..its difficult!

To let go off all that you built over the years and see it crumble to pieces. The dust almost makes you cry but the tears aren't there yet. Because what you are feeling, can be only felt not explained. Nobody would know the exact feeling you have, when all that you worked towards, comes falling down like a house of cards. You dont understand where to start, what to do, how to overcome this feeling you have and let go and start building again. Your hands tremble at the idea of starting again. You worry, what if you fail and what to do next and what if you keep on failing how do  get past this and start afresh 'let it be' as they say are the words of wisdom, now are they ?

You doubt. Doubt is the one only theme for the series going inside of your head. You have your  head full of thoughts. . oh so heavy thoughts: weigh more than you. Its too much burden and too much patience...the head seems like a closet overflowing with clothes of thoughts and endless thoughts. You wonder when would this stop! You think you could start then but it just goes on and on..
Oh starting from scratch is such a mess..all these expectations people have from you are at once useless because you are becoming something you weren't and these expectations are from the old you, one that crumbled to pieces.. or atleast a part of you.

You see how futile these things are. All the values: the basic ones, on which you based your decisions,seem to be nothing but a lie or something like that! You no more know which way to go seems like you are lost in a place you have never been before.

But look at everything closely. What’s common in that? It’s all that YOU FEEL. Its all the game of mind.
And YOU are the only player inside. Hence nobody but you, and only you can make your way through to the place where you want to be..only you!

Its your life. You can be all you want to be. You can fail and start again.  If Trouble shows up, you have to face it upright because its your life.
You have to make your roots strong and cling to the soil even if winds and rains try to destroy you.

Its about you, how you deal with the goods and bads that come your way. Its all about you how you greet people

who meet you in the journey. You have to stand on your ground, change a little with time and still be the same.

You have the magic in you! Yes you.
Trust me,
Its just about YOU!

They say...

Define life. well its tough isn't it?
It's something that cannot be confined to boundary drawn by words.
Still they say life can be defined by a set of rules,you try to bend them and you are told not to.

They say life is simple don't complicate it.
Things are  already decided and lines have been drawn. It's like the coin, having only two sides. .

The blacks are black and the whites are white,they say there is no grey.
The rights are rights and the wrongs well,are wrongs there is no mid way.
They say Life is a race. You've to keep moving on your track. You've to take turns. Go left or right. you cannot standstill.
The goods are the only goods and the bad well they ARE totally bad,there is no getting away.

They say  either you are talented or you are lucky

They say you win some you lose some there is no way  to get it all. And yet they judge the fish by its ability to fly and tell the fish its stupid.

They say if you're rich, you're happy and poor then sad. But money is the worst unit to measure happiness.

They ask us to choose: "what do you want, A or B?" But what if one wants both, or nothing...

They say "we have come a long way",oh yes "we are thoughtful,modern" but deep down inside they still cling to the same old thoughts,some constructive some misfitting the present times.

They say a lot of things and yet sometimes leave whats really important,what really matters. Its like an unsaid word explains more than the ones blurted out in hurry,hurry to get on with new trends,to fit the social circle,to be taken seriously,to be considered of good report.

They will never say this,but deep down while munching on a bucket of popcorn in the cinemas or boarding the train or while sitting at the office desk they wonder,oh they just wonder ' what if..?' and they sigh!

Impressions!

She never thought she would end up chatting with him let alone sob when he was leaving for his masters. Got her thinking about their first meeting. He was working at the music group she had just joined. He kept to himself unlike the others. She had always been a silent observer in new surroundings and among new people. They exchanged words only when they had to work and so things went on in the beginning. Eventually during the course of their work she befriended him, and he was nothing like his first impression.
            He was chatty, funny interesting though his first impression was somehow exactly opposite.  He was also surprised at how different she was as opposed to her impression.. They became very good friends over a period of time 
            It is said that first impression is the last impression. But in today’s world, where the only static thing is change, everything keeps on changing with a blink of an eye. And people are no exception to that rule! Hence the saying ‘First impression is the last impression’ does little justice. First impressions are sometimes mere illusions/perceptions we make in our mind and often are not true.
            It's a very general observation that people who are now very close to us were the ones who did not make a very good first impression. First impressions can be deceptive.
            After long years of friendship it does not matter what you thought of a person in the beginning.
            Makes us wonder how this works, because often people we trust and believe to be our friends in need, leave us on our own in those very times! Sad but true! 
Often people whom we had prejudices about, lend us a helping hand in the times of need. Weird.. Right?

20 things somebody should have told me before I turned 20!

1.      Engineering and medicine are not the only professions in the world.
2.      Read books! Books can take you to a different world; it can also make you aware of the world around you in a way you never thought of.
3.      Facebook/Orkut /social networking sites are eventually gonna bore you.
4.      The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit that you hear and agree to when you know you can totally achieve it.
5.      Don’t use shortcuts like k, f9, buhbye! You will end up irritating your colleagues at work if you continue this.
6.      You don’t really need to have a boyfriend/girlfriend because others have one. Be patient, you’ll someday find a perfect match ;)
7.      Be wise while choosing friends, be sure you are not seeing the tip of the iceberg.
8.      Success is different for different people. Try to find out your own definition. When you do, celebrate it!
9.      Marks are important, but they are not a sole measure of your credibility.
10.  That no matter how fast you run. The race is with yourself!
11.  Experience is as important as education.
12.  College is not the end of your education.
13.  Never put your hand under an unfamiliar desk because you might touch someone else’s old chewing gum.
14.  Brands are just tags with funky names on it.
15.  Burning the midnight oil is not to be taken too literally before the exams.
16.  Be nice to yourself. Maybe you don’t realize but you are way better than you think.
17.  Give up worrying about what others think of you.
18.  Memorable journey is not necessarily the perfect journey you planned.
19.  Listen to all genres of music. They will be with you at the times of sorrow or joy.
20.  Enjoy the present. No matter what this time here will never come back.