A place called home

A native of The Netherlands, Martijn Rauwers and his wife Jasmin Beverwijk moved to Bengaluru with their children - Simon and Lisa - a year and a half ago. It was at Jasmin’s instance that the family came here and now they are more than happy to call Bengaluru their second home.

The family lived in Arnhem, a small town close to the border of Germany. Martijn met Jasmine at Wageningen University in The Netherlands.

Martijn works for a startup that specialises in sustainable business models for healthy cities, food supply chains, waste, energy and water infrastructure back home but is currently on a break.

Jasmin was born in Mymensingh, Bangladesh, but doesn‘t remember anything of her life in that country. “I was brought to an orphanage in Dhaka, when there was famine and chaos there, Bangladesh had just become independent of Pakistan. When I was about two years old I was adopted by a Dutch couple who I consider as my natural parents,” says Jasmine, who has lived and travelled across the world.

Jasmine had been working for more than 15 years at various Dutch universities. She wanted to explore the world (on work of course) with her family. “I saw an advertisement which said that there was a vacancy for a director’s post at Nuffic Neso India in Bengaluru. Martijn persuaded me to apply since he was convinced Bengaluru and India would be a very interesting place for the family and for the children. I applied and the rest just fell in place,” says Jasmin.

Martijn now feels that Bengaluru was the right choice.

“This place is offering me a lot of inspiration and a deeper understanding of the challenges for the coming decades. My company mainly operates in Europe, Africa and the Caribe. They may open up in India soon because I see a lot of opportunities for India to become cleaner and make profit out of waste,” says Martijn.

The family didn’t have any trouble settling down here and have discovered places that interest them. They recollect how their driver Prasad helped them settle into a new environment and adapt to the culture here.

“He was more than just a driver, he really helped us find our way and settle in the city. In addition, he was also our tour guide who introduced us to the nice restaurants and parks here. Our landlord understood that as a foreigner it is not easy for us to get an internet connection without having a bank account. On the day of our arrival, he had arranged it all for us,” says Martijn.

The family sees immense possibilities in Bengaluru to build their respective careers and satiate their love for adventure and travel. While work and school takes up a lot of their time during the week, the family explores the city on their bicycles during the weekends.

“Since we are Dutch, we need to cycle and we do that regularly with our children. We attach four cycles to our car and explore the outskirts of the city. We have so far explored Bamboo Forest at Bandebommasandra, Doddaballapura and Hesaraghatta Lake area. It is special to tour from one village to another and discover the spectacular landscapes,” says Martijn.

Indian food has always intrigued the couple. They have a list of favourite eating joints but are quick to pick out a few. “‘Konark’ is one of our favourite places. It is here that we discovered the richness of Indian food. ‘Phobidden Fruit’ in Indiranagar is excellent for Vietnamese cuisine. We also go to ‘Coffee House’ for ‘masala dosa’.”

Has Jasmin learnt to cook Indian food? “In comparison to the Dutch, cooking Indian dishes is quite time-consuming and a complex affair. The Netherlands is known for its quick cooking habits. People spend only 17 minutes on an average to prepare the main dishes of the day. We need to learn so much from Indians when it comes to cooking. I am planning to attend a workshop on Indian cooking some day,” she adds.

Martijn and Jasmin have also been a part of several Indian festivals. “We have been a part of several Indian festivals like ‘Ganesha Chaturthi’, ‘Deepavali’, ‘Sankranti’ and ‘Pongal’. This year, ‘Ganesha Chaturthi’, was special because Prasad took us to Pottery Town to help us buy a Ganesha idol. We also saw how the idols are immersed,”adds Martijn.

Shedding light on their life back home, Martijn says, “The traffic movement is very organised in The Netherlands. It is safe and structured. People are inspired to take the bicycles and therefore throughout the country you find separate bicycles lanes. We even have highways for bicycles. The streets, parks and lakes are all clean. This enhances the quality of public space,” feels Martijn.

But the couple hope that the traffic situation here will improve soon.