THE 'BERLIN WALL' - WALK

.. IN BERLIN: WE WALKED THE WALL WHICH WASN’T!!

That was the sunny summer of June,2003.After about a week in Switzerland, we crossed the border to reach Freiburg in Germany- to see my friend Frederick von Knorre. Touring in the picturesque Black Forest in his 1958 Ford-‘Thunderbird’ vintage, he suddenly pulled out near the historical town of Grunwald and showed me weirdly painted concrete slabs grounded vertically on the road side. He asked to guess about those edifices. Had he given me even hundred choices, I would not have been anywhere near the answer as “pieces of dismantled Berlin Wall”. Related stories ignited our interest. We were in Germany to participate in ‘European Lock Collectors Meet’ in historical town of Velbert, near Dusseldorf. Though we had two-weeks- Eurail pass, and intended to travel to neighboring Austria also, visit to Berlin was like detour to Delhi in South India’s tour. We resolved this by taking night train from Cologne to Berlin with shortened Rhine cruise, and return from Berlin, again by DB NachtZug [Deutsche Bahn-night train] to Vienna. We were to get two days there [and save some precious Euros for two nights hotel stay!]

In main tourist office of Berlin near Zoo station, desk person asked us- Fun, History or Zeitgeist? Trying to understand the meaning of the latter [‘intellectual and cultural climate of that era’] we realized that we have to define our preferences precisely. In this city of contrasts and extremes with 172 museums, we opted to combine Royal Prussian past and dark evils of Nazism, but back in mind that curiosity to discover the scattered bits of broken Berlin Wall and to put them together like jigsaw puzzle to solve the mystery of post world war history.

We’d done our home work seriously and ‘studiously’--after Germany’s defeat, each of the victorious powers occupied separate zone of Berlin-USA, Britain and France on West and Soviets on East. This was the beginning of Cold war as the rift between two worlds of Capitalists and Communists was literally DEEP-Dreams, Employment, Exuberance, Prosperity in the West and Despair, Emptiness, Extremism, Poverty in the East. Naturally- more than three million people had fled from East Germany to West Berlin between 1949 to1961. The long wall, encircling about 160 kilometers perimeter of Berlin, started taking shape from 13 August 1961, in a bid to stop such a massive exodus to Berlin. This divisive landmark, for next 28 years, split not only the German capital and nation, but also an entire generation.

We were on feet, strolling along the avenue -Unter den Linten [ literally meaning ‘beneath the Lime trees ] and marveling those historical monuments-Berliner Cathedral, History museum, National Gallery, Reichstag [ parliament ] and ultimately reached the landmark Brandenburg Gate; the most beautiful and only surviving of 18 city gates built in 1789. It was the symbol of ‘divided city’, as one section of the Berlin Wall had sealed the gate. It was rightly said-"The German issue will remain open as long as the Brandenburg Gate is closed”. Under the pressure of east German people in a peaceful revolution, Soviets gave in and the Wall fell on November 9, 1989.The ‘Pariser Platz, empty square on eastern side was flooded with citizens as the gate was opened two days later. In the days and weeks that followed, people came to the wall with sledgehammers to dismantle it, while cranes demolished lengthy parts of the wall. Since then, the same Gate, till to date, stands as the emblem of the reunification of Germany.

We were standing in front of an international beauty pageant, in which an Indian contestant was prominently ‘standing out’-adding glory in the glamour of this grand gate. My camera kit and a foot long telelens gave me an easy access to the group photo session and unique opportunity to shoot.., but I could imagine what it would be all those 30 years of cold war, when every day, every single soldier was positioned to aim and shoot...to prevent those possible attempts to cross the wall. Early successful escapes involved people jumping the initial barbed wire or leaping out of apartment windows along the line but these ended as the wall was fortified. Later successful escape attempts included digging the long under ground tunnels, or taking a hot air balloon during the favorable winds, or sliding along aerial wires, and even flying ultra lights. However there were 133 confirmed killings during such escape efforts to West Berlin.

To give some rest and respite to our sore feet, after almost six hours of walking around with back packs, we took a train to Orienberg.That was a place of infamous concentration camp -Sachsenhausen. This silent site of Nazi Holocaust rather inflicted more pain and strain to our numb minds.

We returned to Potsdamer Platz in central Berlin. During 1920s it was one of the busiest traffic junctions of the world! The damage during world wars, added by this division of the city, transformed such popular and populous square into no man’s land with ‘death-strip’ and ‘the wall’ ran right through the square. The circle turned full in next eighty years, as it regained its past glory- now one of the largest building sites in Europe and a fascinating spectacle of modern technology and innovation. We could spot few segments of preserved wall, giving us dramatic photo opportunities. The location of the whole length of former wall is now marked by a row of cobblestones in the street. We walked on that particular stretch, as if walking the Berlin Wall, and returned back for the dinner, to call it a day.

Next day morning-we visited Potsdam and its world famous Castle Sans souci [ meaning free of anxieties, in French] and then Charlottenburg Palace , again a wonder of Old Prussia . However we wanted to rush for that most talked and photographed place of the cold war- Checkpoint Charlie. We took U-bahn train and got down at ‘Friedrichstrasse’. Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie was just in front of us. It’s been claimed as the first museum of international ‘nonviolent protest’. Their exhibits rightly include Mahatma Gandhi’s diary and sandals, along with related knick-knacks. “The world is so well built that against every injustice there are stronger, vanquishing forces. ...From every injustice arises justice, from every untruth emerges truth, from darkness comes light...” – the words of Mahatma Gandhi were flashing boldly in another display.

The plaque on the cross roads read---‘the separation of the world began and ended at the checkpoint Charlie, the best known border cross point between West and East. That is where American and Soviet tanks confronted each other in October 1961 when the U.S. defended fundamental rights of the Berlin status. The world held breath…’ I also held breath and inhaled deeply, while posing for the photo in front of ‘US soldier’s poster’, to hide that unsightly bulge on tummy [that was the money pouch with passports, hidden on body!]

We managed to find main three of major remnant sections of the Berlin wall. We walked the length of it- this symbol of war and hate and division. How could people in the modern world believe such instance to imprison a group of people behind a wall? It was real, not mythical. With closed eyes in that night train from Berlin to Vienna, I was imaging the guard towers, searchlights, barking dogs and Kalashnikov shots that once made the wall the global symbol of the Iron Curtain. Recollecting those scenes of movie- The ‘Mauer-Spechte’ [Wall woodpeckers] - tens of thousands of people sledge hammering the wall, breaking through the border crossing points – stunned and crying for joy, and celebrating… Suddenly it was interrupted, as if by the popular commercial break on television- ‘Bhaiyaa, Ye Deewar tootati kyun nahi? [Why this wall is not coming down/ is it too strong to break it off ?] And I thanked, on the behalf of German brethren that Berlin Wall was not made of that famous Indian Ambuj.. Cement !!

.. ..A .. F R E E .. F A L L..

‘In a vacuum at sea level, an object will accelerate at approximately 9.81 m/s2, regardless of its mass. With air resistance acting upon an object, if dropped from sufficient altitude, it will eventually reach a terminal velocity of 200 km/hour; say for a human body...’

Such principles were left behind long back, right since I left IIT to join Medicine. Eventually Physics was replaced by Physiology. But today, once again, ‘motion’, was propelling ‘emotion’; harmony of mind and body was deranged by a rush of the hormone -Adrenaline! It must have reached to the highest level. I was in a state of total fright in that flight- at a height of 10000 ft. in the sky. It was not first time that I was flying in an aircraft, but I was so scared because the door of that plane was open and I was sitting on that doorstep, holding the top bar with my legs dangling in the air! The man behind me was urging me to jump and even asking me to give a ‘big smile’ in front of that wing mounted camera- sounding quite sadistic!! I heard the begging of that 6 ¾ ft. tall Estonian, shaking in the stooping posture, to let him fly down along with the pilot, without making him to ‘jump off’. But his instructor replied that this plane is not having facilities of landing down with ‘live’ passengers! Yes, all of us were crouching on the floor-no seats and, of course, no seat belts in that small turboprop air craft! I have not seen Frank Capello’s movie ‘No way back’, but today I realized the meaning of that title. Summoning all my courage I jumped off …along with Eugen on my back and Konz by my side.

We had flown in Auckland,via Singapore, almost two weeks back. Sandeep and Nitu,my brother and his wife, encircled the globe other way round from Boston in USA and joined us there on the airport only.We had rented a van-‘Toyota Lucida' and set off to 3000 miles marathon in New Zealand,as if on an adventure spree.We had been to many interesting but challenging activities in New Zealand till then, like sailing lessons in rough sea at Paihia, blind cave tubing in Wiatomoto, volcano crater walk in Rotorua, trout fishing in Lake Taupo, and just two days back, a walk on Frank Joseph glacier, having been flown on the top by helicopter and ventured with those crampons and ice axe….everything for first time in life. From Fox Glacier we took detour to Wanaka by lengthy but exceptionally scenic road through mountains. On the way, near Arrowtown, we spotted many sites of shooting of popular movie-‘Lords of Rings’. From Lake Wanaka, our next destination was -the Mecca of the adventure sports [and the origin of Bungee jumping] - Queenstown, for a ‘Shotover River’ ride in speed boat, and then a cruising in near by Milford Sound. Next was Dunedin where we were driven in twelve-wheel cart in remote hinterland to spot Albatross Colonies and rare Blue Penguin ‘nests’. Lastly, before returning home from Christchurch, we had one of the most scenic and historical rail journeys to the highest summit of Arthur Pass. Of course we had to cancel 'hot-air ballooning' at the last minute, as the weather was not favorable.

On that day, in Wanaka, after visiting Stuart Landsboroughs, the world best museum of the puzzles, we directly headed for the ‘Sky dive’. The big banner there read-‘No previous sky diving experience is necessary, all you need to bring is a BIG SMILE and an attitude for adventure!’ [‘and also credit cards’- they should have added! 'Free' fall was misnomer!! ]

After the registration formalities, there was almost an hour of briefing including small movie, explanatory talk, medical checkup and detailed consent. This was the tandem sky diving and Eugen was my instructor, quite a jolly fellow. He again explained the whole procedure with the sequence of events and postures necessary at different stages, like jumping off the plane, free falling, opening the parachute and landing, the last was most vital. After wearing that multi-coloured ‘space-suit’, he asked me ‘don’t you feel like an astronaut?’I rather questioned back-‘I’ve heard of pet animals going in the space, but has any clown ever made that journey?’ We developed very friendly fine-tuning. Bound to be-because our bodies [and lives] were to be suspended from the same ropes! Beautiful Konz was to be my video-cum- camerawoman. I could see at her- ‘eye to eye’ right from the very moment we were introduced. Yes, she was almost as tall as me-6’2’’! She was black belt too! While leaving for the air field she started recording-‘before taking off for this mission, do you want to tell something to your family, just in case…’ I was very optimistic in my reply-‘I’ll send the message to them, but after returning to the ground!’ She had one of the most modern photographic gadgets- hand held digital video camera and head mounted still camera with a remote button in the mouth, between the teeth! With these she was to take forty pictures and fifteen minute video recording, showing footage of the whole sequence of the ‘Sky dive.’ This was to be dubbed on a DVD with a funky sound track! Measuring how ‘Big’ was your smile, when you jump off the plane?

Gradually we started achieving the height. Our pulse rate was rising in line with the altimeter reading. Lake Wanaka and surrounding hilly area is supposed to be one of the most picturesque spots, and most popular for the sky-sports. The view out of the window was heavenly, and why it should not be? Now, we were near the heaven than rest of the world, by almost 10000 ft! Any atheist, in his first such endeavor will start praying, and leave his fate to God , and of course to that man ‘harnessed’ to his back, the one who is supposed to open right buttons and pull the right strings at the right time.

Those 45 seconds during which we dropped by some 7000 feet are the unforgettable moments in my life. A belly to earth "arch" position with face down and hands spanned like wings, you are not less than a bird.

Those images of fast approaching land-green checkered fields, water streams and cattle grazing on slopes of snow-capped mountains along the azure blue lake at the distance- are permanently etched in the ‘memory card of my grey cells’-one can’t neither delete nor format that! The acrobatics Eugen and Konz did, holding each other’s hands- I’d seen these only on the ‘Discovery channel’ till then. Once the parachute was activated and opened, we felt a slight jerk and came into a sitting posture. Then we gently glided for about five minutes, spiraling and sounding like a ‘vulture’, and savoring the surrounding beauty before landing down. Feet on the ground after a safe and smooth landing, I thanked Eugen and he thanked Lord Hanuman with folded hands. Yes, I’d narrated him the story about this ‘PavanPutra” God and his flying [and rescuing] prowess!

I persuaded my wife, Namita, to repeat the same feat. She was initially not willing, quite afraid about the risk of injury and casualty! But I tried to coax her by this Gujarati saying-“Jivato Hathi Lakh No, Marelo Sava lakh No”. [Meaning, the dead elephant, for the precious ivory tusks, is far more worth than the live one].Unfortunately I was mistaken in the comparison of these ‘figures’ and she got furious. I had to clarify that the figure I was referring was purely ‘arithmetical’ and not ‘geometric’ at all! She got convinced to attempt that ‘Big Smile’, but only after confirming the figure in our insurance policy! She also landed safely!!