Less than 10 minutes in my hands, i was rushing to my clinic on a bright summer day in St.Petersburg. Waiting for the bus , i saw a lot of people ,their fashion , romance , life burdens and a tiny wave of seemingly polished energy. There were a bunch of people among others who were talking so loudly ,mocking at each other ,hitting themselves to find their morning charm. I think most of other people around, found them discomfortable. Surprisingly one guy from the gang, told me “Namaste”-a hindi word for formal greetings. As i greeted him back ,he asked me “ Are you from india?” . I said Yes and asked him where he hail from ? He said “Uzbekistan ”. After pausing for a selfie with his gang, i tried to excuse myself inorder to lighten the rise of xenophobia among others.
I usually tries to talk with anybody who shows some interest to talk to me. I consider one look ,one smile , one greeting and all as an open invitation to start a conversation. Sometimes , it works out very nicely and helps me earn new friends. But sometimes it fails and i set back . Anyway , it usually has a decent success rate.
On the way, i met another guy who smiled at me while repairing some pipeline . His smile itself reflects the whole Tulip festivals of the city . Expressing his hectic work by his gait unconsciously, he hurried towards me and just spoke some random words like “India ” “Amitabh bachan” “Mithun chakrabarthy” and sang a popular Hindi song “Jimmy jimmy ”. By the way ,these are not just random words. These words contain history, social life and generations of love and affection towards bollywood and so to indians. To be frank , As i am from south india , i was not much relatable to these 90s bollywood culture. With the background of these words, He hugged me tightly and expressed his love as if he met an old childhood friend after decades. He didn't just hug me but also painted all the dirt from his worksite onto my dress as i tried to ease away from his wrap.
As its my last day of work in St.Petersburg, i was very conscious to reach the clinic punctually. It was a happy but busy day as clients were wishing me “Happy journey ”. My colleagues arranged a nice farewell to me and offered some sweets. I also expressed my thanks to everyone and said Good bye to St.Petersburg.
Arriving on Berlin , my new workplace, i was walking to my allotted apartment. The city seems totally strange as i dont know anyone and anything here . I didnt get any casual smiles, looks , and welcoming hand of help . Then i noticed two people who were repairing a pipeline and talking so loudly. I looked at them as they stood up and smiled . I ran to them and asked “where are you from ?” . They said “Uzbekistan ”. I smiled like a child, hugged both of them and said “ I ......India” ....“Amitabh bachan”... “Mithun chakrabarthy”... “ Jimmy jimmy ” . We all laughed out so loudly as the whole streets looked at us. I didn't bother whether i got dirty or not.
