First World Problems

Disclaimer: PS: The article is somewhat exaggerated and is for the purpose of entertainment only. Sympathies and/or empathy should be avoided :D

It is 7:15AM. The place is Düsseldorf Central Station, Germany (For those asking, ‘Which place?’, it’s a city in Germany popularly called the Paris of Germany.) On platform 15, a girl fairly shorter than but carrying luggage more than other people around is waiting for the 7:21 train. She has her laptop bag and an oversized purse. Looking at the amount of luggage I assume she would be travelling somewhere far or for some days. There are announcements in German about late trains, connecting trains, no smoking zones and finally for the 7:21 train arrival. The giant ICE or Inter-City express arrives spanning from platform section A to F. It stops with a screeching sound and the girl steps into the train. She finds an empty seat and settles down. The train starts at its usual speed of 300km/hr. She starts getting comfortable and the next station arrives. She looks out of the window and her gaze is fixed on the city name board. Its BERLIN. But how could she reach BERLIN? She was on her way to Frankfurt. Distraught, frightened and hyperventilating she grabs the person next to her and he shrieks “What’s wrong with you?”. She turns around to see that it was her husband. But what was he doing in the train? Isn’t this his yoga time? The image starts blurring in the background. From a bright illuminated train compartment, it’s a dark room now. Her husband is dressed in his night clothes and she’s lying on the bed next to him holding him and sweating.

“Not Again!” the husband exclaims.

By now you would’ve guessed that this was a dream and a recurring one. The creator and protagonist of which was ME.

The setup however partially is my daily routine for over six months now. I wake up at 5 am, snooze my alarm till 5:30 am. After preparing breakfast and/or lunch and stuffing the numerous boxes in my laptop bag, I leave home at 6:45 mostly after an argument with my husband over issues which even toddlers have outgrown. I then rush to the U-Bahn station, hop on the train daily thinking that I should at least start a minute early from home, settle down take out my phone and type “Sorry I shouted. I was tired and getting late”. When the exchanges are going on, my station to get down arrives. I take a S-Bahn to the main Düsseldorf station then. (U and S bahns are just different types of train stations).Fully awake by now and seeing people around sipping coffee and munching on Croissants, I engross myself into high beat songs (to prevent myself from yawning mostly) until the 7:21 train to Frankfurt arrives. Depending on the day of the week and estimated passengers’ volume, I hurry inside the train looking for an empty seat. The travel time to Frankfurt is 1.5 hours but the journey has a new story every day.

It’s been 6 months and 120 days of to and fro travel and like any other incident in life, this has added wisdom, patience and kilos to my life.  I can’t share the patience and kilos (how I wish I could though) but here are few wisdom snippets:

Money doesn’t equal comfort: I have a first class pass to travel for a whopping  amount per month (before you start estimating my salary and savings, l should bring to your notice that it is company sponsored) but there are days like Monday mornings and Friday evenings when I have to stand during the entire journey. It’s not a usual sight in India for 1^st class passengers, but I am more often than not accompanied by many like me standing for 1.5 hrs.

We are not alone:  Coming from North India, train delays of over 20 hours during extreme winters was a common phenomenon during the months of December and January.  But then we are not the only ones suffering from this. Contrary to popular beliefs, the trains in Germany run late too. In my 6 months of travel for almost all 5 days of the week, I can confidently say that the count of instances when the train has been on time is less than 10. Of course I am considering 2 min deviation from the schedule as late too because I am talking about the ‘German quality’. The most I have experienced is 110 minutes late. Cancellations is also a regular phenomenon.

Work Life balance: The working day of typical IT firms in India start from 10AM (There are of course exceptions to this) For me it was as late as 11AM on some days which even included having breakfast in office upon arrival, lunch, shaam ki chai and snacks break. I used to crib about work life balance and imagined coming back home at 5pm daily. However, neither was I inclined to reach office early nor it would’ve made any sense because nobody left office before 8PM. Maybe I am in the wrong country or wrong project to expect my working hours strictly between 9-5, but it’s the same here except that people come as early as 8 AM. I leave at 6ish (owing to my long-distance train) and I am the first one to leave office.

Money doesn’t equal better things:  If I compare to India, the air is fresher, the public facilities are better and ofcourse the money is good (thanks to the currency) here but it comes at a cost of no domestic help what so ever: from buying groceries, doing dishes, cooking to disposing garbage in 4 separate dustbins and carrying and assembling furniture and fixtures from markets all by ourselves :we do everything, . To add to it there is FOMO at every festival, marriage and family gathering in India and the feeling of being an outsider in a very developed country. Not that I have been a victim of racism or someone has told me to ‘Go Back’ but the hawa is not mine, the mitti is not mine, the people aren’t mine (I got carried away :D)  Interestingly when I was in UK, I felt at home. It was probably the feeling that I was in a way using the resources which they looted from us for more than two centuries. (I was paying hefty income tax too though)

Office Canteen to hogi hi: One might ask that why do I cook daily and why can’t I eat in the canteen. The fact is that the canteen has practically nothing to serve you if you are a vegetarian or you have taste buds.

If you made it to this part of the write-up then I am sure you would question ‘Then why you live there?’

The answer is actually simpler than it looks. I have to live here because my husband lives here and I want to live with him :D

 But honestly, I think it is for just for the experience of living outside our comfort zone, growing together as individuals and the fun of learning new things.

You cannot get the best of the world but you can make the best out of your world.