Things I miss from India #1

In a foreign land, starting a new life amidst different culture, different skin tones, new language, new social norms and discipline is way too hard to adjust to. Especially in Germany, <where do I start..> Hmm .. From the sign boards which are written in a language I don't understand? Vielleicht.. Although I have started to like the way certain things are, there are always differences that have left me baffled.
However, it is especially difficult if you are an Indian, trying to live abroad because there is so much to long and miss for. The simple day-to-day things, the warmth of home and convenience of people, buzzing roads, familiar foods and animal kingdon of all varieties and colors - everything seems so important and so close to heart. Here are a few things I miss from my desh (country) :

#1 The people and animals:

Yes, you heard it right. The people (1.27 billion to be exact), the one who I was calling "crowd". Everywhere I looked around me, was filled with people, vehicles and sometimes even animals - back home. I was so surprised at how much I started to miss this "atrocity" and "lost in crowd" feeling the moment you are out. And trust me, on the first day I reached here, I was so tempted to think some sort of curfew was going on, which is why people are not strolling out on the streets! It looked like a deserted road - with no one living in the neighbourhood. The only time I see a lot of "crowd" is on weekends, concerts and public holidays, or more recently - World cup games. After a while (Oh, there was no curfew that day), you would get tired of cars zooming past you and yearn to actually talk to real people. 

On the brighter side, Germans prioritise Sports very much. In the five months during which Sun allows people to roam around without Jackets, you find a pretty decent amount of people on the streets! Cycling, jogging, book-reading, swimming, fishing, walking or sun-bathing. That, is something I have started adapting to my Indian lifestyle. 

Next, Pets have always been a great companion to human, displaying its love and loyalty. Yeah yeah, we all know that - get to the point.. I had read that Westerners usually adore pets a lot, and 80 percent of the people would own a pet. So I was mentally prepared with the pets part. What was surprising, was that the pets are so silent here!! Dumb? Nah.. They are trained so perfectly and are very well behaved. They do not bark aimlessly, nor do they chase you wrecklessly! And most importantly, it is hard to find stray animals at all here. Sometimes I feel, the look-out for real people is substituted with animals? I wonder.