Trip down memory lane

The possibility of meeting old friends was the main reason I was so excited to come back to live in the same place where I had studied in Germany. Many people I know from my student days are not here in Erlangen anymore, but some are close by and others are still here.

When I came to Erlangen in March 2001 the first person I met was Raghu. He handed me the key to my room in the "Internationales Studentenwohnheim", known as Wichernstrasse (the name of the street where it´s located). The day I arrived I had dinner with Raghu, Priya and Saher (who later introduced me to Vivek K. and Irfan). Vivek B. introduced Ishan to our "Wichernstr. Wohnheim" and that was the core group of my hindustani dost.

(L-R: Vivek K., Irfan, Raghu, Saher and Ishan-2001)

Vivek B. has the same birthday as Ishan and I will never forget the awesome birthday party we celebrated in the cellar of our building on that weekend. At that time I had met other friends like Abhijeet (who just became a Dad!), Tirumal, Prasad, Narayan and Silvia (from Indonesia).

(Vivek B. and Ishan on their birthday- 2001)

Another memorable celebration was a Diwali party in Erlangen. Vivek K. is not in the picture below because he had gone to India and when he came back he announced he was getting married. He showed me a picture of Nidhi and later Ishan and I were lucky enough to meet her at their wedding (during my first trip to India, when I had gone to get engaged to Ishan).

(L-R: Ishan, Mari, Irfan, Saher at a Diwali party in Erlangen 2001)

Looking back, I realize that the year 2003 was pretty exciting for me: I completed my Masters degree, got married and moved to India. What I didn´t know then, was that about three years later I was going to enjoy the thrill of a reunion with my "family" in Europe. And that thrill began just the next day after I landed in Erlangen last Dec. ´06, when I met Irfan again, who introduced me to Céline the day before they went to India (where they got engaged). They´re now the most recent newlyweds of the group.

I like to think that living in Wichernstr. was the best part of my experience as a student and not just because that´s where I met my better half, but because I also came across wonderfully warm people like Heike and Baris, who added an "international touch" to the clique. Heike had written a very nice message in Ishan´s memory book before he went back to India. She hoped for a "see you later" instead of a "good bye" ...how nice it is to realize that wish came true!



Ishan and I were lucky to have met another great couple of friends in the same hostel, Pamela and Sani. They are still in Erlangen and in fact have been more like our guardian angels during our first months after we moved here with Fabi.

It´s having people like them around that makes Erlangen really feel like our home.


Of course, I still keep in touch with friends that I met outside the student hostel. Some of my former colleagues from my Master´s are still around and it´s been a lot of fun to see them again. Several other people who I know are still in this small city, some whom I´ve met by chance (Hola, Sergio!) and some whom I would still like to meet up with (Hi, Tina! Hi, Tirumal! Hola, Rodrigo! Hola, Mauricio!)

Being in Erlangen reminds me a lot of Saher. Ishan and I were lucky enough to have him visit us in Mumbai a couple of times when we lived there. Saher´s now married and Ishan visited him and his wife Yaquta during a recent trip to Saudi Arabia.

(L-R: Ishan, Mari and Saher - Mumbai, 2004)

In case you´re wondering what triggered this flashback that has turned out to be a very long post: it´s the fact that this past Pfingsten weekend was extra special as Vivek K. and Nidhi came to visit us from Basel, Switzerland! Of course, it was absolutely delicious to see them again, catch up with our news and go out like in the good ol´times. I will write a post and upload pictures of their visit, but for now I will share a couple of pictures - my favorite "Then and Now" snaps.

Left: Nidhi, Vivek and I in our Gebbertstr. apartment when they came to visit us in Erlangen from Switzerland.

Right: Nidhi, Vivek and I celebrating Nidhi´s birthday in their Brüxer Str. apartment, just before I left Erlangen in 2003.

Top picture (left to right): Saher, Ishan, Mari, Baris, Heike, Nidhi, Vivek K. - Eating in Maalalu - an Arabic restaurant, when Ishan had come back to Erlangen for a short visit in 2003.

Below picture: All of us again - except Saher. Having breakfast at Cafe Mengin, next to the Schlossgarten, on the last day of Vivek & Nidhi´s visit to Erlangen in May, 2007.

I hope to enjoy many more of these meetings...to see more old friends, especially the ones who are still in Germany, like Raghu, Priya and Vivek B. -- so I would finally meet his wife Noopor in person! ... Saher, Yaquta: how about a trip to Erlangen?