Berlin-A Bird's Eye View

I didn’t want to come to Berlin. Guess the law of Diminishing marginal utility has begun to catch up with me-too many visits to countries beyond the Indian shores and the aura has begun to fade. And why not? Most cities outside India look very much the same, especially the European cities. Clean roads, highways with occasional cars seen travelling at break-neck speed, twisting flyovers that reminds one of the “jalebis” back home and people with near normal shapely toned bodies that make me feel old and diseased! No honking sounds of cars, no traffic jams and perfectly functioning traffic lights ensuring free flowing traffic on the roads. There seems to order everywhere and people go about doing their task with a sombre face, as if they couldn’t care if the world came to an end the very next instant. And then there are those pre-conceived notions about “the-not-so-fair-skinned” people from the eastern parts of the world!

“We are serving beef sandwiches,” was what the air-hostess said to me as she approached my seat. “And I don’t think you would want that, do you,” was what her eyes seem to say. Her western upbringing had probably taught her that people in the east were holy ascetics, who could survive on air for ages and considered cows as holy!

“Yes please, thanks”, was my reply. “Did I notice a bit of surprise in her eyes when she handed me my packet of sandwich?”

The sandwich turned out to be cold and its rough edges scraped and nicked the skin inside my mouth. When the air-conditioner spews tonnes and tonnes of moisture free air, what more can you expect other than the skin turning absolutely dry and ready to peel off at the slightest opportunity? I had known Germany as the land of beer but had no idea that it was also a country famous for its sandwiches. Close to most of departure gates of the domestic terminal airport at Frankfurt were sandwich counters that served cold sandwiches. Those on display had all sorts of breads-some plain surfaced and many of them pock-marked with various sorts of seeds and herbs. The beef sandwich served to me on the flight had an extravagant spread of cheese and salted beef meat besides olives, small cherry like tomatoes and lettuce leaves. Very filling! Do the people here eat so much cheese everyday-I wondered!

Berlin Tegel airport seemed a small one like any of the airports one come across in smaller towns/cities of India when I arrived. Just 1 baggage handling conveyor belt, a narrow strip leading through the customs area and one came to an opening housing small array of food and curio shops. To my surprise, I realised that the airport was in no way small and packed a whole host of amenities and facilities in a small space. The airport building exterior façade is designed in the form of an octa/decagon with multiple doors for entry into the airport building. The cars/taxis coming to drop off passengers entered from one side and dropped off the passenger near to the designated gate before leaving from the other end. Inside, immediately after entering through the gates, were the check-in counters of various airlines. The check in counters led to an opening through which one entered the security enclosure before being finally carried to the airplane and out of the city. This ensured that the passenger who arrived at the last minute did not have to run from one end of the airport to the other looking for the check-in counter relevant to him and then spend some time rushing to another area and queing up with passengers waiting to board other airplanes! Full marks to the German precision and efficiency, I thought. The airport building housed shops at one section for those who had time on their hands to kill and money in their pockets to spend!

For a capital, Berlin is a relatively less crowded city when one compares it to, say London or Moscow. While the tube in London literally spews dozens and dozens of humanity with venom during office hours, I found one of the underground stations practically empty at 8.30 am on a Monday morning. The biggest surprise though was the fact that there were neither ticket checking turn-stiles nor any ticket sales counter at the station! I kept walking and suddenly found myself standing on the platform. Looking around, I noticed two machines dispensing tickets for those who wanted a ride but there were more surprise in store for me when I approached these machines-Not a single instruction in English! I was supposed to converse with a vending machine in German language!

The German dislike for English language was evident on most of the places in Berlin. The police woman at the street intersection gestured with her hands and jabbered away in German language resulting in me getting lost. All I had asked her was the way to “Berlin Intercontinental! The German historical museum had an interesting collection of photographs and articles related to Hitler. Yet again, couldn’t appreciate them for lack of my understanding of the German language!

Standing before the remnants of the “fourth-version” Berlin wall was probably the high point of the visit. The concrete slabs were a reminder of how seriously the Russians had taken their task of building a wall-one needed battle tanks to drive a hole into those blocks of concrete. Today, one can come across parts of “The Wall” in some areas where it is allowed to keep standing. For taking pictures standing alongside “The Mauer” one has to look out for the slabs that are placed near “Potsdamer Plaza”. A visit to the Checkpoint Charlie museum ( this was interesting for it had English sub-titles) is a must if one wants to know the kind of risks people had taken to defy “The Wall” and tried escaping to the glitz and glamour of West Berlin. While “The Wall” has become a part of history today one can still identify the divide that the city had gone through if one looks around. The architecture of the buildings which were once part of East Germany has a distinct feel and look of what one comes across in erstwhile Soviet Union. It reminded me of what I had seen during my visit to Kazakhstan. The buildings on the west side are more modern and smack of a bit of opulence.

More stirring, in my opinion, than the Berlin Wall is the memorial to the hundreds of Jews who were mercilessly killed by Hitler. Named the Holocaust memorial, its resembles a vast field full of tombstones. It seems the architect wanted the visitors to feel at a loss when they viisted the site. I felt he had really succeeded in his attempt. Those stone slabs without any names or marks represent an indescribable grief, a sort of numbness that one feels when faced with grief of huge proportion!

In the land of BMWs and Mercedes, I had expected to see a lot of BMW’s parked in every by-lane. Yet, a stroll around the streets closer to my hotel revealed more VW’s standing in the parking lots. Almost 7 out of every 10 car in the parking lot was a VW. Hitler’s vision of making it a car for the common household seems to have been truly fulfilled.

And yes, I certainly did bring back a piece of history that this city is famous for. A piece of concrete from “The Mauer”, for display on the drawing room shelf as an proof that I had indeed visited Berlin!