Читать книгу ...away on business - Peter Weiermann - Страница 8

Let's take a quick detour to India. One of my sons spent a whole year there and summed up the country in a short sentence, "Chaotic but sympathetic". And how right he is. In any case, I can only confirm this.

If you know what a gecko is and if you've already seen one, you also know that it's a useful and harmless animal for humans. You may not be as upset as I am by finding such an animal in the bedroom. It looks like a transparent lizard. I almost freeze in horror when I see it from the bed and find no peace until I have done away with this vermin. There was a wet spot on the wall caused by my hotel slippers. When I complained about this uninvited guest the next morning, the hotel personnel instruct me to let him be. The gecko eats insects. I do not care. I do not want this creature in the same room with me. What if I turn off the lights and the eyes??? No thanks! Not with me.

Let us spend some time in India. I'll take you on a short drive through downtown Bombay. Not everything is bad there, but it might be a bit bad for you. This consists of the noise and shaking from driving over and through potholes and various odors and other things. We see beggars who gather around the vehicle anytime you have to stop. Begging women with babies in their arms knock against the glass. A policeman, who has rolled up his newspaper, hits the begging woman on the head as if she were a bothersome fly and drives her away. There are crippled people and many children. To my right are habitats of the poorest in the form of plastic sheets over a wooden pole as a dwelling; around it mud, garbage and dirt. There is a water hole where the whole family washes, after which the food is washed and afterwards the clothes ‑ or in a different order. I have to swallow the lump that has formed in my throat. I wanted to take a few impressions with me but do not dare to unpack my camera. But I do that without a camera. These are images that my brain cannot process so quickly. Yes, there are even two men, both of whom do nothing but hold a big billboard of a world-famous electric company. One stands on the left, the other on the right, each with a water bottle at his feet. I wonder if they are still standing there.

There is another curious picture I see while driving past. There are women in brightly colored robes, barefoot and with a pickaxe and shovel to perform any road construction work or pile stones on top of each other. There are those living under bridges and lying on the ground who have become one with the dirt on the streets and aren’t even recognized at first glance if they are already dead or alive. After about a 2 hours’ drive across Mumbai, I arrive at my destination in need of a cognac. Even without food, it hits me in the stomach. Oh dear, alcohol is apparently extremely frowned upon in India. Apologies are made to the restaurant staff and mention is made that the alcohol is needed for medicinal purposes only. As an additional lesson, I am told that when a man goes to a restaurant to eat without his wife, it is said that his wife is a bad cook.

In addition, I must mention that I had this experience in 2003. When I go there again a few years later, the external conditions have improved after my first impressions but only just a little bit.

I would like to mention one moment in time that is personally meaningful to me. Leaving the hotel I see two very poor figures sitting on a wall in front of the entrance. In my opinion they are very poor. I look at one directly. Our eyes suddenly meet and mingle in a strange way and for a prolonged moment we maintain this eye contact. It seems to me as if time is standing still for a moment and I experience two very different worlds looking into each other's eyes and hearts. We smile at each other.

Anyway, at this point I have to say that the people there, as in many other parts of Asia and elsewhere in the world, seem noticeably much happier even when they have less than our society of western Europeans. This includes the constant complaining about every ailment, the weather and every little thing that matters, what does not suit you right now, what needs to change, etc., etc. If you look at it this way, our degree of dissatisfaction is very high compared to those truly poor people. Someone who really didn’t have anything to laugh about in his life once said something like this, “When I stopped thinking about what I lacked and learned to look at what I have, I realized that what I did have was so much more than what I didn’t have.” This is something to think about. You must be yourself as a European or whatever culture, but I’m still urged to say ‑ whether adult, adolescent or child, or even to myself ‑ "You are so privileged. Be more content with what you have and modest in your demands!" It seems like a silent scream to me from those have nots who fill my thoughts more and more. Do you really have to have 2 or 3 cars? Or eat extravagantly every day, drink alcohol continually, browse the internet without thinking, or buy new clothes for every season? For some of our contemporaries, the biggest concern is where to go on vacation this year and on it goes. Well, let's leave that alone for now.

In fact, during one of my recent stays in India, there was also a so-called "dry day", which literally means "dry day". I think you understand what is meant. Alcohol may not be sold to any Indian. I had to show my ID to prove I was not Indian if I wanted a beer. But here I declare my solidarity and turn it down as well. In all honesty, dear reader, what would it be like if there were such a "dry day" here once in a while? Yes, not everyone would agree with that, right? What else could you drink if the glass of champagne, the beer and the schnapps were not allowed? After all, water is there for washing and not for drinking.

Sorry, but I want to come back to the topic of sanitary facilities again. Have you ever had to use sanitary facilities in India? Your first thought when entering such a facility was certainly, "No! No!! Definitely NO!!! It's not that urgent after all!” But what if? Where do you actually sit down here? And if there is something to sit on, yuck. Where is the paper and what can you wash your hands with and what are those extreme smells? Yes, the questions that arise then are quite profane. But, alas, all superfluous. That's why the Indian only eats with one hand...

Or do you know what it's like to be in India and eat in India? Take Mumbai as an example with its sultry and extremely high humidity, better known as Bombay. There are roads with potholes, riddled like a Swiss cheese and deep holes as if left by a meteorite. Garbage piles on the streets send out their corresponding smells. Misery and poverty and wealth. Just try to pick up the entire broad range with all your senses?

You can be ever so careful when eating and drinking, only brush your teeth with drinking water from a properly sealed bottle, not drink anything with ice cubes in it, eat no salad, eat nothing uncooked, only peeled fruit and all according to the motto: “peel it, cook it, or forget it "... But whatever you do, it’s just not possible to avoid upsetting your stomach. And if you do, then you just have to live through it as best you can. Has anyone else ever had such an experience?

Once I was sitting with the customer for contract negotiations. I felt absolutely wretched and must have looked chalky-white even during the haggling for the best price, which can really be annoying with Indians. They felt compassion for me and someone got me a cola light for “medicinal purposes”. Everybody starts getting signals differently at different times. Sometimes it’s only a slight belly rumble. You think that's normal here, it will go away again. Then the stomach pain slowly increases. Soon all solid and liquid substances escape from the stomach and intestine through the major body openings and this is accompanied by abdominal cramps that can last up to several days. Of course it’s obvious that you should not eat any seafood during the rainy season they tell me. But how do I know when and where is a rainy season? It wasn’t even raining. Yes, everybody else thought it was funny, but not me. Blessed is he who is spared from such occurrences. Unfortunately, it hit me several times.