Indian life in a German city
By Anja Ludwig

THERE are a lot of stories to be told about people who for various reasons have left their native country in order to live in Germany. Some of these stories are about Indians who settled down in Aachen, a city in the western most part of Germany. One of the Indians settled there is 36-year-old Jaswant Singh. Seven years ago, the Patiala-born Jaswant left for Germany to make his dream come true. Having studied pharmacy and worked as a pharmacist in Punjab, he went to Aachen and began to study medicine at Aachen University of Technology. Unlike many of his fellow countrymen, who studied in America, he chose Germany because he found the tuition fees to be very high in the USA. Furthermore, at that time his brother was already living in Germany, being married to a German. Jaswant learned the German language during a four-month intensive course in Pune, near Bombay. In order to make a living for himself, his wife and their two children, he works as a nursing attendant in a hospital. He and his family have had no problems in getting acquainted with other Indians and Germans. Still, life in Germany will merely be an interval in their lives since the family plans to return to India as soon as Jaswant’s studies are completed. It is evident that they have stayed in touch with their family and friends back home in India. Just like the other Indians, Jaswant finds social life in Germany rather complicated. Dates with friends have to be arranged weeks in advance to make sure everybody will be free. Only very few Germans visit family and friends spontaneously and these visits are seldom successful. On the other hand, Germany offers more order and discipline in everyday life and the management of time plays a much greater role in Germany than in India.

Jaswant does not wear a turban anymore. He says he preferred getting his hair cut because Germans constantly asked him awkward questions about his turban —its length, the way to tie it etc. He finally came to the conclusion that it was more comfortable not to wear a turban in Germany.

When Jaswant is not studying or working at the hospital, he is helping out other foreign students. Furthermore, he enjoys meeting other Indians living in the area and celebrating Indian festivals with them.

Another Indian closely connected with Aachen University of Technology is Hirenda Nath Chatterjee. Born in Lucknow, Chatterjee has been working for the university for many years. He first came into contact with Germany while completing a training course in technical engineering at a school near Bombay that was run with German aid. After graduation, Chatterjee came to Germany in order to do his internship and also to learn the language. One professional course was followed by another and finally he settled down in Germany. He is now married to a woman from Columbia and they have two daughters. Chatterjee, who earned a business school degree in Germany, has been working in Aachen University since 1981 and for the past about eight years he has been the international coordinator of the North-South-Study Group. This group focuses on research cooperation among university students, industrial companies, as well as developing countries.

Chatterjee is not only an enthusiastic coordinator, but plays an active role as regards cultural issues. Together with a fellow countryman, he founded a German-Indian cultural centre called Disha. The centre aims to initiate social and humanitarian projects in India on a small scale. One of their plans is to set up a women’s school near Pathankot in the near future. Chatterjee visits his native country regularly, and still practises his Hindu religion, contributing to a healthy mix of religions in his home, as his wife is a Christian. Chatterjee has faced no problems living as an Indian in Germany. He says that Indians have always been highly regarded since those who emigrated to Germany and other countries were highly educated and adapted extremely well to the alien place. However, with the declining economic prosperity in Germany, life of foreigners is becoming more difficult. On this account, Chatterjee is slightly worried about the future of his kids, but he still believes that he made the right choice in settling down in Germany.

Similar are the views of Dr Gursev Singh Dhupia, who works and lives in Aachen with his German wife, son and two daughters. Before he came to Aachen, 52-year-old Dhupia lived and studied in Delhi. Almost 30 years ago, he decided to enrol himself in a reputed German university and became a student of mineralogy. He now runs his own company, dealing with high temperature ovens for ceramic use. He also deals with technology transfer in this field. Companies in India profit from the know-how he provides. Thus, he frequently travels to India, both for personal and business reasons. Just as was the case with Jaswant Singh, Germans constantly question Dhupia about his turban. Nevertheless, he continues to wearing it, mainly for private reasons, not for religious ones. Dhupia, who took on the German nationality about 16 years ago, says it makes travelling easier for him and, moreover, he wants to stay in Germany for the rest of his life. He feels that living in Germany has a number of advantages. For example, the convenience of having an efficient water and power supply system. Also, in India the gap between the poor and the rich is much more wide than it is in Germany. But just like Jaswant Singh and Chatterjee, Dhupia prefers the Indian way of having get-togethers with family and friends.

Dhupia has realised that the relationship between the Germans and the foreigners they associate with has changed during the past years. When he first came to Germany at the end of the sixties, he stayed in a small village and got along well with people living there even though he did not speak their language. The Indians who came to Germany in those times were highly educated and were welcomed to the country. The older generation, Dhupia points out, had a high regard for India. Indians and Germans met on equal terms, and their "civilised" backgrounds provided the basis for their bond. This included mutual respect for each other. Now the rising number of unemployed persons has generated a feeling of rivalry between Germans and the foreigners. This obviously makes it difficult for foreigners to feel at home in Germany.

Just like Jaswant and Chatterjee, Dhupia supports the cultural exchange programmes between Indians and Germans.