My trip to Coimbatore

Hi Folks,

Disclaimer:

Am posting this as a commoner, my personal experience and also what others felt and this is nothing against the administration or any particular party!

I was in Coimbatore for two days and wanted to share with you the pain I underwent commuting by road/Car/Taxi in those two days.

Yesterday we visited a couple, close family friends, who are currently living in Nana Nani - a retirement home closer to Marudhamali, Coimbatore. This trip is not about them.

It was a round trip from Sreerosh Freedom apartment, GV Residency to Nana Nani Phase IV to Tatabad and back to GV residency. It was around 40 KMs both ways.

Before I start putting down my complaints, let me tell you that I used to enjoy going around CBE as I always found the road users of CBE humble, nice, friendly and disciplined. But for the first time, I saw changes in the characteristics of the road users. Some DNA of the Chennai road users have rubbed off on them. 

Now coming back to my road trip, it was a night mare driving in CBE. Apart from the potholes its the speed breakers which are the major dampener for any one driving in CBE whether 4 or 2 wheelers. In the round trip of 40 KMs there are around 80 speed breakers and thats my personal count give or take 5. 

The pity is, on almost all the inner streets and roads, there are speed breakers in every few yards which makes driving impossible. On enquiring with the taxi/auto and fellow car owners, I figured out that these are illegally done with the assistance of the department workers. Many speed breakers are just outside some building or apartment and they have done this without any permission. The net result is that I had a severe back pain and my brother in law who was driving me around, had a severe low back pain and had to take two pain killers that day. 

I remember, few years ago, the court candidly pronounced the judgement on some PIL that speed breakers have to be done away with except on high traffic high ways which are closer to school or hospital. 

This has obviously been flouted and people are just erecting speed breakers according to their whims and fancies. 

On 20th I left Sreerosh apartment for airport in the morning and till we touched Avinashi Road, which is just 3 km's stretch, I counted 13 speed breakers...out of this not even one was warranted. 

The traffic police and the administration has to work closely on penalising the abusers of road safety and speed limits and fine them and not the commoner. 

If you are reading this and if you know any officials or law makers, pl forward or personally appraise them. This is not only causing health issues but also resulting in huge wastage of precious fuel which we are importing. 

I will have to think few times whether to travel to Coimbatore again. Believe me its a back breaking experience.

I seriously pity my fellow Coimbatorens..... 

Pl help our brothers and sisters in Coimbatore, to lead a healthy and peaceful commuting in the city.

Jai Hind and Jai Tamil Nadu!!

!Travel Blog.

Folks, recently we made a holiday trip to Swiss and Italy and thought of sharing the joyful experience with you and also some learning. If you are planning a trip to Europe and looking for some tips......

We took a conscious decision to just focus on two countries ie Switzerland and Italy. Switzerland land because my wonderful friend Debashish and his lovely wife Veena are based at Basel and we wanted to spend some time with them and also make their home as our base.

Once this is finalised I started looking around for the best route and also the cost of flying by a well known airlines.

We have to fly out of Chennai, ie me and Jeyanthi as our son wanted to fly out of Singapore.

I looked at Lufthansa first as that’s the easiest and fastest to reach Zurich. Chennai to Frankfurt and with an hours halt to Zurich but the seats were not available.

I looked at Emirates as it is one airline I love to travel. Also they fly A 380 from Dubai. But the fare was high.

I requested our travel agent Travel Optionz, a Chennai based company (they are really good) and they came out with the option of Oman air.

Though I had flown by Oman Air many times but short hauls only, I was not clear how that airline would be on long hauls...Did enquire with some Gulf friends and they were all pushing me to go for Oman Air the primary reason being their safety record and the world class terminal they had built a couple of years ago.

I found the fare was the most economical compared to any other airlines and without any hesitation advices my travel agent to go for it. My son also decided to fly via Chennai.

The MAA-Muscat was Boeing 737-800. Smaller aircraft but the cabin crew made it up with their wonderful services.

The flight was dot on time and once we reached Muscat and checked in to the lounge, it was a different world. The buffet spread was awesome and the ambience was excellent. It’s as good as Emirates lounge in DxB. 

The flight to Zurich was Airbus 330-200 and with very comfortable flat bed. The flight again was dot on time. The cabin crew and the choice of food was also great-am a vegetarian and thoroughly enjoyed their offerings. 

The spirit selection was okay.

The cabin comfort and the linens were great.

They served raw dates this time which was just delicious. In the return the flight was on time up to Chennai.

The inflight entertainment was very good with choices of movies, music et al. The cabin crew were just great!!!

Accommodations!

Guys, pl book your rooms well in advance for you to get the best of rates. AirBnB, if you don’t have an account, start one right now.

As mentioned, we kept Basel as our base so that we can travel light out of Basel.

Rithvic took care of the hotel booking in Venice using his points and we stayed at Four Points Sheraton in Venice. Great stay!!!

In Rome, I booked through AirBnB. The entire apartment was ours. Two bedroom, hall, Kitchen with utensils...complete apartment....and the host-Patrizia was just great. It’s centrally located with 7 minutes walking to the Metro and a supermarket in the neighbourhood and lots of eateries. 

We stayed at a hotel in Zermatt and AirBnB accommodation in St. Martinez.

There are plenty of options available with AirBnB and if you plan well you can really get great deals.

Euro Rail pass.

Another important thing before you embark on your journey. Euro Rail covers almost the entire region. The trains are the best/effective and most economic ways of transportation. They have different schemes. For example you can take a 7 days pass in 30 days or 10 days pass in 30 days. Each day means, you can travel as much as you want in a day!!!! So planning is vital here. The trains are 99% punctual. Swiss trains are 99.99% and Traintalia is probably 99%. We didn’t experience any delays. The first class compartments are very comfortable....even their second classes are good. For long distance just a day before you can reserve your seats as sometimes, if the trains are running full, you may not get a seat. So for journeys beyond 3 to 4 hours pl book your seats in advance. You have to pay extra for reservation but that’s worth doing it. There are also stop overs where you have to change the train but that’s quite easy. For example, when we travelled from Basel to Venice, it went like this....Basel to Zurich-Lugano-Milan-Venice. But the wait in each station would be a max of 15 to 20 minutes only.

There are lockers available in many of the train stations and suppose your final destination is Milan but you want to spend some time in Lugano, you can keep the baggage’s in their lockers go around the city, come back, take your baggage’s and take the train. In many of the stations, the lockers are quick to access especially in Swiss side. In one station we used the clock room and in other places mostly the lockers. In Pisa town within around 5 minutes walk from the station we found one locker facility and used the same...but all these would cost you some money but not in expensive. You need to ensure the keys or the token are kept safe with you as without that you would end up wasting lots of your precious time. Almost all the restaurants and cafes have WiFi and you get free access. If you are travelling from India, pl go for a Jio sim where the cost of call to India and from India and with in the EU country is just Rs.2 per minute. I topped up 1200 but could only use 850 in 15 days!!! A big thanks to Jio!!!

You have to walk a lot so be aware of that. Public transport like trams, buses, taxis are there too but you would enjoy walking as you can see around the lovely city and its lovely cafes.....

Scintillating Swiss.

What a country...my friend picked us up from Zurich Airport (Debashish and Veena-my ex Diageo colleague who is currently with Colgate based at Basel-wonderful hosts and great couple) and we drove down to Basel.....A shot of Japanese Single Malt (another great whiskey)-i broke my non drinking after almost 330 days-that’s how the day went.

First day we all drove down to Brunen....stunning views but constant drizzle dampened our enthusiasm. But it was a good drive.

Second day....by Euro rail-Basel to Zurich to Lugano-Milano-Venice. Spent a few hours in Lugano.....what a spectacular sight....the lake was so beautiful with the backdrop of the mountains and the lovely cathedral....

Am not going to talk about the lovely places we have visited which you can google and get better perspectives.

Few things first.

In Venice pl understand how the boat rides work and also if you ever want the Gandola ride where to take it from. IF you enquire at the main jetty opposite to the Rail Station, they charge you more....so just go interior and you would get it for 80Euros for around 30 minutes. It’s a great experience but the water is smelly....its not as bad as Coovum but not clean....don’t know why the government is doing nothing.

The cathedrals are great to see for its architecture.

In Venice pl walk around to get a feel of the place. The place is awesome with its lovely cafes and ristorante. Generally the food is good and I was pleasantly surprised to see the veg choices offered by them. Soups are great and so as salads and also the typical pizzas and pastas. 

Burano and Murano-unless you have extra time pl don’t bother....glass wares and laces are done even in India....I wasn’t much impressed.

Rome.....I had written about the AirBnB acco in Rome in the beginning.

There are plenty of eateries and vegetarian is available everywhere. Gelato ice cream across everywhere....i saw almost everyone eating ice creams....

If you are staying two or three or four days, pl buy the metro pass.....for two days we paid 12.5 total and you can have any number of trips by metro and the buses.....

You would be visiting Colosseum and Vatican. Pl buy your entry tickets on line in advance to avoid wasting time in the queues....This is a must.

You have to walk around a lot so be prepared.....the area in and around Spanish Steps—-you can spend a whole day there....many places to see.....and every single place is beautiful and the architecture with the sculptures are just mind boggling.

The fountains....WAH....

c

Vatican: Of course, Vatican’s prime objective is to promote Christianity and you would feel that every where. We Indians especially the Hindus have to learn a lot from them....

The St Marks Bascilica in Vatican is something one has to soak in to....what a marvel so as the 16th Chappel in the museum.

The Vatican museum is only for art lovers....too many people and too much of time....I didn’t enjoy....If you are not a museum and arts person, just hit the Bascilica straight after visiting the 16th Chappel—you have to spend a minimum of 2 hours in the Bascilica....

Linen shirts are excellent...if you want to shop.....

The train services including the reservation counter are well manned and world class services....

We have better places to show case in India but the political apathy and lack of interest has not taken us anyway forward.

We need to Promote Tanjore Big Temple, Madurai Meenakshi, Rameswaram, Kashi temples in a big way which would attract millions across the globe. We need to build infra around these places and the government has to do a lot and put a minister in charge for tourism alone with clear KRAs.

Back at Basel on 14th night. Couple of drinks, great food and rested.

15th.

As it was a Sunday we took it easy and left Basel around noon and drove down to Grindelwald....on the way was the spectacular Interloken....where two lakes are separated with a bridge. We didn’t go inside but drove past one of the lakes and it was just spectacular. Spread over probably a few miles, it was a sight to behold.

We reached Grindelwald and took the cable car to the top....cable car was expensive but the sight from the top was another spectacle. We trekked a bit and just soaked in to the lovely mountains and the crisp air.....it was awesome....If you are fond of trekking, reach the top around 11ish and keep a couple of hours for trekking to Bachalpsee Lake.....We could not undertake as we reached the top late but we met those who trekked the one hour long route-one hour- and they were very ecstatic about their experience.

Grindelwald is a small town but like the other towns in Switzerland, its so beautiful. 

16th....

Took the train to Zermatt and then to Gornergrat.....the train journey from Zermatt to Gornergrat was, though just half an hour, just awesome with mind boggling views of the mountains and the valleys....Gornergrat was 10000ft MSL and it gives a 360 degree view of the mountains around....You feel that you can just touch the glaciers...The view is just spectacular....you need to just move around, do some small treks, soak in, and enjoy the offerings of the nature....don’t be in rush....feel the inner self and also the oneness with the nature....soak in.....just feel it...

Words cant express ones feelings....this is something one has to experience. From Gornergrat you can view the Matterhorn mountain which looks like Mount Kailash....standing tall and alone covered with snow top....this is whats featured on the Tablorone cover.

We spent quite sometime just soaking in to the surreal spectacles and in the restaurant had lunch and came down. 

Evening we walked around Zermatt.....little town but clean and beautiful.....world travellers and trekkers. Pollution free...no vehicles allowed except e vehicles...

If you are adventurous, you can go for para gliding too. I met a pilot who is running a paragliding business for the past 30 years....it would cost around 270 Swiss Franks + the train journey to the point.

Generally things are quite expensive in Switzerland.....

You need to plan well, book the rooms in advance and also google a lot on the kind of food joints and transportation.

One has to be prepared to walk a lot.

This day was so memorable for one of the best experiences of my life.

Also it happened to be my father’s DA.

17/9.

Took the Glacier Express from Zermatt to St. Martinez.

The Glacier Express from Zermatt to St Martinez is a great journey and takes around 7 and half hours.

The train has a panoramic view with huge glass windows and has a great kitchen and service. When you book in advance you can also opt for a 3 course lunch both veg and non veg and staff of the train are amazing. For Euro Rail pass holders, they offer 50% discounts.

The first couple of hours of the journey is great but after some time, I started getting bored as the train almost stops in all the stations en route and for long too. 

Some views are breath taking but that’s all....

Ideally, one should travel in this train for some experience, get down after a couple of hours in a nice picturesque location, stay put for a day or two and continue.

The final stop of this train is St. Martinez. The town has a nice lake but the town is a bit quite and boring. 

If you are a trekker, you can go to the mountain from St. Martinez by spending another 100 to 200 Euros and trek. Otherwise my advice is to 1) take the Glacier express for the experience, get down at Chur and take a train from there to a town called Luzern.....it takes around 2 hours from Chur to Luzern....One can stay at Luzern and enjoy the beauty of the town and the lovely lake there.

We stayed that evening at St. Martinez and next day morning took the train around 730 and reached Luzern around1130hrs.

18the Sep.

Reached Luzern around 1130 hours.....

What a beautiful town full of tourists and a Great Lake.....

Lovely views from the lake....few places to see.....small town but beautifully laid.

If you are a shopper, branded stores to offer everything and anything.

Great restaurants including some Indian.

We just spent some time around the lake, strolled around the town, ate some nice Italian food, came back to the lake again and spent some more time soaking in,and boarded the train to Basel straight.

Reached Basel around 7 and spent the evening with Debashish and Veena with some Karaoke singing and great food.

19th Sept.

Left around 11 to a place called Titisee....German town....took around an hour and fifteen minutes to reach. This is Black Forest area with lovely trekking on the mountain and a beautiful lake. This town is known for its Cookoo clocks and also for Black Forest Cake and pure honey and home made jams. Lots of German tourists and nice places to stay. But you should spend some good time soaking in to the beauty of the lake and mountain, nice German drinks and beer and lots of walking and trekking. Just for a full day its a great place to visit if you love nature.

Reached Basel around 540 and went straight to the stadium to watch Basel FC vs a leading Russian team match which is the inagural match of the European league. Great and electrifying atmosphere.

One of my old colleagues from IDV days joined me that evening for the match. HE is from TN and managing a huge production company assisting producers who want to shoot in Europe. Felt good to see how people grow in their life in stature and wealth.

Dinner with Roy’s. Again great food and lovely time chatting.

20th Sep.

Time to say Chio.....

Drove down with the Roy’s to the neighbouring German town to get a feel of the shopping experience. Lots of Baselians Tavel to this small town for their shopping as things are much cheaper compared to Basel. Nice little town with huge shopping area....nice experience.

Lunch with the Roy’s and Debashish and Veena drove us to Zurich....spent some quality time moving around the Zurich lake (another spectacular lake). Had some nice chocolates.

Zurich airport and terminal is so clean and beautiful. Spent some time chatting with the Roy’s at the airport terminal and with all our lovely experience boarded the flight of Oman Air back to Chennai.

The flight was dot on time and reached Chennai on 21st around 1330hrs....

What a lovely holiday....One has to spend at least 10 days in Swiss to get enough of this lovely, God’s own country!!!!

 I take this opportunity to wish you and all your family members a very happy Diwali and a very prosperous new year. We will be performing, in our office, Lakshmi Puja tomorrow in the evening at 1800hrs to invoke the blessings of the wealth Goddess. This Puja is performed on behalf of all you guys and am sure and confident that the coming days would bring in lots of happiness and prosperity for all of us. I want to share with you, something which I read recently on Diwali and Goddess Lakshmi.
It goes like this:
" During Diwali, we worship Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, but although we use the word 'Lakshmi' almost as a synonym for money, they are not the same. Lakshmi is wealth accumulated through honest and fair means. Money can be stolen as well, but Lakshmi brings peace and happiness to the person who earns it. Stolen money only brings emptiness to the soul. If you notice Lakshmi's idol, she has gold coins around her, signifying wealth. However, she is also seated on a lotus flower, and holds lotuses in her hands. The lotus is a symbol of purity and peace, signifying spiritual well being; a symbol of purity and beauty even in the muddy waters of the world. Without this peace, wealth has no meaning."
So when you pray tomorrow evening ask not for money but for Lakshmi-wealth attained through pure means that keeps the mind as peaceful and beautiful as the lotus. Lakshmi only come to those who are pure at heart.

Happy Diwali!!!

Kabal Batti and Green Tea!
Folks, its ages since I blogged...my new venture is keeping me away from this but I will start blogging more soon...so no escape!!!
I have, in the last one year, practicing Kabal batti (thanks to Baba Ramdev) and  been taking two cups of original green tea which I get from Laos.
The effect is just unbelievable!
I have lost 5 kgs of weight ( I was never fat but still) with my sincere practice of KB every day morning and the two cups of GT.
Also my overall digestive system has phenomenally improved!! Of-course, I have a regimented work out session every day which includes 25 minutes on the tread mill and 1 hour of power yoga but after adding the KB and GT the effect is much greater!!
My energy levels have also increased....
So, those who want to lose weight and also improve their overall well being, I would seriously suggest to learn KB first from a good guru who has been practicing....those who are in Madras and are serious, pl contact me.  I would either guide you to someone I know or would teach myself. For the green tea, I am yet to find the right stuff in Madras but am positive there would be speciality stores selling imported Chinese/Japanese GT...The basic quality of a good green tea is --- its bitter!!!
So, all those weight watchers.....get set and GO for KB N GT!!!
Cheers

Live life without money-a true and inspiring story.

Folks,

Its long time since I wrote on my blog.
I recently read an article on Heidemarie Schwermer, a former school teacher in Germany who has lived without money for over 13 years. This author of this article talks about how she managed to do it.

Quote:

I wanted to get this phenominal ladies photo on the blog but sorry, could not figure it out.
You may be lucky if you google search to see how she looks!
I am sure you would enjoy reading this and I would be too happy if you get inspired by this story and stop accumulating unwanted stuff around you!!
Stefanie Marsh
Twenty-two years ago Heidemarie Schwermer, a middle-aged secondary school teacher just emerging from a difficult marriage, moved with her two children from the village of Lueneburg to the city of Dortmund, in the Ruhr area of Germany, whose homeless population, she immediately noticed, was above average and striking in its intransigent hopelessness.
Her immediate reaction was shock. “This isn’t right, this can’t go on,” she said to herself. After careful reflection she set up what in Germany is called a Tauschring — a sort of swap shop — a place where people can exchange their skills or possessions for other skills and possessions, a money-free zone where a haircut could be rendered in return for car maintenance; a still-functioning but never-used toaster be exchanged for a couple of second-hand cardigans. She called it Gib und Nimm, Give and Take.
It was always Schwermer’s belief that the homeless didn’t need money to re-enter society: instead they should be able to empower themselves by making themselves useful, despite debts, destitution or joblessness. “I’ve always believed that even if you have nothing, you are worth a lot. Everyone has a place in this world.”
But the homeless of Dortmund seemed not to take to Schwermer’s plan, few ever turned up to the Tauschring. Some, they told her angrily to her face, felt that a middle-class woman with some education would never be able to relate to the circumstances of the dispossessed. Instead it was mainly the unemployed and the retired who began, in snowballing numbers, to flock to the Tauschring, their arms full of things that had been lying around their homes unused for years, or skills that they possessed but no longer exercised: retired hairdressers volunteered to cut the hair of out-of-work electricians, who would wire their kitchens in return; retired English teachers gave language lessons in return for the services of a dog-walker. The point was, not a single pfennig changed hands.
The Tauschring grew exponentially, was written up glowingly in a couple of local papers and turned into something of a Dortmund phenomenon. Its success also prompted Schwermer to ask serious questions of herself and her way of life. “I began to realise that I lived with so many things I didn’t need. So I decided that I wouldn’t buy anything without giving something away. That’s how it started. Then I began to really think about what I needed, clothes for example, and noticed that I could easily get by with what I could hang on ten coathangers. Everything else I gave away. I had so much stuff in the house that was superfluous. Getting rid of it was a relief.”
After a while even her vast collection of books began to assume an excessive presence in her home and one day Schwermer marched to a second-hand shop with her entire library. “The woman in the shop was upset. But I felt that giving them away was a good thing. I love books but I knew I had to get rid of them. I didn’t miss them, which surprised me. I just wanted to pare things down to their essentials.”
What had, in part, led Schwermer to her conclusions about “stuff” was a year of psychotherapy after the breakdown of her marriage in the mid-1980s. It was a difficult year, she remembers: “I was in floods of tears nearly every session, but at the end of it I felt so happy and decided that I wanted to live more simply. I also wanted to pass on what I learnt in therapy to other people, and that’s when I began to train as a psychotherapist.”
Other things changed. She took up meditation and began to realise how dissatisfied she was in her job. “I was always ill with flu or had backache and never realised the connection between my physical symptoms and my unhappiness at work.”
In the wake of setting up her Tauschring, she began to experiment with other sorts of jobs on the side. “I was working in a kitchen for ten deutschmarks an hour and people were saying to me, ‘You went to university, you studied to do this?’ But I thought, well, every person has an intrinsic value, why should I be valued more for being a teacher or a therapist than for working in a kitchen?”
The more ascetically she lived, the happier she became. By 1995 she was deeply involved in the Tauschring, house-sitting for short periods in exchange for cleaning or light maintenance work. She was buying virtually nothing: “When I needed something, I found that it would just come into my life. My glasses, for example. There was an optician who was a member of the Tauschring and he gave them to me in return for some therapy sessions.”
It was in 1996 she realised that “I had to go farther” and took what would be the most radical decision of her life: to live without money. She gave up her apartment and teaching job and resolved to live nomadically, an “extreme lifestyle”, she admits, moving from house to house, in return for menial work. Her new way of life was intended as a short-lived thing: she had given herself 12 months. But she found herself enjoying it so much that it never really ended.
Thirteen years on, she continues to live according to the principles of Gib und Nimm. “Life became much more exciting. More beautiful. I had everything I needed and I knew I couldn’t go back to my old life. I didn’t have to do what I didn’t like, I had a more profound sense of joy, and physically I feel better than ever. Living without money was just the first step. I realised that I wanted to change the world and I wasn’t going to do that by looking after someone’s cat while they were on holiday.”
She still lives — a week at a time — in the spare rooms of members of the Tauschring, cleaning or working in return for accommodation. Only very occasionally has she had personality clashes with her hosts and she tries to resolve any tension within herself “by going for a walk”. She has emergency savings of €200 (£180) and any other money that comes to her she gives away. “I decided it was OK to collect my pension but I give most of it away, except for what I need to pay for train tickets.”
She has no health insurance because she didn’t want to be accused of scrounging off the state. Instead she relies on what she calls the “power of self-healing. When something hurts, I put my hand on it and say to myself I have the power to heal myself and the pain goes away.” What if she becomes really ill? “Cancer? Then I suppose I’ll die. I’ve already prepared myself for death several times — times when I thought, ‘This is it, it’s over’. But then I got up the next day and everything was fine.”
Her entire material world is now contained in a single black suitcase and a rucksack. No photographs because, she says, “I don’t need them”.
In the flesh Schwermer is charming and engaging as well as lively and youthful-looking with strong jutting teeth and eyesight that she says she has halfway managed to correct herself with exercises she has picked from the people she meets. She is well dressed, neat and tidy and, it may come as a surprise given her lifestyle, 67 years old. Her two children — now a music teacher and a therapist — support what their mother does although the family don’t spend Christmas together. Though single, she has relationships every now and again, but is adamant that any love affair will always come second to what she calls her ideological work with Gib und Nimm. “I can imagine having a serious relationship with someone who is spiritual and who believes in what I’m doing, but not one where I live in a nice big house. I can fall in love but I can’t imagine living with someone. ”
Given her constant roaming about the country, it is almost impossible pinning her down. We met in the Greenpeace offices in Münster, near Cologne, where she was to address a group of young people who had been inspired by her work to live without money for week (Schwermer spends much of her time giving lectures about her lifestyle). Accompanying her was an Italian/ Norwegian film crew and we watched as successive teenagers stumbled in and out of the office, having been given the task of bartering for food with the offer of work. “We already live in a barter economy. We go to work to get money. I want to go farther.”
What is farther and how far is far enough? Ideally, Schwermer would like to lead by example and give other people courage to change their attitudes towards money and how they live in and contribute to society. The pressure to buy and to own, she feels, has intensified in recent years. Consumerism is essentially about “an attempt to fill an empty space inside. And that emptiness, and the fear of loss, is manipulated by the media or big companies.” There is a fear, she says, that in not buying or owning an individual will fall out of society. The irony, she claims, is that material goods can never plug a spiritual hole and shopping and hoarding are more likely to isolate people than bring contentment. Does she intend to start a revolution?
“No, I think of myself as planting the seed,” she says. “Perhaps people come away from my lectures or seeing me being interviewed and decide to spend a little less. Others might start meditating. The point is that my living without money is to allow for the possibility of another kind of society. I want people to ask themselves, ‘What do I need? How do I really want to live?’ Every person needs to ask themselves who they really are and where they belong. That means getting to grips with oneself.”
Does she really think that she can convert other people to her life philosophy? “Yes, that’s our future. One day we will all live without money, because we don’t need it and because it is only a burden. We’re the way we are because it’s how the system allows us to be. We can buy everything we want but we need so much less than we realise. If you think that the capitalist system we live in now is the only system, well that’s just ridiculous.”
Though she no longer owns any of her own, she has written two books on her adventures (and has given away her royalties). The first, My Life without Money, turned her first into a minor hero in Germany in some quarters, the kind who, last week for example, was invited on to a late-night TV forum to discuss whether Money Can Make You Happy. Surrounded by dot-com millionaires and lottery winners, she spoke while the other guests peered at her, visibly disconcerted to meet a woman who had given up everything and who claimed to be happy. “I live completely normally, only without money,” she said. “There are people who do so in Siberia. And in Africa there are many people who survive only because they all help each other.”
Schwermer knows from experience that not everyone will take her seriously. When she began with her project, “I was attacked frequently by people telling me that I wasn’t living without money at all, that I was just being provocative or scrounging, which made me cry! But then I realised it isn’t just about giving and expecting something back, or about giving and allowing oneself to be taken advantage of, or becoming a victim. It is about the possibility of having another life, of letting go of the stuff around us and examining our deepest fears.”
She tells me about an episode three years ago when she became convinced that she was going to starve to death: “But I really asked myself what that was about and realised it was about my childhood, and it had no bearing on reality.” (Schwermer is the child of refugees who lost everything after the war). Her only real terror now is appearing in the media. “I hate being on TV because it makes me so nervous but I know I reach a lot of people that way.” The people she does get through to, judging by the demographics of the lecture halls she visits, tend to be women. Why? “Because women are more open to new ideas.”
Is Schwermer a lunatic? Certainly she has been called “naive” and “idealistic” by the author of an article in the right-wing Die Welt newspaper, who asked her whether she was pursuing a communist-lite agenda when communism has been proved to be a failure. “It’s true that communism didn’t work,” she says, “but human beings need to learn to be a little bit different before we can learn to share what we have. We are going to run out of oil in ten years. We don’t have infinite resources. That just isn’t sustainable.”
Is her own itinerant lifestyle sustainable? She thinks so. She feels young but, in the event of death, she has organised her own funeral. She’s “paid” for it by striking a deal with an enlightened clergyman, who agreed that she would cover the costs of the burial by offering counseling sessions for the bereaved. Such deals are a regular feature of her new existence: only the managers of the German rail network seem to be immune to her formidable powers of persuasion, hence the few euros she still needs at her disposable to travel long distances.
Schwermer often talks enthusiastically about “the new world” she is in the process of discovering. She is esoteric but not mad or prone to ranting. Most people find her to be engaging and likeable: there are now many members of her Tauschring. What about those who live without money but not through choice? What about the poor and the homeless? Has she ever converted a homeless person to her way of thinking?
“I haven’t managed to reach the homeless,” she says. “I did hold lectures for the homeless but only six or seven showed up. They didn’t want to hear it. One of the men there accused me of having ‘connections’, that I’d only been able to do what I have been able to do because I knew people. I do have contacts, that’s what this new world is all about, forging links and contacts. Otherwise it wouldn’t work.”
She never managed to convince her interlocutor and not long after their conversation he had resumed his place outside on the pavement begging for spare change.

Humanity!

Folks,
Last week i was travelling back from one of the ME countries to Dubai and met up with this guy.
The airport authorities changed the boarding gate just an hour before the scheduled take off. ( this happens very often now a days, and one has to keep an eye on the TV monitors and keep checking the boarding gate and the time)
We were waiting for our turn at the boarding gate and as I was getting my passport and boarding pass checked, our friend, who was standing behind me, realised that two of our fellow passengers, whom he had helped earlier while checking in, were walking towards the other gate!(the old one) He told me that they dont speak English or Arabic and obviously not guided properly about the change in the boarding gate, by the airport staff. He ran, probably around 3-400 meters to catch them, informed them, came back running and stood at the tail end of the queue. I was overhelmed by this 'gesture'. Many of us, in our rush to get inside the aircraft, secure the overhead bins, would have just informed the staff to help and manage the situation! Such kind of gestures have become rarity in this fast paced world. I could not see him again as he rushed off, upon landing, to catch his connecting flight. The fellow passengers whom he helped were Srilankans and they knew only Sinhalese! I said hallo to them and they were immensely happy with the help they got from our friend.
He is Suman Avula and he can be reached at sumanavula@neulandlabs.com
I would appreciate if you can just send him a mail appreciating this gesture!!
This world need more Sumans.
Cheers

Memoir....Musings of a Sales guy at heart!!

Friendship as per Khalil Gibron

Episode 7

On Friendship:  

And a youth said, Speak to us of Friendship. And he answered, saying: Your friend is your needs answered. He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving. And he is your board and your fireside. For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace. When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the ‘nay’ in your own mind, nor do you withhold the ‘ay’. And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart; For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unclaimed. When you part from your friend, you grieve not; For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain. And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit. For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught. And let your best be for your friend. If he must know the ebb of your tide, let know its flood also. For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill? Seek him always with hours to live. For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness. And the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. Your Friendly

RL Rajah

20/06/21