René Seifert – Entrepreneur & Global Citizen

Having lived in Bangalore for more than three years, I realize that I could live anywhere, because – charmingly speaking – the “challenges” of daily life appear handily managable. This sort of epiphany happened to me when I went to Cape Town over new year or to Prague one weekend ago. It seems kind of “easier” which in turn does not mean at all that I intend to turn my back on India. It’s just a perception that has matured which creates a feeling of liberalizing ease that the world is not just flat but also an endless dwell of personal choices.

Coming to Germany is nice particularly for seeing my friends, but basically this is it. For me Germany is the past, my own past. And there is no way I would come back to settle and resume living as I used to before my emigration. In my admittedly drastic views, Germany is a “failed state”, certainly not by the standards of Afghanistan or Pakistan. But still a failed state and I have personally decided once and forever that I don’t want to be a part of it.

On the other hand, there is an undeniable attachement to Europe as a cradle of culture for my own coining. And thinking of Europe as a place to live, I consistently found myself attracted to two countries: Switzerland and the UK. As long I don’t have the besoins of a pensionist, those two countries have all a person with a self-starting attitude can wish: high quality of life, functioning infrastructure, rule of law, business friendly environment and a reasonable, yet not overstated, regulatory framework. Thinking of the UK, top-of-mind intuitively comes London. And today I was recommended an article from the TImes Online which writes exacly about London’s growing appeal for world citizens.