I can speak English...fluently, yes!! Hindi...errr

On my way to visit Pojj after almost a month, I had to stop over at Frankfurt. So after the not so comfortable flight for about 11 hours...I landed there.
The Frankfurt airport I must say is amazing (considering the new International Airport at Bangalore where I flew from boasts of being International but the toilets don't have toilet papers...?? weirdly International). But nothing can replace the warmth of Indians...and I don't just say that because of the undoubted loyalty but out of experience.

After the immigration check I had to go and collect my baggage...I wonder why people are surprised - Tourist Visa and Hungary??? Why? Bah...so after convincing the guy why I was really there..he let me pass.. he bordered rude..but whatever. After that, I just couldn't figure my way out, it huge and I admit I would have travelled by train far more than by air. So I came back and asked him for help, I got a look - There is only one way, how can you not figure it out. Okay I would..you can sit there and be not so helpful.

Ofcourse, I figured it out, collected my baggage...drank a cup of hot coffee, caught the hotel shuttle with a Canadian and went and crashed.

I think I slept five hours at a stretch. I woke up and decided to go for a lil tour of the hotel (it was in the middle of a forest). Nice place..I liked it..around 7pm I went to the bar...yes alone (nothing to fear pls). There was OH (the bartender) and me...it was a classic English bar..the kinds that I have only seen in movies. So we started our regular, offering the drinks menu and where are you from kind of conversations. OH was a young fellow, who was completing this as a part of Hotel Management semester. He made me a nice Cosmopolitan and some grilled mushrooms. The conversation started from -Oh you have come from India, very far ...and went on to Billy Joel, famous drinks of Germany (I got to taste some for free - ahh goodwill), why there was no one in the bar today to Shah rukh Khan (amazed to know that people watched him there too, ofcourse they wanted to know why we always make movies around love, I thought I could boast of some Nagesh Kuknoor's movies, but it wouldn't have made sense then).

So while we were both talking about these certain things, we were joined by a Japaneese (forgot his name), he seemed rather quiet, got himself a beer. The moment OH vanished for a minute or two, this guy would start talking to me, ahhh so I knew..may be he thought OH was just supposed to serve drinks and only guests can make conversations :) (weirdo). Anyway, so he asked me - Which country? Aaah India...and where did you study ? (In his very broken English)...India all throughout..oh..how come? I was like huh?? Why is that a question? No he clarified, your English is fluent...so do all people in India speak like this? No not all, but any one who has had a halfway decent bringing up and studied in an English medium school can. Phew!! Is that how they think we are... hmm.

But why do we leave Hindi as a second language...atleast in schools that I have studied...? Why shouldn't we study our regional languages...? These are things I realize now that I am in Europe...not many people know English, but they know their regional language well...well enough..I for one can not boast of it :(