Dear Pals
Yesterday
I had an argument with my colleagues, that Twardogora is a village &
not city as they use to mention. (Its not their fault, in polish there
are only two words to describe: Village or city) Finally, after some life
threatening calls, I decided to say that it is a city.In this edition,
As per ur request I tried to explain poland in backdrop of WW-II, but without
making any comments.
One
More thing, quite a happy news: My Days in Poland are numbered.Your pleas
to stay in Poland, to start Bangalore Times notwithstanding, Polish Times
will be stopped (So sad:-( in another one or two Editions. I am forced
to use the old Cliche "All good things comes to an end".
Hey Guys finally your wish
granted.. For those who missed Polish Times Editions, good news is around
the corner..You can find all editions of PT in
http:\\www.polishtimes.homepage.com
**Poland, A country at Crossfire**
For those who dont remember,
Poland was in center of the World Wars. Especially WW-II was a holocaust
for Poland, to put it mildly. A Land between the communist Russians
& West Europe always will be strategically important & have to
pay for it.
All the mayhem started on
one fine day on 1939, when Hitler invaded Poland. 90% of the jews were
killed as Polish population was reduced by 20 percent. GHETTOS or Concentrations
Camps, places used to kill Jews & poles in mass with minimal usage
of weapons like filling 1000 people in one compartment of a train without
air & send it for a week trip. Un-luckiest people will survive to be
further grilled in Ghettos. For more of it, Read books like "Odessa File"
etc..
The Biggest Ghetto of the
WW-II is near krakow, "Ouswiec", standing as a witness of all those terror
days. Even in "Schindler's List", this place is featured. I didn't had
a chance to visit that place yet.
For obvious reasons, poles
likes to hate Germany people. But the interesting point is that Russians
take equal share of the wrath like Germans for Post War they ruled Poland
under the communists flag for four decades. But the hatred has roots
from as early as 14th century when Poland was a superior force in Europe.
A few days back there was a anniversary celebration of one of their (rare:-)
victories in 17th century against Russians like how we see everytime sachin's
hundred in sharjah on that (Sand)stormy night.
*********************************BREAK
If he looks like an indian, you
are right.. More at the end..
Next one with My polish teacher
who has become a fan of Indian Food...You can look at his eyes..
*********************************
A decade back,returned to
democracy like india. Same withdrawing support to govt, Number games etc..
for eg., After almost 10 year of exit of Communists, they are still looking
for a person to head a commision on people who helped Russians.Looks no
different from india in these matters!!
In another five years, it
can enter the European Union though Govt claims that in two years.
Auotmobile like other euro countries is flavour of poland too.Info-Tech
is another sector,poland is emerging. If not like india, ("I heard of textile
company which released the IPO as XYZ SoftWEAR Ltd., No wonder it
was 25 times oversubscribed":-) poland is slowly forging ahead in
IT.
In General, Europe always
lagged behind in IT race behind US, like S/w in 80's, InterNet & Broadband
in 90s, but hang on, it has got a bright start in "Mobile Technology".
Advanced Wireless tech, Security s/w & huge market created by Finland-based
Nokia, Ericsson etc has given the needed edge for Europe in Highly potential
Mobile & Wap Sector. Poland too is having its own share of it, though
ecommerce is not reached Poland like in other Euros.
Otherwise, poland is
more like other Euros, obcessed with Cars, football crazy, beer happy etc..
Population of 40 million (less than Tamil Nadu), majority of Christians,
Jews, Germans & 10 Indians.(Surprised, Read on!). Polish Currency is
zloty; 1 zl = 10 Rs, they devalued from 10,000 to 1 zl -10 years back.
Everybody was a millionaire then, except that A bottle of cola priced at
10 lakhs.
Very few personalities that
comes to ur mind when you hear about Poland (other than me!) are : Surprise
! Current Pope is a Pole. It was so obvious here that everyday I see Pope
Live! in all TV channels, they are quite proud about it; Nicholas Copernicus;
Marie Curie,though she moved to Berlin;
Chandru Goes Bungeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...
Two weeks before, I went to
mountains with my friends.. Finally ( Give me your ear!!) I went out of
Poland to czeck, ofcourse for two minutes.(International Terrorism?!) There
was a road between two countries, as you see in this first picture.. We
mountained for almost seven hours.. Though I had no false assumption of
being Denzing & Hillary (guys who reached everest), it was long &
good experience. We went thru rain, fog, wind, everything.. No wonder I
felt two inch shorter that night. Next foto in front of only hotel on top..
When my friend asked about
mountains to climb in india, I told "There is one famous place with group
of mountains & all around the year, thousands of people come there..
Even there is a small temple at the top of it. Generally I go once in two
years, we call that place as "Thirupathi"!!!!
As a finishing touch,
I Had my Maiden Bungee Jump on Next Day from 50 m. It was a three second
thrill that was worth taking. Though I didn't was not perfect while jumping,
it was an exciting experience.
Next Week,
Indian & Tamilan IN Poland..
Your Friend Chandru
Editor PolishTimes
Bosch, Ukalady Hamulcowe sp. z
o o.
Chelstowek 2a,
56-416 Twardogora,POLAND
( ph: +48 71
3999082
2 Fax: +48 71 3158444
* chandrasekar.r@in.bosch.com
es.
