Aboard an intercontinental
aircraft for the first time in life, with a thousand hopes pinned on me sort of
feeling (;-)), I
finally set foot on German sands. Having the minimal feeling of a jet-lag, came
dashing into me an air of delight with all senses feeling great to be. Along
with 5 fellow interns I felt lucky enough to settle into a very gracious group.
Getting rid of the stereotypes of a research internship out of my mind I showed
the passport to the immigration officer and hurray! I can wander anywhere
within the Schengen region for the next 70 odd days. What followed then was a gamut
of experiences and a thoroughly enriching academic internship.
First things first! The
Department of Mechatronik at the
University of Duisburg-Essen ranked second in Germany. My University block
seemed to comprise of cookie box edifices from outside. From inside, the
corridors just exactly resembled a network of passages nothing short of a
labyrinth with half a dozen entrances. For a newbie like me, it took around 3
weeks to find out the shortcuts and roundabouts. After my first meet with my
Professor I stood amazed at the doorway of the lab where I had to work for the
next 3 months. It was the most capacious lab I had ever seen. And my dream of working
on an ASIMO was sort of fulfilled when I began work on modifying a humanoid.
Yes, you read it right, a humanoid! I had to replace some moving parts for the bot
and get the parts of it above the hip replicate a human’s movements. XBOX Kinect helped me do the trick. Work went
on slowly in the beginning and got exciting towards the end. Further, research
at the lab was never boring and people were always there to guide me. With resounding
German melodies in the background work at the lab was fun! Accompanying me
inside were 2 more students and stacked up racks of beer cans and energy
drinks, so things can easily be brought in and out (if u know what I mean!). The
only inimical affair at the lab was working on a Deutsch (non-QWERTY) keyboard
and adapting to use all packages in German until I was allowed a laptop. My
professor required only monthly updates on progress and that kept me relaxed
throughout.
It took us some time to
acclimatise to the food there. Although vegetarians, we were not betrayed.
Living off different varieties of Brot(bread) kept our clocks ticking. Unless
here, you will never get a chance to taste and experiment the variety of
cuisines from continental to oriental which we did at the University mensas.
Living rooms too were cozy enough with all facilities. Food and accommodation,
set! What next?
Coming from a tropical
country, I got to experience the most inclement weather in Switzerland. Also
the place where I stayed, Duisburg, where fans are unheard of, was one of those
regions that seemed to ever woo the Rain gods. Nights were too frigid often and
yet it was summer in Germany. This also served as a huge relief from the
blistering hot summer of TamilNadu. Apart from having the biggest zoo in
Germany famous for its dolphinarium, Duisburg had nothing much in it other than
a brewery and dotted with steel plants. But we were lucky enough to have the
cities of Dortmund, Cologne, Bonn, Aachen(never learnt to pronounce it the
right way) and Düsseldorf famous for football, history, beauty, fashion,
chocolates and museums all located in the same state of North Rhine-Westphalia
(right, where Duisburg is). We never ran out of places to visit. The sole
agonizing regret was that I never got a chance to witness any sporting event live
including the Fußball
matches involving Bayern FC and Borussia Dortmund seperately, the Nürburg-German
Grand prix, Halle open with FedEx himself in the finals due to various reasons.
To top it all, the Telekom Cup final between the German footy giants was held
in Munich the very day I departed.
I also cannot shy away from
revealing the fact that my internship was an equally splendid Eurotrotting
extravaganza busting myths about a research internship. Lucky to have pursued
the project at the heart of Europe I got to see some of the most diverse and
spectacular geographical locations. Initially, I didn’t know weekends and
weekends of hiking, trekking and souvenir-hunting were in the reckoning. Wherever
we went, 2 things always followed us: Rains and the Rhine.
The first week we started
off as peripatetics trudging down the broad streets of Duisburg hunting for
attractions and maps. It wasn’t much longer until we finally started planning
for trips. Our short expeditions kicked off with Cologne which lured us in with
its famous Dom and we only found it better with the Rhine park(biggest park in
Europe), a chocolate museum and the never ending Rhine river. Bonn, birthplace
of Beethoven was also brilliant. In Brussels, where museums abound, we relished
waffles and enjoyed its brilliant skyline atop the Atomium an architectural
wonder. Maps alone came to our rescue wherever we trudged without the knowledge
of the vernacular.
Never having to worry about
accommodation and stuff, we converted a weekend into a 5 day layoff and for the
first time professors were not concerned with us for the ploy. I still couldn’t believe we lived off
backpacks and found refuge in Gurudwaras, ISKCON temples and even the station
platforms. My personal best trip was of Switzerland, the land of “ ” whatever you can
add! The numerous breathtaking views of the Rhine falls in Zurich never bored
us. It was followed by a boat ride across the entire river of Zurich. We set
out the next day on a rotating cable car to Mt. Titlis, the hallmark attraction
of the nation. A worse snowfall turned the day into a nightmare for us. With
nothing visible 3 feet in front of us atop the peak we literally plodded
through the chunks of snow and got our hands benumbed on a chairlift. But that
satisfaction of visiting Switzerland at 20 was heartwarming. Next destination
set! Italy!!
What should have been a
pleasant sojourn from Lugano turned into escape from Milan- the land of the
Mafia. Disaster loomed large, with the
possibility of missing the train to Venice. The only funny thing was the repetitive
monotony of the announcer hollering “Interrego Regionale” in Italiano! But
thank heavens! Though delayed, everything went as planned, our journey taking
us through Parma and Bologna, cities which no one will know(wont even be found
on a Europe map) unless one follows Serie A. After having a near dreadful
experience at Parma with some completely inebriated youths insulting us of
homeless beggars we finally reached Venice. After awestruck by the lagoons and
the islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello, we followed a canal and ended up at
the San Marco square, a famous Bollywood shooting spot. A Gondola ride was
truly enchanting. While in Rome, from oodles of Piazzas(not pizzas :-P) to the
Colloseum and the Vatican City everything looked historic and marvellous. For reasons
unknown Italy was reminiscent of India. On the return, I realised RyanAir
flights are nothing but airborne European public transport.
Berlin, where all DAAD
scholars had a meet for over 2 days was amazing. We were treated so regally
with feasts and star accommodation. The Indian Embassy too invited us all for a
dinner. The squalid Berlin wall marred with graffiti throughout came in for a
surprise. FF6 seemed to suck on that wee hours. Shouldn’t have wasted money on
the guise of wanting a movie experience!! Munich was resplendent for the
Mechies with the BMW Welt and Museum. Allianz Arena and the Olympic stadium had
much to offer us apart from pride.
Heartily surprised to find
patches of snow on the peaks of Untersberg, we hiked our way to castles and
more in Salzburg. And the sands at the Zandvoort Beach, Amsterdam seems to remain ever glistening. Happy to have visited 2 more countries on our trip list! (:-))
In an attempt to follow
nature’s trail in Stralsund, Rugen, we ended up trekking through the jungles
within the precincts of a national park caught sight of the largest chalkstone
cliff in the world from the top of it. An almost 3 hour trekking trip into the
woods of Baden-Baden, Blackforest on a quest to find an ancient castle finally
sated our trekking desires. Elsewhere we found ourselves to be aimless vagabonds
in Koblenz having nothing to do but spend the final day of our pass. Yet we hit
upon the Deutsches Eck where one can witness the spectacular Rhine meandering
to merge with the Moselle. See, the Great Rhine followed us everywhere!
Finally project documentation
was followed by group photos with lab mates and lethargic packing. Perhaps, the
blithe life has spoiled me. As I stood with bags full of chocolates at the
airport, behold, the time has come to return to where I belong! Chennai! I only
wished my stay to be aeons longer than just three months. Yet I felt happy to
have got a chance to visit of all continents, Europe, at 20 with a group of fun
loving friends who turned out into some of the closest buddies for life. Yes, I
still missed out writing lots of things but my “anecdote” should not get any
longer!
