Reflections

I have always liked the sound of the phrase Alma mater but never really went behind the depth of what it meant till now. A little bit of research helped me understand that the phrase has had its origin from Latin and that it roughly translates in to ‘Nourishing mother’ in English! Someone who nurtures and thus moulds you! This piece is about my alma mater who played a big role in shaping me up as a person. Down memory lane… way back in 1982. With roots firmly placed in Kerala our doctor parents working in Germany made sure that we received an upbringing which went along with theirs. So here we were, my little sister and I, away from hearth and home and in a completely foreign land with an even more alien language. As we walked in to the gates of Little Flower LP School Chengaroor, all the way from far away Germany we were engulfed in to the folds of warmth and security of our alma mater, from the first day on. In place of our mom our alma mater stood by us in our early years of growi...

When I boarded the plane to Poland one early Saturday morning little did I know that there was much awaiting me in this magnificent country. My destination was Wroclaw and that was a name which I tried figuring out pronouncing, by listening to colleagues in Bangalore who have been doing business with this region for years together. None of my preparation got me ready to what I was to face when I landed here. 22nd June 1220 is when the tiny propeller plane from Frankfurt landed in Wroclaw. A driver with a white placard which had my name in a completely different semantic order was craning his neck to figure out who this person was. The name was strange enough and longer still: Francis Adappur Asha Mary. It took ME a second to recognize myself so I won’t blame him at all. We walked together to his taxi and our journey to the hotel turned out to be quite pleasant as he spoke German. I was ecstatic at the opportunity to show off my akcent-frei Deutsch. Forget what I said; but I said it wit...