Diwali at IUB

Yes, we Indians do enjoy our festivals, don’t we? And it was no surprise when we decided to celebrate Diwali at IUB this year as well. The preperations were done in collobration with the Nepali Population at IUB, which doubled the fun. The festival was held in the Krupp College common room, and we witnessed quite a turnout.

For me personaly, the celebrations started with me and Shikhar cooking papars. Ha! That was not difficult was it? All we had to was to put them in the microwave and then take them out when they were cooked. Though some of us who knew how to cook made better stuff such as Chhole, Chawal, Mixed Vegetables(yummy) and there was chicken for the sizeable population of the non-veggies. So, we ensured that the preferences of a lot may people were taken are of. The actual celebrations were quite fun as well. My host family were here as well, and they said that it was quite enjoyable, and we had a presentaion where we explained all about why we celebrate this wonderful festival. Though we couldn’t burn as many firecrackers as we do in India because of the different festivals in Germany, we still managed to have quite a gala time, attired as we were in our Indian clothes. And yes, it was quite a experience celebrating Diwali with such a diverse population which was not possible bak home. Oh, I wish all life at IUB was like this.

Krupp Open Tournament

Table Tennis – A sport which I enjoy immensely and yes I can proudly say that I am quite good at it. And when there was an opportunity to display my talents, I didn’t shy away from it. I didn’t fare well in the singles tournament and went down fighting in the third round. Though the doubles tournament was fun, me and my partner Umair, were quiet good for most of the people and we sailed to the finals of the tournament easily enough. We were lucky enough to be given a bye in the semi-finals as the other team didn’t turn up. (Maybe they were afraid of the South-Asian torpedoes, he!he!). Anyway, the finals was quite a contest and it went down to the wire. Each point was furiously contested for, each smashed blocked, each spin counter-spun. We were a set up, but the other team came back strongly and they managed to eke out the last two sets to win the game an take the trophy home. Sad as it was, we still managed to finish runners up and that was quite an achievement. Maybe next year, we would be able to improve and take the trophy home with us. Till then, good bye from the South-Asian torpedoes.

Though one of the best post-tournament highlights was playing a doubles game against Krenar and his friend from Macedonia with the Krupp College Master, on my side. Now, that was fun. He is an awesome player and together we managed to beat the other team quite comprehensively.