Satis Shroff

The Marien-Home people were delighted and applauded, even though it was a bit subdued because quite a few of them has parese, half-sided paralysis. But you could see the appreciation in their eyes, which seemed to glow, which gave us a warm feeling in our hearts.

Satis Shroff entices you to a Schwarzwald men's choir called MGV-Kappel where he's the solist.The MGV-Kappel was invited by the choir Intermezzo Ihringen on April 14,2012. We sang the following songs: Evening Rise (a Native American song), s´Herz, Heil Dir Heilige Himmelskönigin, Good News, Durchs Wieseltal gang i. Intermezzo Ihringen sang no wine songs, even though Ihringen lies in the sunniest area of Germany. Intermezzo shone with world hits in English, and borrowed a great deal from the Swedish group Abba to the delight of the audience. The songs Sana Sana and Evening Rise were sung together by the two choirs. It was a very pleasant evening.

Satis Shroff writes about the shocking and tragic story of the Jews and other former Russians who lived in Polesia, known to us as Chernobyl (Ukraine) after the nuclear catastrophe on April 26,1986. Nyet, you cannot redeem time, says the author and poet, who is based in Freiburg (Germany).

In a last ceremony, the members of the Schauinsländer Berggeister gathered broken pieces of wood from the woods in the vicinity of the hamlet. When it became dark in the distant hills surrounding the Dreisam Valley, the people made their way along the Eschenweg to the Maiersberg, where a bon-fire was had been made. After some time the big flames started licking the starry sky above Kappel.

On Ash Wednesday the Fasnet celebrations came officially to an end. The knaves, witches and the Freiburger Lalli and the Schauinsländer Berggeister took part in the funeral marches in different parts of the town with feigned cries and tears, sad that the season of merry-making, drinking and foolery was over.

Whether in the Alps, Dolomites or the Himalayas people have believed in spirits and demons in the forests, bush and the mountains with the result that there are so many legends and myths about primordeal forest spirits (Urwaldgeister) and mountain-spirits (Berggeister) And masks have been created to depict and appease these demons, gods and spirits.

The European Environment Foundation was founded in autumn 2011. The aim of the foundation, which is registered under Swiss law, is to promote dialogue in all environmental policy disciplines within the European states, to provide them with stimuli and to spur on exchange within Europe that is constructive, builds trust, fosters communication and inspires research.

Satis Shroff takes you to the Automobil 2012 in Freiburg, his hometown.Why are we fascinated by old cars (as well as new ones)? How much does it cost to gather old cars? Where can you find beautiful cars? And what does the exhibition-cum-fair called ´Automobil (e) have to show lovers of Oldtimers?

I knew two workers from Romania and Sri Lanka who worked in a microchip factory. No education, no scope in Germany, aside from the factory job, but they were contented and drove big, fat Mercedes Benz cars.

Germany just cannot afford to forget. We can´t forget how many humans lost their lives because of this very racist ideology. How many assassinations will it take for the country to wake up to the danger from its own neo-nazis? Quo vadis, Deutschland?

Connecting people through Amchron: Swiss graphic designer wanted to have the film-rights of a cartoon book by my MGV-colleague Franz Keller about whom I´d written an article here.Then there the story of Klaus and Frederique who went to school at Kolleg St.Sebastian in Stegen..

If Thomas invites you to his wonderful fantasy house, you´ll come out with your mouth open in awe but his works outside are withering and taking their share of the long winter months of frost, rain, snow and ice. The forest bugs contribute their share in weakening the wooden sculptures.

Satis Shroff sings a love-song this time about a Mexican beauty and her ´Blue Spanish Eyes´with the Kappeler men´s choir singing the chorus. This brought the house down. The people love schmaltz and quite a lot of elderly Germans could remember the hit from the sixties composed by Bert Kämpfert and made famous by Al Martino.

Satis Shroff brings you his peace poems, for the ugly face of racism is raising its ugly head not only in Germany but also in Europe. Lax judges, people who look away, make jokes about Neonazis. The entire scenario is familiar to us all. It all started with not wanting to know about the murders in the other state within the Federal Republic. The brown menace has always been there, gathering, multiplying making new scemes on acquiring power again.22 migrants from Turkey were ikilled in Zwichau, and others part of the former East Germany. The nazinests exist in the west too.Quo vadis, Deutschland?

The holocaust and World War II are long over and the Allied Powers were obliged to reform the German society but gradually the neonazis have infiltrated the German society and the neos with razed heads are the task-force of the new movement in Deutschland, who demand a Deutschland for the Deutschen.Satis Shroff's poem is about peace, mutual respect and hope, as long as there are democrats in Germans and Europe.

Satis Shroff takes you to the mines of Kappel (Germany).The work in the mine was, and still is, extremely dangerous. On St. Barbara´s Day the people remember the miners who lost their lives in the recesses of the Schauinsland and Kappeler hillsides where mining was done. The life-span of the miners were short and the miner´s pulmonary disease was dreaded.

Satis Shroff brings you the poetic world in Green City Freiburg (Germany). Die Kammerbühne wird zum weltgewandten Wohnzimmer, in dem FreiburgerInnen circa 60 Muttersprachen zum Klingen bringen: Sie lesen, zitieren, singen und skandieren literarische Texte, eigene Texte, Lieder, Gedichte. Für eine Übersetzung ins Deutsche ist gesorgt. Für kleine Speisen und Getränke ebenfalls. Damit das Ohr ganz Läufer ist in diesem Marathon.

In Freiburg (Germany) the memorials for the fallen soldiers were commemorated after World War I, among them one for the 5th Badische field artillery at the cannon-place on Schlossberg in the years 1925-26, and also at the big graveyard with the themes: Germania and Heimat. The ´Alma mater in grief´ can be seen at the university building I, initiated by a psychiatrist named Alfed Hoche later for all the victims of World War II and tyranny.

Satis Shroff introduces you to German wine. Wine is the fermented juice of freshly gathered grapes. The character of the wine depends on the species of grapes, the locality of the vineyard and method of cultivation. The main kinds are: sparkling champagne, beverage wines such as the famous red and white wines of Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Rhone Valley and the white wines of the Rhine, Moselle and Loire valleys. A wine can be fortified with the addition of alcohol, as in the case of sherry.

Satis Shroff gives his views on literature: Literature is translating emotions and facts from truth to fiction. It´s like a borderline syndrome between sanity and insanity there´s fine dividing line. Similarly, non-fiction can be transformed into fiction.

Satis Shroff takes you this time to the Black Forest where he lives and lets you experience the autumnal changes in his country.

Satis Shroff takes you to the Black Forest town of Staufen where the old town celebrated its annual Staufener time-travel festival during which almost 600 people of Staufen rallied together, donned Middle Age costumes and worked with implements of those days.

Thoughts have wings. The only thing the people of Baden possessed were their thoughts, because the victorious Prussians had taken everything away, leaving them only with their free thoughts. Thoughts have wings.

Herr Shroff wurde aufgrund seiner Auszeichnung für ehrenamtliches, bürgerschaftliches Engagement 2010, von der Stadt Freiburg, Dezernat III durch Herrn Gerhard Rieger für den Deutschen Engagementpreis vorgeschlagen. Sein Einsatz als „Mittler zwischen den Kulturen erfährt durch diese Nominierung eine besondere Anerkennung. Dies erfreut nicht nur Herrn Shroff, sondern zeigt auch, dass das Thema Integration ausländischer Bürger öffentlich wahrgenommen und als preiswürdig eingeschätzt wird.

Satis Shroff depicts the problems the Gurkhas face in the British Army,which they have been serving since Queen Victoria's times. They have been given a bad bargain since 200 years. Since Whitehall and MoD are at loggerheads, the Gurkhas have to face the brunt of cuts.

The thoughts of Martin Heidegger moved to Being,das Sein.In his search for heroes he came across: Parmenides, Heraklit, Holderlin and Nietsche...

Heidegger has gone on record as having said:'Between the Greek philosophy and the NS movement,I wanted to fight against the dying spirit of Christendom,and the spectre of the communist world.The Greeks and the German folk,a politic of Being and Führer-state,Platon and I myself.'

This thime Satis Shroff writes about a topical theme in verse about the class-riots in London,Birmingham, Tottenham and elsewhere in Britain.

The Gurkha never asks why, politics isn't his style. He's fought against all and sundry: Turks, Tibetans, Italians and Indians, Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Argentinians and Vietnamese, Indonesians and Iraqis.Loyalty to the utmost and never fearing a loss.

The Koala Wanderers organise trips to the most beautiful of the world, like in the Hollywood film The Bucket List with the exception that these wanderers are all in good health. The American Medical Association mentioned sometime back that trekking in Nepal is one of the healthiest sports.

This article is about two of his paintings with the themes: Life and Struggle. I know the artist who not only does art and painting, but is also a First Bass singer at the men´s choir in Kappel. His house walls and atelier are filled with paintings.

Music is the common language of human beings, said Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. As we grow older, the physical state of the body becomes involved in a breakdown but our souls remain young. The soul becomes wiser through all the life experiences.

Satis Shroff introduced the German philosopher Martin Heidegger,who was born in Meßkirch (1889-1976) and became a lecturer at the University of Freburg. In 1933 he was appointed Rector in placed of a dismissed colleague.As fate would have it, he himself was dismissed in 1945 for his active geistige role in Third Reich,but reinstated later.His basic problem in philosophical thought was the 'Sinn von Sein,'that is, The meaning of existence.

Such concerts do enrich cultural life in the hamlets, and towns and contacts are established between choirs according to sympathy and friendship, and they invite each other to sing together or as guest choirs. The traditional comradeship between the music and choir associations (vereins), and the feeling of togetherness grows with time when choirs travel throughout Europe, and more and more European choirs should exchange and invite choirs to sing, feast, be merry together and take home wonderful memories and experiences which can be reciprocated with the passage of time and thus move towards a European Union in which its member countries and communities share their cultural and traditional heritage together.

Education is the best thing in the world for Nepal´s children, be they Gurkhas, Sherpas or Madeshis. And what Nepal needs most in this crucial transitional period is peace, co-operation between the different ethnic groups, a craving to mend ways, build bridges between its cultures, connect and...

Two poems about Springtime and Summertime. Elderly people are bewildered and their biological clock is disturbed due to the Summer-time and Winter-time in Europe.In his poem Satis Shroff illustrates this point taking his German Grandma as an example..

The combination of the seismic sea waves,earthquakes and nuclear emission in the island of Honshu have made us all think about geological phenomena and also about man-made nuclear plants and the advantages and disadvantages of atomic energy. Satis Shroff has written a poem about what moves us all at this moment.

Satis Shroff takes you this time to a small town in the Black Forest Mountains of Germany named Kappel where he is celebrating the 'Brauchtumsabend' during which old, traditional customs are still being nurtured by old and younger generation of Germans.Customs are what a community does..

ON RAIN (Satis Shroff) To the simple Hindu mind No rain Clawing dust, Thirst, In the entire subcontinent. Hindu priests make pyres and beckon Agni, One of the ancient and sacred Gods. Agni appears in Heaven as the Sun, In mid-air as lightning, On earth as fire. Agni, Indra und Sury...

Satis Shroff's Zeitgeistlyrik is about the controversy going on in Germany about the German Minister of Defence Guttenberg who is at the moment underfire from all sides for his thesis submitted at the University of Bayreuth in Bavaria.

His articulation is clear and you notice at times that he is influenced by his generation's rap or twitter style, though in the preface you read ´we have in Suyog Sharma one such genius of a poet who has left his mortal coil at the blooming age of 25 years.´ Even poet-philosophers like Wordsworth 80, P B Shelley 30, Lord Byron 36 and John Keats 26, have died. The human body may wither and die but the poetic words live on, making the poets immortal.

The translation work of Svetlana Geier shows a great sensitive knowledge of language and her respect for the author is immense and she took pains to capture and translate the right spirit of the author´s work and the quintessence of author. She was also conscious of the fact that every translation remains an attempt to reach the absolute, which in turn is slippery as mercury. In this context, I think about Michael Hutt´s translation of Nepalese literature, as well as my experience with two other German translators in Freiburg. When you´re translating you can´t get into the psyche of the writer, what moved him or her at that moment in time and life. We can´t experience the circumstances the writers lived in. We can only imagine it and the question is: is your imagination precise? Dostoyevsky for instance possessed little money and often had no candles for work at night and sat hungry. And yet what he wrote was world literature about his country, politics, economy, characters and their innermost thoughts. Time also influences the choice of words that an author uses and even the language changes with the passage of time.

This is the story of Sylvestre a French guy who lives in a rural town in Burgundy, where the wine is good, people are simple and have to adapt themselves to seasonal changes. A story about love and hatred, deception and betrayal,a place where the locals want to have their 'peace' and not be bothered by people from outside..

This time Satis Shroff's Zeitgeistlyrik deals with a female writer who was deported to Auschwitz where she died:Nemirovsky who has written Suite Francaise, David Golder, Le Bal (including Snow in Autumn),The Courilof Affair, All Our Worldly Goods is a brilliant story teller with an in-depth understanding of the hidden flaws and cruelties of the human heart. She writes about what people do to us and what time does to people..

After the intermission we were entertained with another concert marching-music: The Thunderer (Der Donnerer) by none other than John Philip Sousa, who composed ´Stars and Stripes´, the second national anthem of the USA.The audience were delighted when a selection from Starlight Express, which has been staged in Bochum since a long time, was rendered complete with costumed figures from the musical on in-liners...

A song that conjoured up images of South Africa was ´Aya Ngena´ sung in Swaheli by the Männergesangverein Kappel, and promises of peace in the Middle East with ´Hora Jerusalem.´ The Hebrew accents that we´d learned all these weeks and the fast tempi of the song got the audience raving.

A Nepalese who sings German and English songs in the Männergesangverein Kappel 'Liederkranz' receives an award for his outstanding social and cultural commitment from the mayor Ulrich von Kirchbach who is responsible for Culture,Youth, Social issues and Integration.

A Nepalese who sings German and English songs in the Männergesangverein Kappel 'Liederkranz' receives an award for his outstanding social and cultural commitment from the mayor Ulrich von Kirchbach who is responsible for Culture,Youth, Social issues and Integration.

Once upon a time a farmer named Pantaleon Mayer, who lived in the Lower Iben Valley, was losing his stock of cattle through disease. A knowing person is said to have told him to erect a picture of Maria on a wooden pillar. He had it made and the cow disease disappeared.This is the legend around Maria Lindenberg..

On July 16-17, 1950 a founder festival was held and the Kappeler verein´s flag was blessed by a priest in a ritual ceremony. The verein ´Frohsinn´ Littenweiler´s chairman handed the traditional flag to the new flag bearer Lambert Weis. Lambert passed away this summer, one of the few members who were small boys when there was war in Europe. Richard Linder holds this traditional position now.

Satis Shroff brings to you songs from the Black Forest Mountains of Germany where the 'vereins' are dying out and young people prefer English hits over their MP3 instead of old, traditional Teutonic songs.

Schwarzwald Chronicle: A Hundred Years of Songs in Ebnet (Satis Shroff) We´re 100 years old, You can believe us, A toast with a glass of wine: Life is lovely The text is actually a parody on the song sung by Germany´s oldest singer and actor Johannes Heesters. This song was sung during a t...

Satis Shroff takes you to the Frankfurter Book Fair this time which ended recently and tells you about the innovations in the publishing world and about Nepali and Indian writers who were also at the Fair.

Satis Shroff takes you to the lovely town of Triberg in the Black Forest Mountains with its seven waterfalls and untouched nature.Titisee is another town with a picturesque glacial lake which can be reached from Freiburg.

Satis Shroff takes you to the cloister-town of St. Maergen located in the heart of the Schwarzwald, which is 15km away from the glacial lake-town Titisee and 20km from Freiburg-Kappel.The occassion? The traditional Rossfest, a festival of Kaltblut horses, farmers, their families,traditional costumes, beer,wine, sauerkraut and a lot of oomph.

Satis Shroff takes you this time to the Rossfest in the Black Forest, where a horse-procession awaits you and where you can meet the farmers from the Schwarzwald,kräuterwieble who want to cure your maladies,clock-makers who want you to buy cuckoo clocks from the Black Forest and other interesting vendors.

In this article Satis Shroff shows how it is when Third World Culture Meets the American Mainstream:A 'namaste' from so-called Third World dancers to the First World audience. A 'namaste' means 'I greet the Godliness in you,'a wonderful greeting when meeting friends instead of saying 'Guten Morgen, good afternoon,good evening,goodnight.'We should strive towards togetherness,Miteinander,tolerance,peace,respect for others,compassion and not them-and-us.

Satis Shroff writes his Zeitgeistlyrik on contemporary themes that have moved him.He writes about a tender love,the hippie and techno generation through the eyes of a landlord in Catmandu,his thoughts about the East and West,the Monkey Temple (Swayambhu) in Catmandu Valley,of lamas,prankful rhesus monkeys,German soccer fans in a local train,

Obituary: Words to Lisa & Stephanie on Bruce Dobler, Creative Writer, Emeritus Prof and colleague who passed away recently.Satis Shroff was so moved by Bruce Dobler's poem in which he addresses his two daughters Lisa and Stephanie. The poems is a bit long and I have edited it to a shorter version. SIX DAYS INTO THE WAR (Bruce Dobler:January 21, 1991) ...And here in Pittsburgh, where the trees grow darker against their burden the snow falls like memories: are the children safe? It's a holiday. Lisa in Baltimore, can stay off the Beltway at least this once. Stephanie, in Bloomington, will have the sense to wear a scarf. I want them inside. In Pittsburgh, we are staying in all day. I wish I had been kinder when snow fell past our windows in Vermont, twenty years ago just like today everyone in their own sorrows their own joys everyone looking out the window and everyone thinking: how long will it go on how much will we get? Es wird stille sein und Leere. Es wird Trauer sein und Schmerz. Es wird dankbare Erinnerung sein, die wie ein heler Stern the Nacht leuchtet, bis weit hinein in den morgen. - Satis Shroff Wer so wirkt im Leben, Wer so erfüllte seine Pflicht und stets sein Bestes hat gegeben, Für immer bleibt Bruce Dobler uns ein Licht. - Satis Shroff Bruce Dobler is the author of two "documentary" novels, Icepick and The Last Rush North (Little, Brown) and an "as-told-to" memoir of a counterfeiter, I Made It Myself (Grosset & Dunlap). He recently completed 1212: The Children's Crusade, a highly-researched historical novel, and is now working on his new book, Writing Creative Nonfiction: Creative and Critical Approaches, for Palgrave/Macmillan, to be published late in 2007. In addition, he is working on Vacant Lot, a quirky, off-beat memoir centered on one of those plots of ground that old-timers still called "prairies," down on the South Side of Chicago. I Made It Myself By M.M. Landress With Bruce Dobler The true story of a respectable printer turned counterfeiter Some observations from one of the few counterfeiters who never served time: On tricks of his trade: "Printing money that's good enough to pass off on a bank is to a printer what the PhD is to a student." On temptation: "There is probably not a single printer who doesn't consider at some moment in his life the possibility of printing counterfeit bills....A standard joke in the trade is 'are you making any money?'" On the criminal life: "This was too exhausting, physically and emotionally. I don't think I was really cut out to be a criminal....I really couldn't see how the ones who were could stand it over the years. No wonder they are called 'hardened.'" Grosset & Dunlap (New York), 1973—ISBN: 0-448-02206-0 Icepick By Bruce Dobler A novel about life and death in a maximum security prison Icepick is neither the best nor the worst of the nation's maximum security prisons. It is overcrowded, understaffed. Its plant is antiquated. Guard brutality is comparatively rare at Icepick. Violence, on the other hand—sexual, racial, political—is commonplace. Icepick is not a nice place to visit. It is a far worse place to live and work in. Yet some 850 Americans (of whom 70 percent are African American) do make their permanent home at the Illinois State Penitentiary in Chicago. And most survive....Some do not. In this sweeping and explosive documentary novel, ICEPICK, Bruce Dobler lays bare the harsh world of the maximum security prison. Little, Brown & Co. (Boston), 1974—ISBN: 0-316-18915-4 Novel About The Last Great American Frontier Adventure—The Building Of The Pipeline Across The Frozen Vastness Of Alaska. Ranging From High-Rise Executive Suites In Anchorage To Remote Base Camps Where Even The Fog Freezes, This Documentary Novel Portrays The Drive To Explore—And Exploit—That Has Dominated The Life Of Alaska...And Dramatizes The Perilous Tension Between An Unspoiled Wilderness And The Desire Of Men To Tame It. Bruce Dobler Traveled And Worked In Alaska For A Year And A Half. He Drove And Flew The Entire Pipeline Route In All Seasons And Visited Every Camp On The Line. Little, Brown & Co. (Boston), 1976—ISBN: 0-316-18916-2

The Black Forest conjours up images of a dark, forbidden forest with strange creatures. far from it. It is a lovely, green mountainous area and is the biggest chain of middle mountains in Germany, a forest with traditions that have been kept ever since people started settling in the mountains, first looking for a fertile land, then ores in the mountains,and now tourism with trekking, nordic walking,skiing, entertainment parks.

The Black Forest conjours up images of a dark, forbidden forest with strange creatures. far from it. It is a lovely, green mountainous area and is the biggest chain of middle mountains in Germany, a forest with traditions that have been kept ever since people started settling in the mountains, first looking for a fertile land, then ores in the mountains,and now tourism with trekking, nordic walking,skiing, entertainment parks.

Satis Shroff presents you poems under the rubric Zeitgeistlyrik.The poems are about unhappy love,musings of a poet in his garden and the delight of the flowers, birds and Nature.

The mythos of Shangri-la has always drawn the attention of people who are in search of enlightment, eternal youth,tranquillity,peace and tolerance in this world. The poet Satis Shroff says Shangri-la is within you, and not in a hidden place behind the Himalayas.

Wolfgang Keller's protagonist is an illustrator, like the author himself, who has created a comic-stip figure named Andreas Bär. The illustrator needs Andreas to work out his psychic state through fiction.At the moment the creator is broke. He has neither ideas nor energy and an eternal strife with his demanding blonde wife Claudia who actually doesn't think much of him.

A mother and her two daughters visit the Männergesangsverein and they sing about the Steppes and the Black Forest. Music unites cultures is the message of this article by Satis Shroff.

It was a bright sunny day on the 6th of July 2010 and you could hear the birds chirping merrily in the adjacent birch and oak trees. We, the men of the Männergesangsverein were attending the funeral of Lambert Weis who was born in 23rd of August 1920. Almost ninety years and the picture above show...

The world soccer championship is getting even more exciting after German's team under Löw defeated England and Argentina.Satis Shroff is looking forward to Wednesday's match against Spain. Will you be doing the waltz or the flamenco? His guess is just as good as yours.

Satis Shroff takes you to the lovely town of Kappel in the Black Forest where he's an active member of the Männergesangsverein, as men's choirs are called in Germany.A choir is a place where you can finds friends, comrades,togetherness,respect, dignity and miteinander through the performances in front of audiences.It's pure wellness, says the author.

When it comes to soccer, the Brits have always a grudge against the Germans in their heads since time immemorial despite the EU connexion.The English boulevard tabaloids and even The Times indulge in mud throwing when the soccer opponent is Germany. Times have changed and the German team, which shone yesterday, has shown that it is dynamic, young, goal hungry and have the stamina.God Save Germany.

Bea HH is a German artist who loves to do abstract paintings of her many journeys around the world. Satis Shroff brings to you her impressions out of Africa.

Satis Shroff takes you to the world of paintings where people go to see or be seen in the Swisss town of Basle (German: Basel), which happens to be the second biggest town in Switzerland, known for its many museums and ,of course, Art Basel.

Satis Shroff brings you three poems from his Zeitgeistlyrik, an ever continuing cycle of poems about what moves the poet with the passage of time.

Gorkhaland is the land of the Gorkhas, a group of ethnic people in the foothills of the Himalayas who are well-known for their discipline,humour,songs,and hospitality. Their friendship was cherished by the British and they worked in the British Army as infantrists.After the British left India, Darjeeling which was the Queen among the hillstations of India, was ignored. During the Sino-Indian conflict it was not Darjeeling but Sikkim that gained more attention and financial aid from Delhi.Satis Shroff brings you to the world of the Gorkhas.

Satis Shroff brings the success story of an authentic,unpretentious,sympathetic pop-singer named Lena Mayer-Landrut who has won the Eurovision Song Contest 2010.The Eurovision Contest is a feast of languages and lyrics held every year in the homecountry of the winner. So the next time it'll be Germany.

This is a story of longing for the Heimat: Schlesien which lies in Poland. An elderly lady who lives in Freiburg-Kappel misses her old home and has even visited it thrice with her own daughter.She has so many memories of Schlesien in her home and reads books and mags about Schlesien. Her neighbours are also from Schlesien.

According to the American Medical Association a holiday in Nepal's countryside is one of the healthiest sports in the world. Satis Shroff tells you about the Himalayas, its peoples and some negative aspects of mass-climbing the peaks in the Himalayas.Despite all this, he says, a trip to Nepal should belong to your bucket list or any journey-list. The breathtaking beauty of the Himalayas, the friendly people,Nepalese hospitality and Catmandu Valley's rich cultural heritage. An unforgettable experience.

The Greeks are out in the streets to fight against the corrupt politicians, banks and others who have ruined their country's economy and image in the comity of the European nations, and the world. Satis Shroff brings you the psyche of the Greeks in verse..

Satis Shroff met the German author Ortheil in Kirchzarten and he also teaches Creative Writing. The occassion was an author-reading and Ortheil's story is about the trauma of the World War II and the effect it has on a mother and her son.The German mother has lost four sons and can't bring herself to speak. Her son follows suit.This is the positive story of a child who grows up to be a mature man, who gets up despite fate's blows, and becomes a successful author. Hanns-Josef is this author.

The author of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was a man named Samuel Langhorne Clemens and he used a psydonym: Mark Twain, which has become a household name in all English speaking countries.Drawing from his own boyhood experiences, he wrote the story of a journey along the Mississippi river on a raft with his companion Jim, an Afro-American runaway. The two travellers encounter robbers, murderers, fighting families, tricksters and a motley of characters.Jim learns, at the end that he is no longer a slave but a free man. A new vista opens up for Jim, for he can now work to buy his wife and children. How would Twain have reacted, or Jim for that matter, if he knew that Barak Obama is the US President now? I can see tears of joy and disbelief rolling down his cheeks...

Satis Shroff tells you about politics in his Schwarzwald hometown.Germany's Black Forest is known for its conservative citizens but Dieter Salamon, Freiburg's Oberbürgermeister, has done it again to become a green head-mayor beating other candidates like Ulrich von Kirchbach (SPD) and a leftist professor.

Satis Shroff takes you to the 18,000 year old world of shamanism and the healing of people with illness through the use of mantras, songs,dance and trance in a world inhabited by unseen spirits.His advice in the end is: if you believe in God (no matter which) and pray, you can't be wrong.

Hugo Wolf was an exceptional poet and composer and is known for his Lieder in the German literary world. His songs were dedicated to other poets and he wrote Lieder about contemporary poets and the places he visited. He died of a veneral disease on February 22, 1903 a paralysed and mentally ill.

Satis Shroff takes you to a small hospital in the Himalayas where children who have hair-lips, suffered from burns, were wounded during the ten year old krieg are helped by US and German surgeons to live new lives. One such case is the story of a little Nepali girl named Sushma who lived with her mother in Surkhet, Western Nepal.

Satis Shroff tells you a tale about a small girl from the sakya family of Catmandu's Newar ethnic group.This small girl has been chosen as the Living Goddess of Catmandu.She has to live in a big Kumari Palace and bless people who come to worship her.No homeworks, no classes, no classmates, no much fun.Why? She might bleed,you know.

This time Satis Shroff takes you to a butcher in the Black Forest town of Oberried and introduces you to the specialities of the region, especially the Schwarzwälder speck, which is smoked pork, and the famous Schwarzwäldertorte.Bon appetite!

The cold, bitter, gloomy winter is almost over and Satis Shroff takes you to the Allemanic town of Freiburg-Kappel and shows you how the Germans till banish the cold season at the end of the fasnet celebrations, when the effigy of winter is burnt and the witches and other motley clad spectators shed buckets of tears. Alas, the Fifth Season and the time of revelry is over.

Satis Shroff takes you to Nepal where the minstrels wander around the country even today singing songs to the accompaniment of their crude violins called 'sarangis'and this particular minstrel has a tough time with the political and social troubles in his country, but manages to adapt himself somehow by learning new ways,songs and melodies to suit his Himalayan audience, and in the diaspora.

Satis Shroff writes about a sunny Sunday morning which evokes a feeling of love and tenderness for the woman he loves and decides to make a continental breakfast, for the two hearts have the same rhythm and words are superfluous.

Satis Shroff takes you to the Allemanic-Swabian fasnet and shows you the German way of saying goodbye to winter which has old Germanic and so-called heathen traits. The people in the Alpine regions have their mountain spirits, the modern people are still superstition and the children love this period of celebrations in Freiburg, Kappel, Basle, Luzern and elsewhere.

Satis Shroff reminds you that the fifth season has begun and the people in Germany, Switzerland and Austria are busy with a theme that they take delight in: the banishment of the terribly cold winter through rituals that have their origin in the past.

This is an article about the Männergesangsverein (MGV) a men's choir based in Freiburg-Kappel, which is located in the Black Forest, and the songs that are sung in Germany's choirs. The authors is an active member of the men's choir and talks about the delights of singing and listening to music and poetry.

Satis Shroff takes you to the festival hall in Freiburg-Kappel in the Black Forest where he's an active member of the men's choir and tells you about the Liederkranz and what a Lied is and how people enjoy the many concerts in the Dreisam Valley.

Satis Shroff brings you his Zeitgeistlyrics and this time it's about the Moon Over the Arabian Sea,the Poetry of Existence,the Joy of Dancing and a Handkerchief.

This time Satis Shroff takes you to Afghanistan's Hindukush mountains where German, British and American troops have been fighting against the forces of evil. Bin Laden is still at large and the poet has penned his lyrical thoughts about evil in the East and the West.

Satis Shroff introduces you a well-known artist named Bea Hoffmüller-Hildenbrand, who also lives in Freiburg-Kappel and is a graphic designer turned artist. The author says it's a delight to observe Bea's works of art in his poem.

Satis Shroff poetry theme this time is about Switzerland's Literary Award which went this year to Ilma Rakussa, a writer who lives in Zürich after a long life's journey through many countries. He describes her as a poetess of the passage of memories.

When three Germans get together to create an association (Verein) and the author has joined one such men's choir and writes about the excitement and thrill of singing olde German songs and Broadway hits at Freiburg-Kappel, Buchenbach, Hochdorf and other places of the Dreisam Valley located in the Schwarzwald (Black Forest).

Poet Satis Shroff writes in his Zeitgeistlyrik this time about the new recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature Ms. Herta Müller. Her sober lyrics and serious prose have not many admirers in the west but what she writes about is important to the literary world for she's a witness of our times.

Singing can be an enrichening experience no matter how old you are and where you live. Here's a writer from the Himalayas who sings German songs with his croonies in the Black Forest and gets a real kick out of it.

Satis Shroff pays his tribute to two world choreographs who have passed away, and who will be remembered in Wüppertal (Germany) and Kyoto(Japan).

Satis Shroff takes you for a walk along the Vosges, a wonderful area full of forests, hills, vineyards and excellent Alsatian wines, the place where Albert Schweizer grew up and the friendly people out there.A typical greeting in Alsace is: Salu(t)! Whereby the 't' is silent.

Satis Shroff takes you for a walk to the Vosges in Alsace where he went for a walk. It's a wonderful area and also known for its wines. Alöbert Schweizer came from Alsace. Discover the Alsatian scenery and wines with the author.

Satis Shroff describes further his Begegnungen with people along the trails on his way from the Gornergrat to the north of Switzerland and shares it with you.

Satis Shroff takes you to the world of Zermatt and the 4000 metre high Alps of Switzerland and shares his experiences of the sights and the people he meets in wonderful Switzerland, and how the Swiss run tourism in their country.

The King of Pop has left this world and what remains are the memories of his moondance, catchy rhythms and excellent songs which will be heard by generations to come.He was unique.We love you, Michael!

Satis Shroff presents books written by South Asian Writers pertaining to poverty, writing, poetry, short-stories and opens a window for authors and poets who don't belong to the American mainstream but whose works are excellent and need exposure in the west.

´I will not walk away,´ Said PM Gordon Brown. His ministers had walked out on him. Disgusted with his inner circle Of soccer-fans And other fads. Manchester is United, Labour isn´t. Was he walking by a rule? Mr. Brown ruled with two circles: His soccer-crazy inne...

Gurkhas are the elite troops of the British Army and have fought for them since 200 years. At last they have been allowed to acquire British citizenships.It was a long fight for their rights in colonial and post-colonial Britain.

Prisident Obama made a short journey to Germany and visited Buchenwald for special reasons. He wanted to see for himself the place aboput which his great-uncle Payne had told him about.Satis Shroff goes beyong and brings to you the traumatic experiences that the holocaust survivors and their children and children's children still suffer from.The writer is for peace, tolerance, Miteinander (togetherness)in his poems, articles and writings.

Ein Zeitgeist Dichter aus dem Himalaya Tell me something about yourself. I teach Creative Writing at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg. http://www.zfs.uni-freiburg.de/zfs/dozent/lehrbeauftragte4/index_html/#shroff. I´m a lecturer, poet and writer and have published three books: Im ...

The Gurkhas are known for their military prowess and belong to the elite troops of Britain but the Ministry of Defence, and different shades of political parties,have been keen on postponing and delaying decisions on the hillmen from the Himalayas. All migrants from Britain's many former colonies were granted equal right when they were recognised as migrants.But the loyal Gurkhas who fought under the Union Jack for 200 years were brushed aside. Victoria Crosses, yes. The right to stay on in Britain, no. Satis Shroff is in tears now that the Gurkhas have been granted the permission to stay on in Britain. A boon for the ex-Nepalese servicemen and their dependants.Better 200 years later than never.

Satis Shroff is impressed by the beauty of the Black Forest where he lives since three decades and he shows you in his lyrics how marvellous the Schwarzwald is.

Goethe is Germny's literary giant and he loved to spend his holidays in the Thuringer forest at a place called Ilmenau, a lovely area where Goethe wrote his masterpieces. Satis Shroff takes you to the town of Ilmenau to Goethe's favourite places.He has translated Goethe's poem into Nepali (see image).

The British Gurkhas were deployed in the Falklands War, and they have fought England's battles all over for world for 200 years since the times of Queen Victoria, but they have been discriminated by the MoD and the rulers of the UK as far as integration in the British society, equal pay and equal rights were concerned, and even to this day. This article throws light into the matter.

Scheiben schlagen is a German term in the Black Forest for shooting a glowing piece of flat wood into the starry sky as a last ceremony to banish winter. Satis Shroff takes you to Kappel-Freiburg and shows you what's behind the scenes in this strange Allemanic, ethnological ritual.

The author takes you to Switzerland where the winter is banished in typical Swiss manner.The winter has been long, cold, snowy, icy and rainy and now the people in Switzerland, Germany and France and Austria are glad that it is slowing turning to Spring.

Gurkhas are the smart, loyal, disciplined elite troops of the United Kingdom and they have fought under the British flag since 200 years but although the British admire the fighting prowess of these hillmen and born-fighters from the Himalayan state of Nepal, the British government has in all the past 200 years not understood that the Gurkhas are also humans with rights.The British Gurkhas are struggling politely and with dignity for their human and working right and the right to stay on in the UK.

Satis Shroff takes you to the world of concentration camps during the Third Reich and survivors who still have traumatic experiences like angst and other medical symptoms. It is a recurring scenario in the heads of the former prisoners and flashbacks are common and caused by similar situations in hospitals.

Satis Shroff introduces a sculptor from the Black Forest and his fascinating works at Kappel, located near Freiburg (Germany).

Satis Shroff takes you to a graphic designer who makes unique dolls in the Black Forest and who has won many international gold and silver medals for her work. Collectors from all over the world have been appreciating her superb creations.

The author takes you to Switzerland and Germany during the Fasnet celebrations, where a lot of revelry and merry-making is the order of the fifth season (Fasnet, Fasching,Karnival). The witches and knaves and other motley, costumes ghouls and figures are in the streets of the alpine republics and the Black Forest. Come rejoice with him.

Not all Germans were on the side of the Nazis towards the end of World War II, and Sophie Scholl, Claus Stauffenberg and others risked their lives for human rights which were trampled upon by Hitler and his hordes.Satis Shroff thanks Tom Cruise and unmentioned writers and poets who write and speak, lest we forget the hoary past...

Satis Shroff writes poems about the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) in South-West Germany.

The Gaineys are the wandering minstrels of Nepal and they play the sarangi, a Himalayan fiddle, as they wander around from country to country bringing news and music, entertainment to the people in the hamlets of Nepal, who are cut off from the modern infrastructures.It is about being low-born in a Hindu society and the caste system, which in not only found in Nepal but also to a greater extent in neighbouring India.

"Bombay Burning" is about the problems between three nations: Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, and south Asia in general. If the political hotheads carry on the way they have been doing South Asia might soon be the scenario of a nuclear holocaust. The author pleads for a Miteinander, togetherness, one world against the virus of ethnic-hatred that devours humans.Satis Shroff makes a pladoyer for compassion,dignity of human life, Menschenwürde,Vernunft, understanding, respect and dignity which seems to be lost among certain world actors.

Satis Shroff writes about what moves him. In the "Sun in Benaras" he depicts a Hindu praying to Surya in the holy but polluted waters of the Ganges and in "The Whiteness of the Death Zone" he contemplates about the bitter cold and the danger of a white-out in the Himalayan heights.

Creative Writing Critique: Chicken of India Unite! (Satis Shroff) Review: Aravind Adiga: The White Tiger. Atlantic Books, London, 2008. Man Booker Prize 2008. German version: ´Der Weisse Tiger´ published by C.H. Beck, 2008. Aravind Adiga was a correspondent for the newsmag Time...

Beautiful Switzerland has not only a new Book Fair but also a new Book Prize. Satis Shroff tells you about the small literary world of this alpine republic and who the candidates are for the coveted new prize.

Satis Shroff takes you to the world of Venetian paintings by Whistler, Turner, Monet, Manet, Renoir now being exhibited at the Fondation Beyeler in Basle (Switzerland)and the shows you the impact that Venice has had on artists from Northern Europe and writers from the Anglo-Saxon world in his poem.

Satis Shroff invites you to the world of books at this year's Frankfurter Book Fair where poets and writers from the Turkey were the host nation.

Satis Shroff takes you to the Staufen in the Black Forest where a fairy tale story from the Middle Ages unfurls. But prior to that he tells you about the Swiss Fritschi, a jolly carnival figure from Luzern.

Satis Shroff introduces this time an author who writes from the Himalayas.Krishna Bhatt has brought out a new book "City Women and the Ghost Writer." A delightful book that gives insight into the workings of the Nepalese and Indian milieu and mind.

Ayo Gurkhali! The Gurkhas are upon you! This was the battle-cry That filled the British heart With pride and admiration, And put the foe in fear. Now the Gurkhas are not upon you. They are with you, Among you, In London, Guarding the Queen at the Palace, Doing security checks For V...

The Gurkhas are an integral part of the British Army but when it comes to pay scales and other benefits they are politely excluded from the rest of Britain's beneficiaries doing service for the good of England.The children of Gurkhas are not allowed to enjoy the same education as the British subjects and the refugees.England has created a fourth class of workers with the same status as the so-called "Guest workers" of Germany. But whereas Germany does not violate human rights, Britain still does.

Satis Shroff introduces this time an active German lady who has been doing a lot for Nepal's tourism in the past and has important publications dealing with trekking and tourism in Nepal.It all began with a joint-venture book "Bikas-Binas" with Kunda Dixit.

Satis Shroff grew up in the foothills of the Himalayas and knows the ways of the Gurkhas since his childhood. In this article he points out the sad and shabby treatment meted out to these excellent fighters, who are known for theiur friendship, loyalty and bravery to the British Queen.

The Gurkhas are excellent fighters in the battlefields but have been discriminated, given low pay and negligible pensions in comparison to soldiers of the other armies in this world. They still have to fight against injustice meted out to them by the past and present British governments.Satis Shroff's article is a pladoyer for better working conditions and human rights for the Gurkhas.

Drinking darjeeling is a favourite pastime among the British and in this poem the poet takes you to the world of Brtish politics---Labour and its problems in a silly season.

Satis Shroff takes you to the City of a Hundred Towers in this memoir, where he meets his student friends and exchanges views about politics in the country of his origin.

The Kanchanjunga is the third highest peak in the world and is revered by the Nepalese, Lepchas, Tibetans and people from the vast Subcontinent called India, formerly Bharat or Hindustan. It looms over the beautiful town of Darjeeling, the Queen of the hills, and on a clear day you can see even Mt. Everest, which the Nepalese call Sagarmatha and the Tibetans Chomolungma

Satis Shroff introduces you to the world of Ethnomedical therapies that are used by Practitioners of Traditional Medicine, and the seminar to go with these therapies in Munich, Germany. The Ethnomed therapy sessions are a regular affair organised by the Universities of Heidelberg and Munich.Traditional Medicine should go hand in hand with Modern Medicine. The Health Insurance organisations and medical schools authorities have yet to recognize this form of alternative, traditional medicine,which is based on Nature and so-called supernatural phenomenons.

The Shah Dynasty has ruled for a long time but now the days of the Nepalese Royals are over and the Maoist, Congress and other politicians have created a Republic of Nepal. Satis Shroff recollects his meeting with King Birendra, the brother of the ousted King Gyanendra and talks about the latter King's intermezzo in the Nepalese world of power politics.

Zaringen was once a flourishing castle dut the Bauernkrieg and Napoleon's war turned the castle into ruins. Wahat remains is a ruin that reminds us of the glorious time of the Deutsche Reich. Satis Shroff takes you to Zähringen 1000 years later.

The current European Soccer Championship is very exciting at the moment, and even the best teams are being defeated, and Switzerland as the other host-nation (besides Austria) has had to suffer tremendously but it does it with a Swiss charm that is worthy of this Alpine country's sense of precision, order,Miteinander (togetherness)and efficiency.

Satis Shroff's article deals with Interplast Germany's Christa Drigalla. Interplast was founded in 1965 in the USA and is a world wide organisation. Interplast Germany has been operating annually on 4000 patients in Asia, Africa and South America. Christa Drigalla runs the Interplast hospital in Nepal and is a dedicated worker.

Buto is a dance art that has its origins in Japan. Buto or Butho has become an interesting art form also in Finnland, where it was introduced by Japanese dancers. The Finns dance with a combination of light-effects and nudity is associated with Finnland's sauna culture, which is a normal thing, and is cathing on in other stages.

Goethe is to Germany, Austria and Switzerland what Shakespeare is to England, and the English speaking world. Every educated German, Austrian and Swiss national has been confronted with Goethe's literature sometime or the other. Goethe lived a long time ago but his works have much to say to us even in these modern times. (Satis Shroff, Freiburg im Breisgau)

Satis Shroff takes you to the car-free North Sea Isle of Langeoog with its wonderful East Friesian tea-houses, the fishermen in their trawlers, a walk along the flats along the coast which the Germans call 'Wattenmeer' and his lyrical longing for the cries of the seagulls, the North Sea and the dunes with their flaura and fauna.

This is a commentary on the Tibetan issue by an author who grew up in the southern foothills of the Himalaya and his plea for human rights, tolerance, peace and respect for other cultures.

The author introduces you to the Freiburger world of dancing and a culture-manager named Wolfgang Graf, who works in Switzerland.

Sajani Sakya the Living Goddess of Katmandu who went to the USA after having cross the Kala Pani,has resigned. Can you live a fulfilled life after the Kumari period? Satis Shroff takes you to the far-away town of Catmandu in a fascinating world of Godes, Goddesses, Kings and subjects who want to change the ancient values and traditions and live modern lives, a togetherness that is sometimes thwarted by the priests and kings.

Satis Shroff takes you to the hilarious and charming English texts in European hotels and elsewhere. English is a global language, spoken by almost 2000 million people, and when the language leaves its native surroundings it adds colour and foreign expressions and words--making it what it is: a hybrid language.

The young man and his double-clicks In a cyberworld Of bits and bytes, Full of elves, tough turtles, dementors, Warriors and evil beings, Who destroy hamlets, towns, Civilisations, At the command of a few clicks. An unreal world Where the fantasy stories Are pre-programmed. The elimi...

Satis Shroff takes you to the most famous Swiss carnival: Morgenstraich which takes place on a Monday morning at 4am when the lights go out and the sound of piccolo flutes and drums are to be heard.A Swiis city vibrates to the sounds and sights of the Basler Fastnacht.

Satis Shroff takes you to the Allemanic-Swabian Fasnet celebrations in Freiburg and the Swiss celebrations in Basle.

Satis Shroff's Film review: Darjeeling Limited

MUSIC IN MY HEART (Satis Shroff, Freiburg) As the Breisgau-train dashes in the Black Forest, Between Elztal and Freiburg, I am with my thoughts in South Asia. I hear the melodious cry of the vendors: ‘Pan, bidi, cigarette,’ Interspersed with ‘garam chai! Garam chai!’ The sound of sambosas...

Kulturspezifische ethnische Self-help in Nepal (Satis Shroff) Das Prinzip der Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe hat eine emanzipatorische und eine restriktive Seite. Es unterstreicht die anthropologische Annahme, daß Menschen in der Lage sind, ihr Leben in eigener Bestimmung und Verantwortung zu gestalten. D...

The Japanese Garden (Satis Shroff) Nine Hauptschule kids in their teens, Sit on benches in the Japanese Garden, Near the placid, torquoise lake. The homework is done sloppily. Who cares? The boys are bursting with hormones, As they tease the only blonde from Siberia. A fat guy named He...

‘Through Nepalese Eyes’ is about the journey of a young Nepalese woman to Germany to meet her brother, who lives with his German wife and daughter in an allemanic town named Freiburg. It is a travelogue written by a sensitive, modern British public-school educated man. He describes the two worlds: A...

IM SCHATTEN DES HIMALAYA (Lyrik und Prosa von Satis Shroff) Wer den Dichter will verstehen Muss in Dichters Lande gehen. - Johann Wolfgang Goethe Themen der Geschichten und Gedichten sind u.a.: Kampf um Demokratie (My Nepal: Quo vadis?), Transition (Wenn die Seele sich verabschiedet), und ...

LIVING WITH AIDS IN GERMANY (Satis Shroff, Freiburg) "It's the 1st of November (Allerheiligen) and I ask myself: why do you give the dying company? In all those years I haven't visited a single grave. I can't let go of my clients before they die. I just can't bear to do it after a certain ...

Katmandu, Katmandu von Editor: Satis Shroff (Lulu.com) Satis Shroff’s anthology is about a poet caught between upheavals in two countries, Nepal and Germany, where maoists and skin-heads are trying to undermine democratic values, religious and cultural life. Satis Shroff writes political poetry, ...

If Boeing wants to establish itself and sell more jets in Europe and sell more of their products, it would be advised to use ecological compatible ideas in the manufacture of aerospace technology. It is a fact that the Airbus industry buys a lot of landing-gears, engines, electronics, parts for inte...

Dr. Johann Faust, the man who sold his soul to the Devil. A mythical figure? Certainly not. I went to the pretty town of Staufen via Bad Krözingen from Freiburg. From the distance you can see the ruins of a castle looming above the vineyards on a hill. In the town below ...

Aerospace: CROSSING THE SKY TO THE FUTURE (Satis Shroff, Freiburg) If Boeing wants to establish itself and sell more jets in Europe and sell more of their products, it would be advised to use ecological compatible ideas in the manufac...

HINDUISM IN NEPAL (Satis Shroff, Freiburg) Hinduismus ist das Ergebnis eines langwierigen Entwicklungsprozeßes. Hinduismus ist nicht nur eine Religion, sondern eine philosophische Weltanschauung und eine bestimmte Art zu leben. Hinduismus hat ...

Der Kumarikult in Nepal: Die Kumari (Lebenden Göttin) ist ein kleines Mädchen, die in einem 1760 erbauten Palast wohnt. Man kann sie an ihrem roten Kleid, das sie ständig tragen muß, erkennen. Ihr Haar muß immer pagodenförmig nach oben gebunden werden, und auf der Stirn trägt sie das dritte Auge der...

Der Kumarikult in Nepal: Die Kumari (Lebenden Göttin) ist ein kleines Mädchen, die in einem 1760 erbauten Palast wohnt. Man kann sie an ihrem roten Kleid, das sie ständig tragen muß, erkennen. Ihr Haar muß immer pagodenförmig nach oben gebunden werden, und auf der Stirn trägt sie das dritte Auge der...

Der Buddhismus war ursprünglich eine philosophische Reformbewegung, eine von vielen, die aus der Krise der vedisch-brahmanischen Religion im 6. Jahrhundert v. Chr. resultierten. Der historische Buddha wurde um 563 v. Chr. in Lumbini, im Süden des heutigen Nepal, nahe der Stadt Kapilavastu, als Prinz...

Der Buddhismus war ursprünglich eine philosophische Reformbewegung, eine von vielen, die aus der Krise der vedisch-brahmanischen Religion im 6. Jahrhundert v. Chr. resultierten. Der historische Buddha wurde um 563 v. Chr. in Lumbini, im Süden des heutigen Nepal, nahe der Stadt Kapilavastu, als Prinz...

White Chapel: Formerly Cockney, Now Bangladeshi We took the underground from the Embankment (green route) to White Chapel in Lon­don's East End, previously a Cockney area, now turned Bengali. London's East End looked dark, dilapidated, gloomy, and there were hundreds of Asian shops and restaurant...

The Loss of Mental Metamorphosis (Satis Shroff) Eight Indians on the run, Fifty Neonazis behind them. 'Deutschland den Deutschen, Ausländer raus! Hier regiert der nationale Widerstand!' Roars from the throats of the Neos, Beer in their blood, Defiance in their sanguine eyes. The puls ra...

Stratford-upon-Avon is a fascinating little town. We went to the spacious farmhouse which was the early home of William Shakespeare's wife: Anne Hathaway. It was a house made of wattle, stone and brick, the earliest part dating back to the 15th century. I had done a lot of Shakespeare at school and ...

When mother closes her eyes, She sees everything in its place In the kingdom of Nepal. She sees the highest building in Kathmandu, The King’s Narayanhiti palace. It looms higher than the dharara, Swayambhu, Taleju and Pashupati, For therein lives Vishnu, Whom the Hindus call: The unconquera...

My Nepal, what has become of you? Your features have changed with time. The innocent face of the Kumari Has changed to the blood-thirsty countenance of Kal Bhairab, From development to destruction, You’re no longer the same. There’s insurrection and turmoil Against the government and the poli...

It was a glorious sunset, The clouds blazing in scarlet and orange hues, As the young man, riding on the back of a lorry, Sacks full of rice and salt, Stared at the Siwaliks and Mahabharat mountains Dwindling behind him. As the sun set in the Himalayas, The shadows grew longer in the va...

Wer den Dichter will verstehen Muß in Dichters Lande gehen. (Johann Wolfgang Goethe) The Nepalese world that the Nepalese poets and writers describe and create is a different one, compar...

"I have a strong interest in the legend of Manjushri," said Fumio Yonechi, a geo-morphologist from Yamagata city, when I met him in Kathmandu a long time ago. We were talking about the origin of Kathmandu Valley, which is located in the lap of the Himalayas. "I have heard similar popular legends ...

ON CAROLINE WALTER (Satis Shroff) I took a walk to the old cemetery With its cultural treasures, And saw the Dance of Death At the entrance of Michael’s chapel. The gravestones expressed The self-consciousness of the citizens. There were many stories That made their rounds In the town o...

Once upon a time there was a seventeen year old boy Who lived in the Polish city of Danzig. He was ordered to join the Waffen-SS, Hitler’s elite division. Oh, what an honour for a seventeen year old, Almost a privilege to join the Waffen-SS. The boy said, “Wir wurden von früh bis spät Gesch...

MUSIC BETWEEN EAST AND WEST (Satis Shroff) As the Breisgau-train dashes in the Black Forest, Between Elztal and Freiburg, I am with my thoughts in South Asia. I hear the melodious cry of the vendors: ‘Pan, bidi, cigarette,’ Interspersed with ‘garam chai! Garam chai!’ The sound of sambosas b...

500 years ago near the town of Kashgar, I, a stranger in local clothes was captured By the sturdy riders of Vali Khan. What was a stranger With fair skin and blue eyes, Looking for in Vali Khan’s terrain? I, the stranger spo...

Switzerland: Impressions From Central Switzerland (Satis Shroff) It’s a sunny afternoon when Claudia and I boarded the ICE (Inter City Express) train from the Black Forest town Freiburg, then switch trains at the Swiss Badische Bahnhof (SBB) and travelled via Olten in a Swiss regional train to...

Switzerland: Stoos is located in the Alp world of inner Switzerland 1300m above sea-level. This was once a region dominated by shepherds and farmers. Till 1933 you could go to Stoos only by foot, along a steep trail via Morschach or Ried (Muota Valley). The shepherds and alpine farmers used to...

Like Shakespeare said, 'All the world's a stage' And we've played many different roles in our lives In various places and scenarios. As we grow old and ripe, our knowledge of the world grows. We hold what we cannot see, smell, taste and touch in our memories. We only have to walk down memory ...

The Ocean of Wisdom (Satis Shroff) Tenzin Gyatso, the spiritual and former Temporal ruler of Tibet, Came to a town in the Black Forest And conquered the hearts of the Freiburger. A lama in a back limousine, Applauded by hundreds of Europeans and Asians. You could feel the goose-pimples in y...

Even though generations of Nepalese soldiers called the fearsome Gurkhas, have fought Britain's colonial and other wars (Falklands, Croatia, Iraq) the Gurkhas don't have the same rights as ordinary British citizens. It was a magnificent scenario: the proud Royal Scouts led British...

In the 80,000 hamlets of Nepal, there are over 400,000 shamans and traditional healers, who have to some extent acquired the basics of modern medical treatment through the Health Ministry. The old tradition of the dhami-jhakri in which the fate of a person can be influenced by appeasing the sp...

It was a pathetic, unprecedented scenario in Germany’s TV channel when Erik Zabel, the cyclist, with tears in his eyes, and an emotionally distorted face, confessed in front of 5,5 million viewers that he had doped with Epo during the Tour de France in 1996. Tour de France, Giro di Italia, Tour de...

Wer den Dichter will verstehen Muß in Dichters Lande gehen. (Johann Wolfgang Goethe) The Nepalese world that the Nepalese poets and writers describe and create is a different one, compa...

Tiger Ecology:Catching ‘em Alive (Satis Shroff, Freiburg) I met John Sidensticker, a tiger-ecologist from the National Zoological Park (Smithsonian Institute) in Katmandu. He was a tall, thin-lipped, well-built man with deep blue eyes and a matching ruffle of brown hair. John had a Ph D in Wildl...

All mountains are holy in the Himalayas, but some mountains are holier than the others. A simple Nepalese with respect for the Gods in the mountains would never have the inspiration or inclination to climb the mountains he or she has revered. It was almost regarded as a sacrilege to ascend the t...

Fasnet celebrations: It was 8 am on a snowy Monday morning. There were hundreds of motley clad and coloured spectators stomping their cold feet, all waiting for the boisterous merrymaking (Narrensprung) at the Old Town of Endingen (Kaiserstuhl), with 3500 costumed Narren from five countries. Amon...

‘My characters are purely fictional,’ says Kiran Desai. In her book (The Inheritance of Loss) she has tried to do exactly that, namely to capture her own knowledge about what it means to travel between East and West, and to examine the lives of migrants who are forced to hypocrisy, angst of being na...

The 126 year old cobalt blue coloured narrow-gauge Darjeeling Himalayan Railway train chugged and snorted its way from Kurseong to Darjeeling via Ghoom along the serpentine route, against the silvery backdrop of the 8598m Kenchenjunga Range, past the tea gardens, shanty tea-shops and tin-roofed huts...

It was 8 am on a snowy Monday morning. There were hundreds of motley clad and coloured spectators stomping their cold feet, all waiting for the boistrous merrymaking (Narrensprung) at Oberndorf, a picturesque town in south-west Germany. On this cold, wintry morning the ghoulish, tragi-comical fig...

‘Due to the lack in clarity in Nepal’s Law, many Nepalese women have been victimised on the ground of spontaneous abortion, whether it was a simple miscarriage or abortion caused by the heavy manual labour on the part of the woman. The women of Nepal cannot defend themselves because of the lack o...

Whereas the older people in Asia pray the whole day and are in communion with God because the life-span in Asia is shorter, I had the impression here in Europe that the older generation are still living it up. You’re pensioned at 67 years in Germany and are still robust and not very old. This new...

Claudia, Maria, my sister Neeta and I had lunch together. We'd cooked Nepalese food comprising: chicken, potatoes, rice and chutney and ice-cream as dessert, and sat watching some videos of Neeta's trip to Europe, when I suggested that we should go to the ecological exhibition (Ökoausstellung) at th...

The 126 year old cobalt blue coloured narrow-gauge Darjeeling Himalayan Railway train chugged and snorted its way from Kurseong to Darjeeling via Ghoom along the serpentine route, against the silvery backdrop of the 8598m Kenchenjunga Range, past the tea g...

Kathmandu Blues: The Inheritance of Loss and Intercultural Competence (Satis Shroff, Freiburg) ‘My characters are purely fictional,’ says Kiran Desai. In her book (The Inheritance of Loss) she has tried to do exactly that, namely to capture her own knowledge about what it means to travel betwee...

‘Mom, I’ve received an invitation from Raj. I’m going to Germany!’ Saraswati’s mother, who had just finished her morning puja and meditation in her house-altar, and was carrying a copper plate with tika and other offerings, replied rather shocked, ‘Germany? Why on earth do you want to go to Germ...

It was a bright sunny morning when Claudia, Giacomo, Silvana I headed for Italy from Freiburg. The first Swiss town we went through was Basel, which is known for its university and chemical firms near the Swiss-German border. The sky was a cobalt-blue as we sped through the Arisdorf tunnel. In Sw...

The loss of wildlife habitat in the states of Nepal, India and Pakistan caused by widespread and indiscriminate destruction of forests in the foothills of the Himalayas and the Karakoram has led to an ecological crisis, resulting in floods and landslides after the torrential monsoons. When the fores...

Satis Shroff’s German Translations: Satis Shroff has translated Nepali literature (prose and poems) by Nepali writers such as: Laxmiprasad Devkota (Muna Madan), Bhupi Sherchan, Banira Giri (Kathmandu), Bhisma Upreti, Krishna Bhakta Shrestha, Bal Krishna Sama (Ich Hasse & Auf der Suche nach Poesie...

Whether you hear Radio Nepal, the BBC, CNN or the Voice of America, there’s no such thing as ‘correct spoken English.’ There is no standard as such, even though the Queen’s English is regarded as a measuring yard. As George Bernard Shaw said, ‘No two British subjects speak exactly alike.’ Whether yo...

Memoir: BACK TO THE VILLAGE DREAMS Once upon a time there was a kingdom in the Himalayas called Nepal. People in the outside world also called it the Land of the Sherpas, the Land of Yetis and Yaks, the Land of the famous Gurkhas and the Land of the highest mountains in the world. It was ruled b...

Nepalese men and women work in the fields. They use the traditional bullocks and buffaloes that are seen in the villages of Southeast Asia. They dig the fields manually. The women work beside the men, with babies strapped to their backs. Long wooden hoes are being used to dig and break the soil, ...

"Will the passengers please fasten their seat belts," said a soft voice over the intercom. And I slid one end of the belt into the heavy metallic slot, sat back, and peered through the window of the Royal Nepal jet. The runway was clear and there was an Airbus 310, three Russian-made helicopters...

‘Give me a glass of water,’ said the London-trained Nepalese physician, as he came into the room, where a group of Nepalese people with Mongolian and Caucasian features were gathered, either pitying or wondering what the strange illness could be. With the glass of water in his hand, the swarthy, ...

Basanta Sakya was a small, lean, swarthy, bespectacled Newar. He had a moustache, a slightly bent back and his voice was normally clear and loud like that of a primary-school teacher. And there he lay huddled in his bed. He shat in his pants, and hadn’t even noticed it, because he’d been drunk the e...

I met Toni Hagen ages ago in Freiburg where he’d come to give a talk about Nepal, and I must say he made a jolly good impression. As a long-time Freiburger, I went with him to a local tavern near the Schwabentor for a swig of German beer. ‘I’ve travelled 14,000 km on foot in Nepal’ said Toni Hagen,...

It was a chilly Sunday morning in February when Stefan, his wife Barbara, and I, decided to do a bit of cross-country skiing in the Feldberg area, which happens to be the highest peak in Baden-Württemberg (south-west Germany). We’d received a call 8am from Frau Heinz (Stefan’s mother) who had mad...

"Give me a glass of water," said the London-trained Nepalese physician, as he came into the room, where a group of Nepalese people with Mongolian and Caucasian features were gathered, either pitying or wondering what the strange illness could be. With the glass of water in his hand, the swart...

"Do they have witches in Germany?" asked Archana S., a 26-year old Nepalese woman from Dharan at a Nepalese get-together in the Pochgasse 31 in Freiburg, a university-town in south-west Germany. It was an interesting question. I thought about the symbolic burning of the witches during the f...

Kathmandu without its gay and colourful vegetable dealers and the holy cows, those constant characters, that have featured in almost all paintings, sketches, photographs and books on Nepal will soon be a thing of the past. The ecological minded mayor of Kathmandu rounded up 88 stray cows and ...

It was a beautiful sight. The sun was going down after a hot and sultry day, a scarlet mass, and the sky was a bright orange with shades of yellow and azure above. There were some clouds languidly moving ahead. A flock of sea-gulls dived and swirled around in the distance. The only noise you heard w...

Satis Shroff takes you on a flight to the Himalayas: It was a steep climb and the blue mountain front was looming close. You could even spot the trees growing on the mountainside. But in a moment we left it behind. I was thrilled at the picturesque panorama of Kathmandu Valley with its pretty brown terracotta houses and prominent pagodas, which receded beneath as the jet banked almost languidly in an easterly direction.