Amit in Hamburg

11 March 2010

Amit and my association is long. We’ve been friends since our first years in college. Together, we’ve bunked lectures and sat in the college canteen, eating bread cutlets. Together, we’ve had long walks, picnics and excursions. Together, along with Sagar, we’ve seen each other do the silliest of things. I had my first “gola”( that crushed- ice lolly dipped in a bright coloured sugary syrup, sprinkled with rock salt) with Amit! What courage it took me to eat that thing in its shocking orange colour, though Amit was very encouraging…. We’ve come a long way……Amit, Sagar and me, and later, Asma have practically spent each of our college days hanging out with each other.

It was wonderful to welcome him here in Hamburg. After a long time we caught up on old times. Though the weather played spoil sport, we toured a bit around the city. A visit to the old church of ‘St. Michel’ was an unforgettable experience! We decided to check out the tower there… Up we began climbing…and climbing…. and climbing… it was like the Jack, of The Jack and the Beanstalk, climbing that tall tall plant. Every landing promised another flight of stairs. Just as we thought that our ordeal was over, more stairs came in sight….

By the time all of us including Anoushka, reached the top, we were panting and sweating and laughing and hoping that this exercise would have made us at least 3kg 200gms lighter!!!
What this tower offered however…… was magnificent. The Elbe, the Alster, the containers and the busy port, the old buildings and churches with their lovely architecture, the gardens and greens, the new modern Hamburg…glimpses of it all, at a glance!!! Still trying to catch our breaths, our eyes took in the delightful sight. It was simply beautiful. A deep breath and we felt that we had captured the essence of the city. I could almost hear Amit singing – Aaj main upar….

We went round the tower, clicking photos that scream and tell – “I was there”, like typical tourists....posing in front of something…. with someone....
( other prepositions like on, over, under, at, to can also be used, depending on your position and location)
The cold wind and rain were more than playful and the chill prompted us to seek warmth...
Just as we were mentally preparing ourselves to walk down the ‘20 floors’ that we had somehow managed to climb, we made the most shocking discovery! The incredible invention made by Otis was right there!!!!!

Three dumb people had been ignorant of the elevator that exclusively and effortlessly ferried people up and down the Tower. We kicked ourselves…. Over and over again we realised how foolish we had been…..


The Fisch Market, the next morning was colourful and noisy as ever and Amit seemed to love the sight of fish, fresh fruits and vegetables. He felt completely at home with the shouting vendors, inviting customers to buy their produce. There is a lot of drama involved when the vendors talk of their produce…They take a lovely cane basket and start putting in the fruits one by one… It is like- “Yeh lo 2 kilo grapes , sabse meete aur badhiya, saath mein ek Ananas bhi, ek kilo oranges, one dozen of the finest Kiwis… Saath mein one dozen babanas bhi… Aur lo ek kilo Apples aur 2 Grape fruits. Is se achcha bajuwallah bhi nahi dega… Saath me basket bhi deta hoon… Sirf 10 E . Le lo le lo…”.

It is solid entertainment I tell you. Any Indian would feel at home here. This is perhaps the only place that can be called literally… “A Market’, in Indian terms.
Kalyan has a Monday Bazaar, here it is on Sunday… People party through Saturday night and come here on Sunday morning. This place is buzzing with activity as early as 5am. There a live band and people beer pike mast ….


He greedily relished the crepes lavishly stuffed with Nutella, a chocolate sauce. He stuffed himself with waffles and all this did more to him than gaining a few extra kilos. This young man slept throughout the Elbe river cruise that we took next…..