Nürtingen

The weather Gods may be unpredictable. The mood of the seasons may be difficult to fathom. But for visitors in Nurtingen, Germany, the welcome remains equally warm everytime you decide to visit the place.

If you are a little apprehensive on how to communicate with the German-speaking community, or at a loss thinking whether to carry the German to English dictionary in your handbag everytime you step out of your room, think twice...because every person you meet here speaks the language of love! A friendly nod greets you as you step out of the airport. And then the friendliness becomes a habit as you find the warmest smiles around from one and all, whether you know a person or not! For me, the familiar tone and smile of my colleague Mr Jürgen Gerrmann seemed the same as I had encountered during his stay in Kolkata. Distances sure do not change people. They often make the fondness grow stronger, I realised.

As we stopped in front of Hotel Pflum, my home for the four weeks I would stay in Nurtingen, a smiling, handsome face said the warmest 'Hallo' that could make any visitor feel at home right away! That was Werner Pflum, the owner and one who would remind you of a 'jolly good fellow' and a fonder father figure from the word go! While Mr Gerrmann introduced me to him, I realised I was already much at ease with the gentleman who spread a lot of friendliness through his broken English and interest in my likes and dislikes. A beer or one without alcohol, he asked with a broad smile and twinkling eyes. Serving a plate of spaghetti with pork meet and a beer, he welcomed me to his hotel.

But I was already much in love with the quaint hotel, beautifully decorated with a cozy restaurant corner where friends and families came together for an enjoyable time over drinks and food. Well, this could be very similar to our Bengali-styled 'adda' session at the Olypub or Bar-B-Q in the Park Street area!

The first day in office seemed a revelation for me. Not just Jurgen, everyone seemed to speak so fondly here...some in English and some with their expressions and their sweet smiles. Expressions spoke well for both me and some of my colleagues. But at the end of it all, we understood each other and actually got chatting! Flowers from colleagues with the Easter bunny sitting pretty next to my work station, was perhaps the perfect welcome I could have expected from the Nurtinger Zeitung team. I found a friend in everyone, including the ever-smiling and amiable editor Annelise Lieb. And to think of my colleagues picking me up from the hotel and bringing me to work every day...could language ever have been a handicap in this?

Never. It was this beautiful gesture of hospitality and love which made me feel so much at home in a foreign land as everyone I met and interacted with, spoke the same language of love!

A recent trip to Reutte in Tirol was quite an experience for someone like me from the plains. If seeing the Alps so close was a prized moment, interacting with my friend Christine Schneider was a thing for a lifetime. It was an instant liking for the blonde haired, slim and soft natured lady who was not only beautiful outside, but was as beautiful inside. A quiet lady with a heartwarming smile, it was her creative bent of mind and artistic inclinations that won a friend in me. A painter whose travelled a lot and spent time in India, she understood the subcontinent well. It wasn't just the thought of having rice or chapatti at her place, but her unending patience in replying to all my queries that immediately brought me close to her.

A cozy home (and not just a house!), the Schneiders' residence spoke of creativity at every nook and corner. With a lot of love, Christine turned a 'guru' for me as she taught me Filzen, an art of making things with wool. The mats she made for me were not just lovely to look at but also spoke of her love for a new friend! Not just she, her mother seemed the perfect hostess during my stay at Bichlbach. It was often funny when she spoke a string of sentences in German and I nodded my head not quite knowing how to react. But the friendly people they are, she spoke a word or two of English in punctuated mode and that was enough for me to understand what she wanted to convey! The warm Earl Grey tea and the sumptuous breakfast that she laid out on the table for me, reminded me of my mother. As she sat giving me company, I couldn't but think again that love knows no language.

I could go on with many more such incidents that have made me love this town and its people on my first visit here. Take for example Annemarie, a courteous and loving lady who is also an ace photographer. A loving lady, she invited us to her house, and was in a hurry to make us feel at home. Serving an egg liquor and a locally brewed apple drink, Annemarie not only made us warm with her care but also shared some of the beautiful photographs she had taken. Kept carefully in my suitcase at the hotel, I am reminded often of the gesture where she brings a warm jacket for me keeping in mind the fact that I was to attend easter prayers at the church till late on Saturday night. Little things matter big and such things have happened to me at all places here in Germany. If you have to feel and speak the language of love, Nurtingen is where you should be.