René Seifert - Entrepreneur & Global Citizen

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June 23rd 2006, René Seifert

Bangalore in Football-Mania for FIFA 2006 - continued

As announced two days back, I went to meet my old friend Bharat with whose company Thinkahead we used to work together after I relocated to India. Actually, this picture which I just pulled out here, is 2.5 years old when we went to one of our regular evenings.

rene_seifert&bharat_gera

Today then a sort of revival. We wanted to head to Spinn, but the TV-set was broken. So we went to Pubworld closeby to watch Italy - Czech Republic (2:0). Admittedly, Italy in all three matches played very strong and effective so that I would definitely include them into the round of title-aspirants for that Word Championships. And here Bharat and me again today.

Bangalore_FIFA2006_21

After that, we went to Spinn, though, for a little after-party withe a few expats.

Bangalore_FIFA2006_27

And how should I describe the following: I guess I was at the right place, at the right time - with the right shirt. As you can see, I put on my Croatian fottball dress with the effect that a girl started talking to me asking if I was from Croatia like her. And from there we talked just in Croatian. She said rightly: “There are only 4.5 mn Croatians in this city which has alone almost double the size and two Croatians meet here in South India.” The small world phenomenon found its climax when we figured out that she used to live in Rovinj, where I have my Croatian residency and about which I blogged already here. Incredible!

Now I am back home watching with excitement Croatis vs. Australia. They just scored the 1:0, I can’t believe it!!! The first in this tournament, finally, and the necessary prerequisite to bring them one round further … Log off, have to continue watching.

This post was published on Friday , June 23rd 2006 at 01:33 and was added to Bangalore, English, India, Whatsoever. You can track the comments to this post via RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave the comment. Pings are not allowed in this moment.
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Comments

  1. Nina
    June 24th, 2006 | 2:14

    Hola,
    hmmm, I can see from the photos that you are having fun!!! Shame Croatia packed up…

    Hugs,
    nina

 
June 21st 2006, René Seifert

Bangalore in Football-Mania for FIFA 2006

FIFA Soccer World Championship 2006 and even India rocks! Although Indians besides cricket are not really renowned for super-performace at sports, passively they are watching the championship big time. Who those who know that I am German or for those who get to know these days, the thumb goes up with a big smile: “Germany plays very well. Klose and Ballack! Argentina or Germany are going to win!”

And since flat screens and big beamer screens have become so popular, in my perception TV watching in bars and restaurants has likewise become fashionable again. On the weekend in Mumbai, we went to “Out of the Blue” and “Olive” in Bandra where they had a huge screening crammed with enthusiastic Indians watching. This is where I had watch sadly how Croatia messed up again transforming a dominant game into a victory.

In Bangalore the pubs and bars are almost all into public viewing. So for the match Germany vs. Poland, which started 12.30 am Indian Time, we went to the bar in Orchid Hotel at Manipal Centre, very nicely decorated, and celebrated the well deserved 1:0 victory of our heroes.

Bangalore_FIFA2006_09

Then today, we gathered at Millers 46 for Germany’s last match in the initial round again Ecuador with a phenomenal football gala. See this picture, and I’d reckon these were 70 % Germans. In Bangalore! Have they started to outsource the whole country? :-)

Bangalore_FIFA2006_13

And again our heroes winning 3:0 at a huge margin:

Bangalore_FIFA2006_16

Here the whole set of pics FIFA2006 in Bangalore. On Thursday, I have an appointment with my friend Bharat Gera from Thinkahead to watch Italy-Czech Republic in Spinn. Looking forward, before on Friday night I will leave for Germany to get the real feeling. After a few years of despair and agony, my home country has woken up again, almost resurrected. There is a unity, a feeling of healthy patriotism which I can’t remember. What is more, even immigrants from Turkey in their huge numbers are gathering behind the German flag. And after years of being appalled of Germany, especially under the sick show-regime of Chancellor Schröder, I dare to confess that I feel again some sort of pride for the country I had once sworn to defend as a soldier. Regardless how Germany scores in this tournament, our “Kaiser” (=Emperor) Franz Beckenbauer deserves a monument for this integrational achievement as high as the Mount Everest.

This post was published on Wednesday , June 21st 2006 at 01:19 and was added to Bangalore, English, Globalization, India, Whatsoever. You can track the comments to this post via RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave the comment. Pings are not allowed in this moment.
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Comments

  1. Bharat Gera
    June 21st, 2006 | 11:41

    Am looking forward to the evening to watch soccer with Rene.

  2. jen
    June 22nd, 2006 | 9:39

    Hi Rene, Just popping by to say hello. Enjoying the blog as usual. Also wanted to put in my two-cents regarding the World Cup craze in India - 2 great places to watch the matches with good food, great beer and super company: Opus (just off Sankey Road) and Dublin (at Windsor Manor hotel). :)