German Memories in Asia - German Royals

Some of the German music which was coming from the resort was really a combination of spiritual and romantic pieces of their centuries old classics by renowned composers Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and Richard Wagner.

While the music from the resort was mixing into the roaring waves of Indian Ocean, Maritsha was belly-dancing marvelously on the beach-sand stage. The surrounding greeneries of coconut trees gave her belly-dancing a spiritual blend. My discussion continued with Pascal Sadune and touched on the German royal families and their so-called descendants. He said they were still enjoying many privilleges in modern Germany.

As an unwritten law, the class differences had emerged well back in medieval times in Germany. In 14th century, early-modern German society gradually came into being as a result of economic, religious and political changes. A money economy arose which provoked social discontent among knights and peasants. Gradually, a proto-capitalistic system evolved out of feudalism. The Fugger family gained prominence through commercial and financial activities and became financiers to both ecclesiastical and secular rulers. The knightly classes found their monopoly on arms and introduced mercenary armies and foot soldiers.

Predatory activity by "robber knights" became common and after massive resistance in 1763 by the citizenry, an "enlightened absolutism" was established in Prussia and Austria, according to which the ruler was to be "the first servant of the state". Though the gap between the nobility and the citizenry was reduced to some extent, the impact of class differences is still a continuing phenomenon in modern German society.

German Memories in Asia - The Fascination of Being at One With Two Worlds!

A visiting table tennis team to Aquarius resort from Germany invited me to Marawila beach where they were playing volleyball. I was seated near the playing field and watching the marvelous finesse of those players.

Twilight had started to turn into complete darkness everywhere. All who played went towards the sea for a dip after the long hours of hectic play. The sea was a little calm and quiet and they went a few meters away from the beach and couldn’t be seen as the beach has a steep end towards the sea.

Beach area near the Aquarius Resort [Source: AGSEP]

They were in the sea for some time and returned back to the beach. A young German girl was coming from the beach, her slim body silhouetted against the background of deep reddish dark sky, evoking the image more or less of an Angel coming towards us.

After dinner, the visiting team from Germany played an innovative game. They were rolling a dice and then the winner in the rotation could select what she or he wanted from a covered pool of things.

I gazed with fascination at the stars in the dark sky over the Indian Ocean through the wide window-less side - wall of the restaurant and then turned my attention towards the happy Germans’ fun and fantasy in Asia.

The music played at the Aquarius resort was deafening and gave the whole place a carnival atmosphere. I drifted into a different world, induced by the melodious German music and the charming environment with the Indian Ocean’s cool breeze adding to it.

The lovely-looking Miriam like a Hindu goddess in a traditional Indian red sari brought me back to world. Miriam, a sports management student from Cologne was dancing in slow motion as her sari restricted her from taking longer strides. She finally succeeded in adjusting the sari and was dancing with full body movements and was quite arresting with her superb fusion of movement. The blinking lights (on and off in a fraction of a second) made every movement of her dance to form on a separate act.

The fascination of being at one with two worlds was an unforgettable experience in my life and reminded me of the German-Portuguese student Faith Dennis’s memories in Southern Brazil, "My year abroad taught me a lot of different things; the main lesson was not to create opinions of people based on outdated and unfounded clichés, as these can only create walls in our minds and stop us from delving into and thus enjoying the richness and differences foreign cultures have to offer."

German Memories in Asia