Songs and Memories-1- German Christmas & Rains

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrTnxXI1AUg  You can listen to Taal se taal mila via this link...

Remember this song from Taal? I find it beautiful, the audio as well… Not just because of the amazing A.R. Rahman but also because this was one of the happy songs I would listen to, away from home in ‘students’  city Darmstadt, back in my German Internship days…

Since I had always idolized my father and wanted to be like him, I had taken along his favourite Talat Mehmood’s ‘dukhi’ tapes; which I somehow, later, understood were not good for me and confessed to an Indian elder-brother-like Indian friend the office people introduced me to. I called him ‘Basav bhai’. 

Office people's X-Mas treat for me- 'Kinder punch':)

AIESEC Darmstadt makes roll-call:) at Mainz.

Mr B. Patil and his wife Kiran were very kind to me. Basav Bhai asked me to not listen to those tapes. Simple enough… But I needed something and hung on to them and confessed again to another Indian friend I acquired at the Christmas fest Aiesecers took me to in, Mainz, a city nearby. This was

Devraj & I clicked by Rupa, @ Museum Apotheke

Devraj! The ever helpful and smiling brother to Devrupa, who in turn, was to become my confidante later… Devraj promptly invited me over to their place in beautiful Heidelberg for the weekend. The brother and sister are IT people and Bengalis with Hyderabadi accent! Devraj took us around the castle city and also sent me off with the Taal cassette tape! This music brought a new lease of life into my evening meal cooking time or simply after office hours!

Rupa & I, at the Heidelberg Castle, in the rain:)

Nils, my bubbly flat-mate had made fun of Aishwarya’s picture on the cassette-cover, “Indian girls make naked pictures? Are they not traditional?” I explained, “No, no, she is wearing skin coloured leotard!”

Nicole, my other flat-mate remarked on some instrumentation of one of the songs, probably ‘kanhin aag lage lag jaaye’… “This sounds like some European music I have heard before…” I had to say, “It is quite possible… Our film music has a lot of western influence…” But they all liked the whole album overall and I was in any case, very proud of our national treasure, A.R.Rehman. I probably left it for them before coming back, just like the red chilli powder requested by Frank my third flat-mate, along with other spices…

Frank, his grandma and sister Anne

Coming back to the song above, ‘taal se taal mila’, while for us Indians the rain is a wonderful phenomenon not just because we are an agricultural nation but also because it is a welcome change in the warm climate; whereas, for the westerners it is more of a hassle. So, when dancing and singing in the movies seem already funny to them, dancing in the rain must seem ridiculous! In their kind of cold weather, it is quite understandable. So, when during my Christmas invite at flat-mate and fellow AIESECer (Students Exchange organization), Frank’s parents’ place, after numerous questions whether to carry umbrellas by his younger sister Anne, Frank refused confidently, it was only natural that she gave it back to him when it rained heavily during our walk!

And I took a photo!:D 

Hope you enjoyed this:)