The Ritter Sport Chocolate museum

Yesterday was a day, well spent with 2 of my best friends, talking, chit-chatting, discussing, laughing as if there was no tomorrow.

And the venue was? Ritter Sport Chocolate museum in a small town called Waldenbuch near to Stuttgart. It's an international and popular chocolate brand, famous for its peculiar shape and size, that of a quadrate, a square! Alfred and Clara Ritter started this business and now it is handled by the third generation, has grown in leaps and bounds, I must say! There are 22 varieties of the regular kind e.g. made from a combination of one or more of the following things: Chocolate, nougat and milk and different berries, lemon, nuts, biscuits etc. There are regular new varieties depending on the seasons too! E.g. spring introduces two new combinations this year! Simple cocoa beans changed into such varied kinds of chocolates! Just amazing! We saw a film on the process of making the chocolate and we were amazed to see huge machines doing their work relentlessly. People were also involved in the last phase, where the damaged pieces had to be identified and taken out before sending for packaging. An exhibition showing the changes right from its conception till now gave us a fair idea of how it changed over the years, for better of course! The advertisement campaigns were so different that time, seemed like it was a rip off from a Bollywood movie, where the hero eats Ritter Sport chocolate and excels in all the fields and sports! We couldn't stop laughing, but also enjoyed seeing it very much! We also learned that children between 6-13 years can attend a workshop of 2 hours on chocolate making and make chocolates of their choice by putting ingredients they like! How wonderful is that! I wish I was that small!

After the exhibition, we entered the chocolate selling shop like wonderstruck kids! I had never seen so many chocolates at one instance and I couldn't help getting confused as to what to really buy. I restricted myself and bought 2 bars each for my hubby and kiddo and some chocolates to distribute in the crèche next week for his birthday. I found two amazing 'limited edition' versions, one of apple and another of mango. I instantly picked it up! My other two friends are visiting India in the next month, hence they had a lot of stuff to buy and take home!

Then we went to the Cafe nearby and had a wholesome brunch with some hot topics of discussion such as positive thinking and books and life in general. It was sunny, pleasant and we were in best of our moods and attire. We clicked snaps like college girls and felt really happy about the time, we spent together. We got information and we enjoyed knowing more about the favorite chocolate brand.

If you are also a chocolate lover, do stop by here:

http://www.ritter-sport.com/#/en_US/home/gateway/

I will definitely like to visit this choco-shop again, maybe before I visit India again!

Early Spring

I returned to Germany after spending one good month with my family and friends in Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai. I slipped out at the right time, because it had started getting hotter in Mumbai and my mother told me that 2 days after I returned, the temperature in Dombivli had touched 42 degrees Celsius. It was the hottest day ever in history of my home-town and I escaped it thankfully. Last two days in Dombivli had become unbearable for me and I couldn’t sleep though the fan was hovering in full speed. That is when the Air Conditioner came to my rescue and I slept peacefully for last two nights there. 

I was thinking that when I go back, I would be surrounded by snow, but strangely, here, in Stuttgart, the snowfall didn’t happen at all this winter. It snowed for about 5-10 minutes in the city, twice, but that was it! In the mountains and higher areas, it did snow, but it did not touch Stuttgart much. I was not sad on not seeing the snow, because for a working mother like me who has to walk a lot to office and get her kid back home, again walking and holding a pram, no snow is like going on a holiday! I would have loved to see the snow sitting at home, but definitely not when I was on the roads! So, when I landed in Germany, it was pleasant and sunny and I was more than happy to have not being greeted with the grey and cold weather.

As I started with my routine during the weekdays, I noticed around that the bald trees had slowly started blooming. Throngs of blue, purple, yellow flowers were seen in patches, here and there and they were a sight to see! The sky was blue, sunny, and it felt good to walk to office in the sun. The fat and long jackets were no longer needed and the big boots and caps found their place back in the cupboards at home! People were seen outdoor and in trendy, fashionable and bright clothes as if they were cheering the spring and saying Auf Wiedersehen (good bye) to winter. The temperature range between 0-12 degrees now and it had even touched 21 degrees in the last week. I wondered, if spring is so warm, what the summer will be like! But, I have no issues with the sun shining brightly. I do not mind if he comes in full vigor, I have a problem, when I don’t see him! I feel low and lost and lonely on a grey day. Rains are common here and if the sun is shining brightly at say 2 p.m, it can rain at 2:15 pm. Though the weather forecast is almost accurate, the climate really changes at a fast pace!

Atul’s bicycle is back in action and we have planned to buy a small tricycle for Tanay, so that he can ride it out in the sun and have a new experience and lot of fun. A birthday gift like a cycle or a small car would be ideal for him to drive in spring and later in summer, we think! I am looking forward to the extended day light and reduced time difference between India and Germany! I am also keen on capturing the different colors of spring blossoms on my cell phone camera and post them here!

Till then,

Auf Wiedersehen!

3rd birthday of my blog

17th Feb 2014 - 3rd birthday of my blog!

I was in India and hence couldn't write about it here!

I take this opportunity today for thanking all the folks who regularly visit my blog and take time to read my thought and opinions on various issues and topics. I know a few of you and I do not know the most of you, who read my writings. But that's ok, I guess. As long as my thoughts get a voice and you find them interesting, this anonymity is ok! I am an extremely sentimental person and you may find some topics touchy and preachy and outdated, illogical, but that is the way I am. I think from my heart and not head and I value every small thing in this world and created by God.

I value my friends, my family and my work. The Blue sky helps me to introduce this inside and valuable world to the outside world and also satisfies the creative writer in me. It doesn't complain, doesn't fuss, is not judgemental. It just presents whatever I feel and write! It is a platform to free my worries and concerns and it helps me to de-stress also!

Thank you Blue Sky for being there and thank you all the people out there for inspiring me to write in this fourth consecutive year!

We will celebrate many more birthdays like these!

The trip to India

I was waiting eagerly for the trip to India and the day finally dawned. After spending 11 months here, at work and in Germany, I had got a chance to go home and meet my folks back there! I was super-excited, but the thought of taking Tanay all by myself was also little worrisome, but we managed it well.

After a long flight and stop-over at Dubai and then after reaching Bangalore in the early morning, it felt like I had overcome a great hurdle and finally reached my destination. Tanay did not cause any trouble and he behaved like a good boy, he was either busy with the remote control of the TV set in the plane or was sleeping away to glory in a crammed, small seat, next to me!

My parents had come to Bangalore to receive us and they were extremely delighted to see us after a long time in real sense. We skyped every week, but then the experience of being there in person and in front of our loved ones is something else! Tanay immediately got hooked to his grandfather, whom he lovingly calls Aaba. I was feeling like a zombie as I hadn't slept for last 24 hours. I managed to catch up on some sleep immediately after reaching home and Sunday mostly passed in catching up on sleep. I also met up with my close friend and neighbor, Sonali and her daughter, Zara, who is 10 days older to Tanay.

Monday was waiting for me with a huge task list of the bank matters. We hired a car and went around in the city, doing chores! Tanay and my mom stayed back at home. In the evening, my best friends, Koustubh and John came to meet us. We talked merrily about the present conditions, books, Germany and anything that crossed our minds. Had a hearty meal prepared by mom and slept off. Next day was a visit to my other two best friends, Teju and Meenal, who both had kids, whom I hadn't seen yet. It was a great sight to watch a week old baby and another 11 months baby. All the days, which I had spent with Tanay as he passed this stage, flashed before me and I felt relieved that I was through all that! Tanay gelled great with Zara and wanted to go to her place all the time. They fought also, but also wanted to be together. It was such an endearing sight to watch these tiny tots into 2 year old kids with their own preferences and choices and arguments

I then went to Pune and spent a week with my in-laws. Construction work was going on and there was a lot of noise, dust and dirt everywhere. Tanay thoroughly enjoyed getting dirty in itand he fully enjoyed his grandparents attention and love too. From there, I went to Dombivli and spent good 15 days there. I wouldn't say they were relaxing, but I felt good being home after a long long time. I also met up relatives there, did bank related work, did my medical tests, applied for Aadhar card, and did a name change application for the PAN card. I ate most of the stuff, which I had planned to e.g. bhel, paani puri, vada paav, dosa, noodles, shrikhanda and what not!

Tanay had a blast in Dombivli. My dad took him to his friends, sans me! And he didn't mind it all. As long as he got into the rickshaw and my dad was there, he went anywhere. He made friends with the watchman of my building and he befriended a 5 year old kid on the second floor, where he went to play after bath everyday. He played with the daughter of my maid and he had a love-hate relationship with both his great-grandmothers. I wonder what was playing in his mind, when he behaved that way with them. He started loving bath in the big bathroom and he bathed thrice a day there! That too with his own hands and with a small vessel and a bucket. Fan was his biggest fascination there and wherever he went, he asked to switch on all the fans and in all the rooms which possibly had fans! He doesn't see one, here in Germany, and that might be the reason for his fascination. He also collected many gifts and blessings from my friends and relatives and well wishers! Shreya Ma, my kid sister was his favorite and he often vanished with her and her mom to see and start the fans in their home.

With a treasure of wonderful memories, we flew back on 15.03 and got back to routine from Monday. Tanay still misses the people he met in India and is reluctant to go to the creche now, but he will be allright in some time! He wants to meet his grandparents and other people whom he really liked. He will be able to understand soon that India and Germany are two different places, some thousand kilometers away from each other and that we can't get out of the house in Germany and reach Dombivli in 2 minutes!

How I wish!

:-)