All that I Have Needed

There is more than one thing that has been part of my world as an Indian, which has made my life different and special. I have grown up in a rather traditional environment, even though there was no real strictness regarding the same. It was a world which was influenced by more than one religion, and more than one language – there was the influence of more than one community, and more than one style of living here. We had more than one culture, but there was that unity in diversity, which helped us to follow what has been our way of living for a long time, that is for sure.

Among all those things, there is the skill to drive anywhere, and it is something that has been achieved by driving for so long on our roads, going on from the time when I was eighteen, to now our fourth car which is the first diesel car I have possessed. There is so much skill that you see on the road, that you feel prepared for any roads, anywhere. So many things happen on the roads, and there is also a certain amount of forgiveness that happen regarding the traffic on the roads. As long as you obey the traffic rules, you can use the skill that you have gained in this traffic as use it anywhere else, as we are not new to any kind of road.

Surviving with just gravy has been another skill which I have managed to possess in the last few decades. Who needs a side dish or curry when there is gravy, or maybe we can have food with just a little sugar. The simplicity in food has been something which this new generation which is looking for only taste, needs to understand. We just need the food to survive and live through our existence, and we do not live to eat. Wasting food has been considered a quality by many who has too much to spend, but for a developing country like India, food is precious, just like water which has been becoming scarce.

We have also been closer to tea than coffee which is rather the drink of the privileged. Going for the drink of the common man, there has been a better understanding of how to keep it close to the common man rather than to go for the elite class. Tea has always had that quality, which is why India had taken the decision to make it our national drink. We have always loved the drink too, and the tea shops have been the places where the common people gathered, from the towns to the villages, talking about various things, and understanding each other as well as the problems. I have had days surviving just on tea!

There is also this feeling that we have, that never goes. There seems to be some problem with this in the recent days with some people in a few places with low education, but otherwise we have found it easy to have more and more cultures and traditions here. I have always wished for more religions and communities around me despite the fact that we have three of the world’s major religions around. It is the culture of the other that is so fascinating for us, and unless everyone starts to feel nothing other than pure hate for the other, which seems to be a growing tendency, we are all proud of that unity in diversity, and the real Indians are only looking for more of such beautiful diversity.

The great kings from our past has been always in support of such diversity, which should be why there were so many settlements of people from far away. We have always been welcome to new things, and something to add to our already colourful culture – there was nothing against accepting new knowledge and improving our world. I am sure that some events might make people doubt the same – but that is not the case with India as a whole. The essence of this culture hasn’t been lost yet, and those who claim to protect it aren’t the ones who are the real Indians, for it is about those who live according to the same, and let others live too.

There is this mutual respect that has been practiced in the Indian culture from a long time ago, that has been part of our blood too. It is the one thing that will raise our status among the nations, along with that strong spiritual side. This spiritual capabilities has been misused, but in its true essence will go on to become stronger than ever, as hate and abuse has no real existence in our culture. We have always wished for happiness and peace all over the world, and it is where we shall return to. It is for the same that we keep trying, praying and hoping during these days.

Witness the celebration of India’s growing global influence with Lufthansa’s TVC; for it is certainly #MoreIndianThanYouThink.

TeNy

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The Tales of Variety

There are six tales. For the first one, there is the Uncle no.1 who tries to pretend that he is traveling in second class AC compartment while he actually goes around in the sleeper. If nobody is expected at the railway station, he pretends that it was so cold in the compartment because it was AC while he travels in the sleeper class. If somebody is expected to receive him at the railway station, he actually travels in the second class AC so that the secret that he usually travels in sleeper class won’t be out; all these to pretend in front of his son’s in-laws.

Aunty no.1 is a clear saviour of money, and becomes extra economical at home, keeping the very old vegetables at home for later use. As there is so much money at home, it is impossible for them to have older food, and so the older food is reserved for the guests. But nobody can complain because she makes some nice food with it, and this comes quite natural for her. People feel that she prepares so much food and it is awesome, but there are some very old vegetables which remains her secret.

Aunty no.2 knows how not to waste even a little bit of the money. She keeps living that simple life that her children can never agree to, because of which they rarely wishes to come home; but the fact remains that she has effectively controlled the flow of money into the right areas, but it goes even up-to that extent that one has to wonder if she is now the richest person in the family – if it is so, the situation is worth applause as well as wonder, and the question remains if she did spend money even when there was the real need.

Uncle no.2 is like the richest person in the family, but never spends even one rupee for even that local toffee, forget buying a cup of black tea from the cheapest shop around. The theory used here is like, “when I get richer, I will be a miser”, but he gets richer and richer, and one day, he might have a tree which grows money, and then he will buy something for us – may be a cup of cardamom tea or that new variety of coconut ice cream which is there at the shops. He is surely saving a lot right now.

Aunty no.3 is the one who keeps asking for money. It is not that she never returns, but she does ask on such regular basis that everything at her place goes too smoothly even though it can’t be said about those whom she has the money from. Still, she manages things perfectly with the money and lives a happy life. Isn’t it what we all want? People say that money can’t buy happiness, but for some people, happiness is a by-product of money borrowed from someone else.

Aunty no.4 is the great judge, the grand decision maker who creates eternal battles over the small amount of money. She is like a great king who has conquered so much of lands and is struggling to keep them under control. Each and every day, she goes on the battle, with the fish vendor, vegetable seller and many others. She instills a sense of fear in the minds of the people in the market, but never gives up on her special skill, or what she considers to be that – to buy the best at the cheapest price.

These six people are representatives of a big society which looks for that Paisa Vasool element more than anything else, and it has been part of our lives. But what rises above all these, as the right choice for the best experience at a nice affordable rate is the Lufthansa Premium Economy, something which comes to us as another innovation from theGerman airlines which is the largest airline in Europe, not just with the number of passengers carried, but also with its fleet size. It is not the usual economy, but #LufthansaPremiumEconomy. Check this link for further details: http://premium-economy.lufthansa.com/

***The images used in this blog post belong to Lufthansa. #LufthansaPremiumEconomy

TeNy

The Legend of Colossus

The largest aircraft in the history of commercial aircraft, #LufthansaA380 is flying to Delhi! There will be daily flights on the Frankfurt-Delhi route, and our capital becomes the first city to welcome the giant, and lets see how many more tourists will arrive to see Taj Mahal, Akshardham Temple and the rest of the attractions aboard on this wonderful flight. Here is celebrating this with a contest from Lufthansa and Indiblogger. Do check the airlines’ India website for more details: http://a380.lufthansa.com/TAKEPART/#/DE/EN/home.

Cheers to #LufthansaA380 on this occasion, and all the best.

The bigger, the better. I don’t think that there will be a second opinion about it. Take the popularity of Kraken and Leviathan in the legends, or think about the Giant Robot. The better vampire was always Count Dracula with the huge castle. We want bigger cars, bigger houses, and even bigger world to accomodate us. It is what we have been striving for, and there has been a certain amount of infatuation with the bigger things, or making our lives bigger. Into that situations, another giant, Lufthansa A380 enters.

This airplane is a colossus, no matter what your idea about a big plane is, as this is one step ahead of the same. We are a nation with a huge population, but with lesser airports and flights – Kerala is attempting to take another step forward, building two more airports in addition to the already existing three international airports at the three different areas of the state. But in totality, India is in need of more airports, and this scarcity is up-to an extent solved by a colossal airplane; the answer is right here in the new Lufthansa A380 which inspires people to travel on flights.

The smaller aircrafts with lesser number of people will only lead to more complicated air traffic and should cost more aviation fuel, finally leading to more pollution. I am taking the bus versus car comparison on this one, and about why the public transport is better than private cars. Having one huge aircraft which takes the maximum number of people will only do good. Let’s hope that it will bring the air ticket prices down too. More air and rail transport means less congestion on roads too. Well, the plane itself is a big, amazing structure, and for the same, people will need to travel through Lufthansa.

It is also good to see that an airline industry with such a global reach is trying to make their market better in India. India can use such interest from the global giants in aviation. It is something which will catch the interest of the usual travelers to undertake more journeys on this new huge aircraft which will surely be nicer and more comfortable to travel in, as the turbulence should me much lesser due to weight and size of the big thing. As this is a bigger plane, there is the certainty of better leg space, and more storage space should also be guaranteed.

One thing I am sure about is that I would love to travel in a Lufthansa. So far, I have only travelled in Kingfisher Airlines, Emirates, SpiceJet, Air India, Jet Airways and Indian Airlines, coming very close to travel in AirAsia, and at the same time hoping to travel in a possible Air Kerala which has been proposed. At the same time, Lufthansa has been nicely promoting their airlines, and it is impossible for someone to not travel in one of their flights. I hope that the opportunity for the same shall come someday.

The number of Indians outside the nation has been steadily increasing, and so is our population. In this case, may Lufthansa be a big boon for India, especially its giant aircraft. There is ever increasing globalization, and the world will only get closer to each other as time progresses. I once again wish Lufthansa best of luck in making nations and people closer to each other. Best wishes to the aviation industry as a whole too. Cheers to #LufthansaA380 and Indiblogger. *The images used here are  taken from Indiblogger’s #LufthansaA380 contest page and cropped, and therefore belongs to Lufthansa.

TeNy