M'lore mesmerises European youth

India is a diverse country and Mangalore is filled with greenery while the people are kind-hearted, opined 12 young ambassadors from Germany, France, Belgium and Austria who were on a one-month trip to India as a part of a cultural exchange programme of 41ers Club of Round Table.

All these youth are between the age group of 18 and 22 and were in Mangalore between August 2 and 4.

The group visited Aloysius Chapel, Kudroli temple, Albuquerque tile factory, City Centre Mall, Ripsons dance class, Achal cashew factory, Moodbidri 1,000 pillar Basadi, Attur church (in Karkala), Gomateshwara statue, Soans Organic Farm at Moodbidri, Pilikula Artisans village, zoo and arboretum and enjoyed every minute of their stay in Mangalore.
All of them stayed in 41 ers Club members’ houses in Mangalore. They will be staying with the members of the club in their next destination at Kochi. They will also be visiting Chennai, Mysore during the course of their trip.

“Their trip to India was sponsored by their parents. However, their local expenses like stay and food were borne by the host family,” said Suresh Mathias, Chairman of 41 ers Club of Mangalore, and added that Mangalore YAP (Young Ambassadors’ Programme) convenor Marian Saldanha was instrumental in organising the trip.

Speaking to City Herald, David Reinisch (20) from Austria said the whole YAP was well educative as it provided an oppirtunity to visit people with diverse culture. “During our trip to Mangalore, we stayed with 41 ers club members’ homes and learnt about the culture and tradition of this region,” he said.

Interestingly, Sabrina Geil from Germany was shocked to see many labourers working in a farm. “My parents own a farm which has 1000 cows and we manage the show with two labourers as everything is mechanised. My friends back at Germany had said that one can see real India in South India. Everything here is interesting.”

She said “for the first time in my life I ate food using my hand at Soans Farm in Moodbidri. It was a heart touching moment. We all made a spoon from ‘Naan’ and had the food.”
Simond from Germany who is studying Business Administration said that his visit to cashew factory was very fruitful. “In Germany, we see only the end product. We were not aware of the process involved in getting the end product.” He was amazed to see so many people working in the factory, unlike in his country, where everything is mechanised. “India has made progress in each sector. However, the streets are still dirty here as people throw everything on the streets which was a shock to me,” he added.
Govenaux Thibault said the life here is totally different from France. Gauthier Michel,also from France, said he liked visiting so many temples.

Hansen Alexandra from Germany recalled that her family had hosted few Indians and she was very much interested to visit India after hearing from them on the diverse cultures and traditions. “People over here are skilled do all the traditional work in their hand without using machines,” she noted.

Louis Rogiers from Belgium who is the youngest in the group, opined that Mangalore is not chaotic like Mumbai and the people are generous.

For Ann Christin Nickel from Germany, the visit was an insight into the culture and family life.

 “The visit to Mumbai was a culture shock. The visit to Soans Farm was a fruitful experience. Till I visited the farm, I thought that pineapples were growing in a tree.”
Though all the 12 youth liked Indian food and could remember the names like Idli, dosa, poori, raitha, Franke Martin said the food was alright except the use of corriander leaves. In fact, he was the tallest (199 cms) in the group. George from Austria said it was his father who had said that there was a good opportunity to meet people in India and understand their culture, which made him visit the country. “The food was spicy, tasty and delicious,” he said. Resch While Stefanie from Austria said “Indians are more open unlike their counterparts in Austria who are reserved.”

Maebe Maxim from Belgium, who just completed his graduation and will be moving to university, said “One can see lot of greenary in spite of Mangalore being a city.”
Apart from buying some specialities of Mangalore, four girls from the team have purchased sarees and kurthis before they left the City for Kochi.