As I write this post, I am really feeling heady with Berlin’s history in particular and that of Germany’s history in general. The nation is so unbelievably rich in history and culture.
I have met with good people in this visit and am very happy to have met them as I have been privileged to see things from their view. Sitting in India and thinking of how the business should be done is not exactly the right way and very few are given the opportunity to go to their business-destination and learn the conditions first hand.
I am sure that this will lead to some interesting developments at the vtiger end towards making a more coherent and effective community.
I am speaking in very very broad terms as it will take me at least a couple of weeks to sit and think and post in detail the general and specific discussions that I have had and the resultant emanating plans. As I see it, Europe in general and Germany in specific is going to BOOM in vtiger business. There are plethora of opportunities and I look forward to doing good business.
It makes me feel very nostalgic to leave Berlin. I have seen the Wall and the Bridge of Tears and the East German markets new and old. I have seen the rude-ish behaviour of the Berliners and the Prussians , the gentle behaviour of the ‘other-Germans’ and the Bavarians and I really am stupefied by the difference.
The experience within a single country can differ so profoundly is unbelievable.
I have seen the East German parts which are remnants of the old era and believe me they look so desolate and are like nests; they are very very small and it is really hard to imagine how people could have stayed there. I have seen the renovated East German side too and find it to be much more advanced than the West German parts. I have seen Checkpoint Charlie and am sure that I will never forget it in my life.
I have heard the discontent among some of the germans because of the development in the East German part and the price that had to be paid by the West Germans for it , the pains of Euro-isation,etc. But all basically agree that they can live together and the present is n times better than the past.
In Berlin specifically, there is reluctance to talk of Hitler and his deeds. There seems to be a shame that they do not want to relate to and are putting in all efforts to forget. The Wall has been destroyed so completely that no one will even believe that there was a wall in the first place, for God’s sake, if the Germans say they do not see any pieces of it anymore, you bloody well believe it!
The average german is a nice guy. most of the folks seem to be intellectuals. I think that is the reason that the country is so good at what it does. There is a sense of detail, a sense of minute observation that makes me go raving nuts at times but then they are good, damn good probably and I must learn from it. At times, I find in them a sort of laziness that borders on carelessness but actually they are thinking about something deeply and are not concerned about other issues at hand. It is a place where almost all the old-folks are jack-of-all-trades due to the enforced past and due to various other reasons. Hence, they seem to have a good understanding of various subjects.
Did I forget to mention that most of the Germans speak English and that too pretty well ;-)?
