When I came back from Copenhagen to Germany in June 2003, the woman who had arranged my first lecture in front of German audience had made plans for me for giving more program at studios of the same yoga organization. So I went to a few other cities for program. After that I came to stay in Mainz.
I had an invitation to Mainz by an Indian man whom I had met on a plane. I had booked with Austrian Airlines for the flight back from Germany to India the last time. The connecting flight in Vienna had been delayed and so I was sitting with the other passengers in front of the gate. Next to me was a man with his two children and we started talking to each other. In the end he gave me his contact details and said that I would be very welcome at their home in Germany whenever I came there the next time.
I took up his offer and phoned him and so I arrived in Mainz. The family welcomed me heartily in their home. They lived in a house where they had a restaurant in the ground floor and a flat just above. This meant for me that I could eat at their restaurant every day. Until then I had always been cooking myself wherever I went so that I could get Indian food. They were very happy to have me at their home and also happy to feed me at their restaurant!
This is how I was in Mainz, living with them for some days. They were of course also happy to show me Mainz and then told me that there would be a celebration or a fair on the weekend. It was a celebration with the topic ‘India’ and they thought I would enjoy it. So when the weekend came, I went to see what this celebration actually was. It was an outdoor event and you had to pay a small entry fee to get into the area. I did not know what I should expect. I knew street fairs at home, I knew concerts and such events but I was curious to see what this Indian fair would be like.
The whole thing was a big surprise to me. In the end I thought it was really not much of India in there. Of course there were many stalls selling Indian handicraft, scarves and such things which had been imported from India but it seemed more just like a celebration of people who simply wanted something else than a disco or the usual way to celebrate. It was like a gathering of hippies and hippie-like people, alternative, spiritually interested, fascinated by exotic countries and a different lifestyle. I saw the caravans of those who were displaying their merchandise and who were also living there, right on the spot. There were tents for food and others for music. There was music and people with dreadlocks, lose and colourful clothing were dancing freely, wildly, enjoying their time. I could see tattoos on many of them and some seemed to be on drugs.
It was definitely something I had not seen like this before and I enjoyed it. It was different and the people were very open to get into a talk. Of course all of them had an interest in India – that is how they had come to that fair – and so I met several people and had a good time.
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I also like the Hippies in Germany and I am kind of sad that there is not much left of this movement in Germany today. People should be more free and happy again and fight for their believes instead of sitting on the couch, watching tv and eating chips. The fight for humanity and peace is not over yet.
It is interesting that all these people thought they loved and understood India. They probably all talked about the country, culture, people etc. But you, an Indian, said that there wasn’t much India there at all!