Growing up days – learning German language

In the 1960s, growing up was synonymous with learning a foreign language and the preference was for the German language followed by French. In Kolkata, German was taught by the Max Mueller Bhavan and its setup was located in Ballygunge. The classes were held in the evening and it was convenient to attend after classes in St Xavier’s College.

The French classes were held at Alliance Francoise – this was in Park Street and was nearer to my college but, I opted for German because at least two of my cousins had been to Germany. One of them studied in BHU, Varanasi, and had come in contact with a couple of Germans who had come to India on a student exchange program. They helped my cousin to go to Germany. He had studied Agriculture Engineering but, once in Germany, he had to get a job in a bank to survive. He even married a German girl and lived happily ever after.
Anyway, one of the reasons to learn German was to add to my knowledge and be prepared in case I get a chance to go to Germany. Another attraction was to make new friends and interact with a different set of people. Therefore, words like Fraulien and Frau got added to my vocabulary like danke and bitte.

Unfortunately, I could not finish my course because my tenure in St Xavier’s College was for one year and, after passing out, I went in for studying engineering and my new college was too far away from Max Mueller Bhavan. (to be continued …)