Hamburg

Netaji’s grand nephew, Surya Bose, still stays in the port city though he runs an IT consultancy firm in Austria. Hamburg’s government also hosts an India Week every other year, which is popular among the locals as well, including as it does business delegations, art, culture and food from back home. The Indian Consulate in Hamburg, one of the oldest in Germany, was set up in 1952; a trade office for India worked out of the port city 80 years ago. The latest group of Indians arriving from India are mainly those in the IT and green power industries, where Germany is a technology leader. The biggest magnet is the aircraft manufacturer Airbus, which has a fair number of Indians on its staff and employed by its contractors.

Mr Shyam Machiraju of Hyderabad came to Germany pursuing his love for Formula-1 racing. A student of Chaitanya Bharati Institute of Engineering, he learnt German at the Goethe Institute in Hyderabad. He did a Masters degree in Germany, and is today a leading engineer at P3Voith Aerospace, which does IT projects for Airbus. When he was working to come to Germany, he says, there was no proper guidance on options in Germany, and the people were generally portrayed as cold, and worse, racist. None of which is true, he says. Now, Mr Machiraju goes back at the Goethe Institute in Hyderabad every time he is home, to encourage students to look at Germany as an option. He says German-speaking foreigners are more respected and welcomed than those who do not speak the language.

Most Germans, however, speak very good English. His dream is to one day go back home and perhaps bring a bit of Germany to India. Mr Harish Babu Venkataswamy Reddy, or simply Mr Harish Babu, works with As System and is active in cultural circles. He has organised Indian festivals and cultural nights, and the first Ganesh festival complete with immersion of the idol. Both Mr Machiraju and Mr Harish Babu, who lives in Hamburg with wife Shilpa and daughter Harshitha, have experienced no racism, and much friendship. Steindamm, located near the main station, has a clutch of Indian stores and restaurants that attract Indians and Germans.

The year of India in Germany begins in May, and the Indian Consulate, which is focusing on specific sectors — maritime, life sciences, aviation and green power — will spread the red carpet for Germans to sample a little bit of cultural and business India. Hamburg is also home to about 800 families of Afghan Hindus who were granted asylum here in the 1980s. A well-organised community, they set up the Hindu Temple, which is the centre of cultural and religious activities. The temple runs houseful on Sundays and during festivals, says Dr N.K. Goswami, who heads the temple board and has his practice near the main station.