A pen is mightier than a sword
A thought is stronger than the action....
It has been more than seven years ..I was so engrossed in this rat race of life that I forgot about my 'Miles'.
This post is dedicated to a lady named Cornelia. I saw her in 2011 when I was screening nannies for Sonu, then 6 year old. The lady who I met before Corry ( As we called Cornelia) was very professional, good, polite but there was a gelling problem between the nanny and the boy. I don't remember right now how abruptly that ended but I am sure it was not more than a month. Then came Corry. I am never very picky....never was. I wanted to take a chance...her look didn't seem very normal to me but again I wanted to take the risk, of course a secret calculated risk. She entered our life. It was good, very good. She became a part of our family. She played with Sonu, read him books, introduced him to colors, jumped with him in the pools, communicated in German (very important). She was very punctual and I was very relieved due to this.They played and fought and complained just like kids. Life was very lively back then. She liked Indian food that I cooked. I loved the way she served the bowl of fruits to Sonu. She cooked something German for him and I used to cook for both of us after I was back from work. Yes I had to organize the house after that, I found many cups full of tea on the windows of the apartment in Munich...BUT WHO CARES. We got along so well that I felt sad to leave her when I left Munich in 2013. I agonized more for Corry because I felt very satisfied that I could also take care of her. She was sort of alone. But life moves on. She got another job and we moved on in Stuttgart with another phase of life. I was not doing good during the year 2014-2015. Most probably in 2015 we invited Corry to Stuttgart on Sonu's birthday. We all went to the Black forest and we spent such a nice time together. She was touched by the fact that we were paying for her stay, her food...Really!!!! Isn't that normal? We reflected on her past and visited her maternal roots ( just the house) which was on our way from Black Forest to Stuttgart. Contentment is when you see a person getting emotional and remembering her by gone days.
Corry and I both have issues with mental health. 2019 was not a very good time for my mental health again.
Saturday morning 2019, Stuttgart- We were on our way to the Indian store in Stuttgart. I told Kuntal that I am missing Munich and he offered me a drive to Munich. Thanks a lot to Kuntal and thanks to God that we both tune perfectly in such situations. Daily chores never get a priority when gut feeling peeps in.While we were on our way to Munich, I called Corry but she sounded very low ; I didn't dare to disclose that we were coming to Munich because couple of days back she informed me that she is not in a state to meet someone or talk to someone.We reached Munich to my very close friend cum sister and this sweet sister asked me to go for a walk with Kuntal and relax a bit.
We were strolling in Westpark and remembering our times together, the first b'day celebration of Sonu after coming to Germnay there, his bike, my inlaws, a long list. Before moving further I reminded kuntal that we must go back because he uses my GPS (brain navigation) when we walk together. I was afraid that my GPS would hang. We turned around and we saw to our utter surprise Corry...She hugged us and kissed us with so much affection. We kept looking at each other with love and warmth and we experience such warmth only from parents. Her eyes were wet and we sat there for 45 mins. She looked so pale and weak and had lost few pounds and she was stooping. Sad but true...age matters. She saw Sonu and was taken aback by his height and their attachment was the same as before.
We invited her to Stuttgart.
She came to visit us in the middle of June. She liked our apartment a lot. She was helping me in cleaning. I was feeling bad that she is doing that at this age. It was difficult for me or rather us to accept that Corry is growing old. She loved my cooking and I loved cooking for her. She wanted to learn how I cooked Chinese noodles. It was difficult to accept that Corry has lost all that energy I used to boast about. She couldn't walk so fast like before. But her enthusiasm was high and so was her spirit.
I sat with her and spent hours talking to her. She is a German and I am an Indian by birth. Naturally I could have a queue of questions to know her, her family etc etc but somehow I am not natural. I am a real weirdo. I always had the decency of not indulging my blunt nose in anybody's life. I had never wanted to know from Corry about her past life. She had told me several times and I was a good listener. Sorry that I have a selective memory. The only fact that remains in my mind was that she was from a very rich background but had a miserable childhood. Lesson learnt: MONEY IS NOT EVERYTHING. I have her childhood pictures, the picture of her siblings, her house. She once brought a huge suitcase full of her childhood memories because Sonu needed that for his school project. But this time in June we discussed about Life.. She always adored our family, she liked my mother so much, she respected our culture to the core and tried to learn something, she appreciated the warmth of our family ....not only at the nuclear level but also at the extended level. One noon over a cup of green tea she asked me "what would you like to change in your life if you are given a chance ..for example imagine you are 30 years old now". I said " actually nothing. I am so contented with my life that I cant ask for more. I have no regrets. I feel that the best has happened to me and it will keep happening" I asked the same to her and it was a very deep conversation. She said, "If I was 30 years old now I would have married some decent human being. I would have kids and a family. I had lived with men but it was always a wrong selection. I was in Art and naturally I was having relationships with artists. But nobody qualified to be a responsible person. I was the main earning person always." All were parasites. She explored her life at that time ...Art, travel, and she spent a lot on money on her wishes. She also regrets that she did not save money.Finally she had married someone who was an alcoholic and suicidal and he had committed suicide. She acknowledged several times that we are her family. I had left Munich in 2013 and during the past 6-7 years we met probably 5 times but we always miss her and I feel concerned of her well being. I cherish these moments of life where you can hear an old person who has lived her life many years, who has her moments of "What if" and when she has thought that you are a person worth telling her tales. These are the moments of life which you can only capture in your thoughts, not in a video shoot neither as a picture.
During her one week stay at our abode in Stuttgart she felt for the apartment, she found so much positivity there and I introduced her to some meditation techniques. She kept practicing while I was at my work. I kept food ready for her which I always love to but she was so engrossed with the spiritual talks that she was only drinking tea.
During this week I had to leave Stuttgart to receive maa from Munich and she stayed alone at our apartment. I felt so bad about myself that I had to leave her alone and my anxiety level was at the peak then but she was not thinking in that way at all. She went for a haircut, sent me pictures.
We always have spent such good time together. It is sad that geographically we have moved far away from her but the closeness of the heart remains the same. She told me before leaving our apartment to take good care of the Ganesha which she had gifted to us (2014, Sonu's birthday).
Till date she is the only German friend I have ...in 10 years of time. This reminds me of two persons whom I met in Germany, truly Germans and very kind hearted. I would like to write about them sometime. Till then...alvida..
A thought is stronger than the action....
It has been more than seven years ..I was so engrossed in this rat race of life that I forgot about my 'Miles'.
This post is dedicated to a lady named Cornelia. I saw her in 2011 when I was screening nannies for Sonu, then 6 year old. The lady who I met before Corry ( As we called Cornelia) was very professional, good, polite but there was a gelling problem between the nanny and the boy. I don't remember right now how abruptly that ended but I am sure it was not more than a month. Then came Corry. I am never very picky....never was. I wanted to take a chance...her look didn't seem very normal to me but again I wanted to take the risk, of course a secret calculated risk. She entered our life. It was good, very good. She became a part of our family. She played with Sonu, read him books, introduced him to colors, jumped with him in the pools, communicated in German (very important). She was very punctual and I was very relieved due to this.They played and fought and complained just like kids. Life was very lively back then. She liked Indian food that I cooked. I loved the way she served the bowl of fruits to Sonu. She cooked something German for him and I used to cook for both of us after I was back from work. Yes I had to organize the house after that, I found many cups full of tea on the windows of the apartment in Munich...BUT WHO CARES. We got along so well that I felt sad to leave her when I left Munich in 2013. I agonized more for Corry because I felt very satisfied that I could also take care of her. She was sort of alone. But life moves on. She got another job and we moved on in Stuttgart with another phase of life. I was not doing good during the year 2014-2015. Most probably in 2015 we invited Corry to Stuttgart on Sonu's birthday. We all went to the Black forest and we spent such a nice time together. She was touched by the fact that we were paying for her stay, her food...Really!!!! Isn't that normal? We reflected on her past and visited her maternal roots ( just the house) which was on our way from Black Forest to Stuttgart. Contentment is when you see a person getting emotional and remembering her by gone days.
Corry and I both have issues with mental health. 2019 was not a very good time for my mental health again.
Saturday morning 2019, Stuttgart- We were on our way to the Indian store in Stuttgart. I told Kuntal that I am missing Munich and he offered me a drive to Munich. Thanks a lot to Kuntal and thanks to God that we both tune perfectly in such situations. Daily chores never get a priority when gut feeling peeps in.While we were on our way to Munich, I called Corry but she sounded very low ; I didn't dare to disclose that we were coming to Munich because couple of days back she informed me that she is not in a state to meet someone or talk to someone.We reached Munich to my very close friend cum sister and this sweet sister asked me to go for a walk with Kuntal and relax a bit.
We were strolling in Westpark and remembering our times together, the first b'day celebration of Sonu after coming to Germnay there, his bike, my inlaws, a long list. Before moving further I reminded kuntal that we must go back because he uses my GPS (brain navigation) when we walk together. I was afraid that my GPS would hang. We turned around and we saw to our utter surprise Corry...She hugged us and kissed us with so much affection. We kept looking at each other with love and warmth and we experience such warmth only from parents. Her eyes were wet and we sat there for 45 mins. She looked so pale and weak and had lost few pounds and she was stooping. Sad but true...age matters. She saw Sonu and was taken aback by his height and their attachment was the same as before.
We invited her to Stuttgart.
She came to visit us in the middle of June. She liked our apartment a lot. She was helping me in cleaning. I was feeling bad that she is doing that at this age. It was difficult for me or rather us to accept that Corry is growing old. She loved my cooking and I loved cooking for her. She wanted to learn how I cooked Chinese noodles. It was difficult to accept that Corry has lost all that energy I used to boast about. She couldn't walk so fast like before. But her enthusiasm was high and so was her spirit.
I sat with her and spent hours talking to her. She is a German and I am an Indian by birth. Naturally I could have a queue of questions to know her, her family etc etc but somehow I am not natural. I am a real weirdo. I always had the decency of not indulging my blunt nose in anybody's life. I had never wanted to know from Corry about her past life. She had told me several times and I was a good listener. Sorry that I have a selective memory. The only fact that remains in my mind was that she was from a very rich background but had a miserable childhood. Lesson learnt: MONEY IS NOT EVERYTHING. I have her childhood pictures, the picture of her siblings, her house. She once brought a huge suitcase full of her childhood memories because Sonu needed that for his school project. But this time in June we discussed about Life.. She always adored our family, she liked my mother so much, she respected our culture to the core and tried to learn something, she appreciated the warmth of our family ....not only at the nuclear level but also at the extended level. One noon over a cup of green tea she asked me "what would you like to change in your life if you are given a chance ..for example imagine you are 30 years old now". I said " actually nothing. I am so contented with my life that I cant ask for more. I have no regrets. I feel that the best has happened to me and it will keep happening" I asked the same to her and it was a very deep conversation. She said, "If I was 30 years old now I would have married some decent human being. I would have kids and a family. I had lived with men but it was always a wrong selection. I was in Art and naturally I was having relationships with artists. But nobody qualified to be a responsible person. I was the main earning person always." All were parasites. She explored her life at that time ...Art, travel, and she spent a lot on money on her wishes. She also regrets that she did not save money.Finally she had married someone who was an alcoholic and suicidal and he had committed suicide. She acknowledged several times that we are her family. I had left Munich in 2013 and during the past 6-7 years we met probably 5 times but we always miss her and I feel concerned of her well being. I cherish these moments of life where you can hear an old person who has lived her life many years, who has her moments of "What if" and when she has thought that you are a person worth telling her tales. These are the moments of life which you can only capture in your thoughts, not in a video shoot neither as a picture.
During her one week stay at our abode in Stuttgart she felt for the apartment, she found so much positivity there and I introduced her to some meditation techniques. She kept practicing while I was at my work. I kept food ready for her which I always love to but she was so engrossed with the spiritual talks that she was only drinking tea.
During this week I had to leave Stuttgart to receive maa from Munich and she stayed alone at our apartment. I felt so bad about myself that I had to leave her alone and my anxiety level was at the peak then but she was not thinking in that way at all. She went for a haircut, sent me pictures.
We always have spent such good time together. It is sad that geographically we have moved far away from her but the closeness of the heart remains the same. She told me before leaving our apartment to take good care of the Ganesha which she had gifted to us (2014, Sonu's birthday).
Till date she is the only German friend I have ...in 10 years of time. This reminds me of two persons whom I met in Germany, truly Germans and very kind hearted. I would like to write about them sometime. Till then...alvida..
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