So, Cricket World Cup ended finally with India being a proud finalists.

 This time, I found a Indian Restaurant called "Kohinoor" to watch the match. After 30 minutes of Pakistani songs & advertisements the match started in the Pakistani Channel.

 After Australia scored 359/2, there was no match after that. Only way the match could be "tight" at that point was "To get our players drunk!" :-)

 Even we thought of "Indians players boycotting the world cup (after first innings) showing solidarity Germany against Iraq war" since we cannot chase 360 in the match. Later, we decided it was too late to inform Ganguly to announce this.

 With Sachin getting out early, we lost the (whatever left) tinniest glimmer of hope. And know what? it rained. Could it be that the two Gentleman Duckworth-Lewis can help us now? 

 Oh No! Rain stops again. I requested my friend who is a Carnatic singer to sing  the raga for rain - "Amrithavarshini". He reminded me that it will rain in Germany and not in SouthAfrica if he sings. :-(
 
 Well, we should be happy to accept that second best award and only hope that we will not be nervous in the next final. Anyway, India beat Pakistan and Sachin got the Man of Tournament award and I am more than satisfied. World cup win would have been a bit too much for Indian fans.

 Meanwhile Viswanathan Anand won another Chess tournament. Lets accept that Anand also has done India proud in the World stage. There is more to Indian Sports than Cricket...

 Germans are normally considered boring, disciplined, ordered, dull, systematic etc. It's upon you whether these are positive traits or negative.

 Lets find out what makes the Germans to tick. (The following opinions are more general and not necessarily apply to all the Germans. As in India, the young generation is forward-thinking and old rules are not applicable to it! :-)

Organization Skills:

 Germans are the best when it comes to Organization skills.

 They are very meticulous about planning. They believe that if the planning is done perfectly, the implementation will take care of itself. Planning takes longer than real activity. In computer terms, Germans tend to be more process oriented than project oriented.

 In office, meetings are planned well in advance. Agenda is sent to participants and meeting sticks to this agenda.  Don’t exceed the given time; 5-10 minutes okay but not more.

 Discipline is another factor for their success. Ask a German to count the number of cars that cross a particular junction. Come the next day, you will find him counting 10933, 10934… A routine job doesn't bore him, he just does what has been told to him. When it comes to work, there is no personal preferences or opinions.

 One should attend a 2-year course even to be a Baker, House Cleaner, Hair-styler & so on. It takes 6-year course to start a company on these professions. (High level of Bureaucracy!)

 Bottom line: One has to be really skilled in a field to take a job. 

 Do well in whatever you do. That’s why Germans work only 7.5 hours per day and still the sixth most productive nation in the world.

 No wonder Germans are so good in engineering!

Rules:

 To keep it organized, they have made rules. For almost everything. Kids should go to bed by 7 PM. That’s it. No questions asked. Everyone believes Rules have got a long thought making process behind it, so better stick to it.

 The reason for all this obsession with rules come from the reason that if things are not controlled, you get Hitler ruling the whole country and the World War II was the hard way to learn the lesson.

 In fact, during 15th Century, it was Martin Luther King, who brought this social structure built on RULES.

 Angst plays a major role in the mindset of Germans. Fear of things getting out of control, Fear of another ruler like Hitler, Fear of another World War II, Fear of bearing the world's wrath..

 "Take it easy" is never their forte. If you say so, then you will be classified as reckless, careless etc.

 So, to keep things under control, set strident rules. As long as the rules are followed, things are under control. That’s the reason they panic when things get out of control.

 This also means that, there is rarely any individual decision. So, most of the decisions are taken in a meeting i.e. Collective decision.

Otherwise, How many countries could have become such an economic super power, after the World War?

Compartmentalization:

 Compartmentalization of the private and public life comes to Germans naturally. Private life is rich and Public life is just a role play.

 If you are invited by your German colleague for dinner at his home, consider yourself the luckiest. Normally this happens only after you work 2 years with him.

Even among Germans they may not have invited each other for lunch even though they were working for years together.

 Neither they will ask whether you are married till you tell them. "You come to office to work and not to make friends".
  
Directness:

 Germans are most direct when it comes to give their opinions. If you want to get the correct opinion about your new shirt, you can always ask a German. But be prepared to get a frank opinion " I think it looks lousy".

 But do remember, their comments are not personal, just a opinion about your shirt.

 Except the initial stages of love, people are direct in their opinions. ? (Well, you can't risk so early in love)

It also means that they are not physically demonstrative like us. So, don’t try to express with hands and head to say something. (Simply put, they can't win a Dumb-charades competition!)
 
Tell them what you need, otherwise they won't understand. Never say, "I thought you will know!" They will never know until you say. (Don't ask me whether is it necessary to write "I love you"in a banner and propose)

This especially creates problems for Indians who talk a lot before coming to the point.

Time: 

 Time is of immense value for Germans. Worst thing you can do is to be late for a meeting. Their punctuality is legendary. Almost all the clocks in Germany are set to a same time. Buses & Trains are on time (okay, At least 95% percent!)

 They allot time for Gardening, Reading, fun etc. And they do only one thing at a time. If they are watching TV, then they are just watching TV. Well, we Indians do reading, chatting, listening to music, munching and so many other things while watching TV. 

 That’s the reason why you can't disturb a German during his working time for your doubts. Wait for him to finish and then approach him. Better way is to fix a meeting for it.
  
 There is time to play and even time to laugh. In general, keep things in their routine (Under control!)

Coming Soon: 

 Well, you have read some important characteristics/stereotypes of Germans. But if you see a German and tell him "You are a typical German!", then you lose his friendship forever.
 
 Becos, Germans are proud of their economic success, but not their history which is bloodied by two World Wars. The World sees them as the "Nazis" or at least Germans think so. And they work hard with more determination to show that War is not the only thing Germany can be associated with.

 "Typical German" is the most offending word for them.

 More about the war and its effect on Germany soon..

P.S:

 During 19th century, under Bismarck, Germany went through a period of Economic upswing. That prompted many Castle-Crazy kings to build the wonderful castles all around the Germany.

 The coveted title of "Wonderful Castle in Germany" goes to Neuschwanstein Castle in Fussen, Germany. A person called Disney was bowled over by this beauty and inspired him to use it in his "DISNEY LAND".

 

 But inside the palace, I found nothing much appealing.
 

********************************************** 
Quote for the week 

"It's not the voting that's democracy; it's the counting"

- Tom Stoppard
********************************************** 
 

That's all folks!! ciao!

Your Friend,
Chandru
Editor, 
Euro Times
http://eurotimes.50megs.com