Warum Deutsch?
2020, started on an ominous note and that note of ominous-ness has lingered for well past 3.5 months now. The world was oblivious to the damaging effect of the Corona virus back then. However on 3rd Jan 2020, I was not only oblivious to the damaging effect of Corona, I was also considerably clueless of how I found myself in a German Class, actually paid, enrolled and then found myself in a class blinking to the Question posed by a teacher who was stringent about addressing her class in Deutsch only.
She asked “Woher Kommen Sie?” (Where do you come from?)
I don’t have a einfach answer to that...
Ich Komme aus Pai Layout. The correct sentence is Ich wohne in Pai Layout (I stay in Pai Layout) which was repeated another 4 times by Sathya, Ameya, Mahi and Yoga Mat girl… leaving the teacher blinking her eyes then asking “Where is Pai Layout?”
The teacher kommt aus Maharashtra and was possibly intrigued by a layout of fellow Konkanis in Bangalore. (Hallo Lehrerin, In Pai Layout, keine Konkani oder Konkani Restaurant- #teardrops)
The classroom was bright, colorful, had a nice Touch screen serving as a Board (ohh, I miss the classroom).. You could see a spectacular view of pine trees and the rising sun. But I was not here to see the sunrise which puts us forward to the question. “Why was I there in a German class in the first place?”
A few days later the teacher did ask, “Warum lernst du Deutsch?”
Our class has a strength of 23 regular students ranging from various professions (mostly engineers, a doctor, lawyer, economist), geographical backgrounds, an age group of 22- (well my age was the upper limit). And everyone barring me was ambitious. They were learning Deutsch to pursue higher studies or employment in Deutschland!!
Why was I learning German??
“Actually my office is quite close by. I wanted my mornings to be productive. And well Just for Fun.”
Not a very conclusive or confident answer. You just don’t go to a class because it is next to your office/ house.
The question Warum Deutsch lingered on in my mind.
Classes progressed from Aa, Bay, Say, Day, Ey, F, Gay… to numbers (Funf und Dreizig) to the timings (um Sieben Uhr), Gender (Der-Die-Das) to Akkusativ, Dativ, Nominativ, Partizip Zwei, German Grammar until we lost our understanding of English Grammar as well. If you thought that Grammar Nazi is a term to indicate that a person is strict about the correctness of Grammar, well you are mistaken. Grammar Nazi is a term to indicate that German Grammar (if you miss a class) can be as brutal as the Nazis itself.
We ran, laughed (mit dem Junge mit Trizeps), framed sentences (that the Doctor would dutifully korrigiert), played games (that ensured the Economist had to be reconciled to return to our classes), listened to nursery rhymes (of a Kleine Kuken piept) akin to Kindergarten* kids minus the Nap Time, of course.
Well that was the most interesting part of the whole class. You had to become a child again. By “Becoming a Child”, I mean the childlike attributes like Enthusiasm, discipline, obedience when you are learning something new.
Besides these attributes, Die Lehrerin was also in favor of inculcating punctuality. Our class was notoriously late (and one is not even considering the profoundly knowledgeable Bejaan Daruwala).
But our teacher was innovative and also has a sweet tooth. What she introduced can become a Case Study in Human Behavioral Science and Reinforcements that can end up in a Daniel Kahneman or a Richard Thaler book.
Sometime in February she introduced a new rule. If you come later than Viertel nach Sieben Uhr (7:15 am), you had a designated Schokolade tisch (Chocolate Table) and the obligation to bring chocolates for the entire class the next day. Though it was opposed initially, the rule became a big hit. It did ensure Sweet mornings and also rapidly improved the attendance (who likes to miss chocolates) and the punctuality of the students. Soon the number of late comers dwindled but the sweets and savories did not. Someone got Chocolates from Germany, someone brought Gulab Jamun and someone got Bhakarwadi (all the way from Pune).
The camaraderie was great. Then it came to an abrupt halt.
With news streaming in of the rise of Corona Virus and victims in India, our classes were disrupted for a while and then it shifted online. That was also a struggle with echoes, dismayed Can you hear me, I can’t hear you, dodgy network, we faced it all. But the class assiduously and with conviction carried on and then we were upgraded to a better Platform for a trial of 2-3 days.
The platform incident happened at the fag end of our course. It had a good lesson for me.
I had my reasons for not liking the new platform but it was hugely popular in the class. However the joy of the class was short lived as we were directed to the old platform again. The new platform was given on a trial basis to us as a sample test for the next batch. Returning to the old platform made most/ (all of them) livid. I am used to sorry stuff. I pass a joke and go about with it.
But here was my lesson. The students insisted and the teacher persisted with their request. I thought it would not be possible. But Lo, behold today morning we were back to the better platform. It might seem trivial but someone who settles for sorry and shitty stuff, one learnt that if you want good things, you have to be assertive and make an effort for it.
Another week and we are done with the classes. I got my share of fun. I plan to continue learning Deutsch further. I am sad that the classes have to end like this. But all things come to an end… promising new learnings, friends and experiences :)
Warum Deutsch?
“das Neue erlebe!!”