Closed supermarkets on Sundays, widespread use of cash, the challenges of buying a local SIM card, clockwork punctuality of public transport... a book of comics is bound to prepare students off to pursue higher education in Germany as much as an orientation session would.
Goethe-Institut Kolkata has published a graphic novel anthology that shares real-life accounts of South Asians who went to Germany for studies. “Dreamland Deutschland is a cultural exchange project. We received stories from Indian, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan students on living, studying and working in Germany and used them as inspirations for comics. We have invited five artists from Germany and five from South Asia to tell those stories visually,” Marla Stukenberg, regional director of Goethe-Institut, South Asia, told t2.
The artists, she points out, got complete freedom. The 120-page book has 20 stories. It was launched at the German pavilion and five of the artists flew over from Germany to attend it. They were joined by Debashis Deb, one of the Indian artists who has contributed to the book.
“We received the stories. It was difficult to make choices. One was about a ticket machine, the fahrkarten automat. The protagonist (Sahib Kapur, an Indian researcher from Freiburg) arrives at the airport and deals with it. I understand how complex it is. I let him be sucked in by the machine, explore Germany and come out through the other side,” said Aisha Franz.
Bea Davies, an Italian comic artist who had come to Berlin 13 years ago, professed empathy. “The fahrkarten automat is complete madness. You are supposed to buy a ticket before getting on a train but you can see a train approaching but the ticket machine refuses to work!” she exclaimed.
The other story Aisha illustrated was about paperwork. “Even as a German, I have faced overbearing bureaucracy. I know the environment can be unforgiving,” she said, sympathising with the experience of Anish Biswas, a student in Augsburg.
This was also corroborated by Bea. “Though being an European I did not face visa hurdles, which had made me presume that I could simply go and live there, but if you go to the City Hall and want to integrate, the person in front will look at you like you are a fahrkarten!”
She also admitted to having issues making friends in Germany. “There is a wall that I could not bridge.” Dating was an even bigger issue. “German men will never take the first step. If you step in a bar, you could rot in a chair waiting. So go and talk. If they don’t run away, you have a chance,” she said, as the audience at the German pavilion broke into peals of laughter.
Deb said being one of the last artists to be approached, he did not get a choice of stories as the others were already taken. Both the stories that fell in his share dealt with liquor. One was on drinking being allowed in classrooms and the other about teenagers being allowed to drink from the age of 16. He contrasted the situation in India, with liquor itself being hard to find in the dry states.
Maren Amini confessed to being so far away from home for the first time in her life. “So it surely takes a lot of courage to opt for a study course in a different land. So their loneliness and outlook interested me,” she said, adding that the story she dealt with was about a student having trouble with a blocked bank account. “I could see how inconvenient that could be.”
Paul Paetzel said he chose his first story simply because it was set in his city, Berlin. “I tried to capture what it feels like to walk around the city for the first time,” he said of Indian student Swarup Kumar’s account.
Orderliness and cleanliness of public places were noted in both the stories, illustrated by Tina Fetz, that were shared by Bhoomika Raghavendra and Uddipta Raj Deka, students from Frankfurt. “One had a funny image of elderly people in sports cars,” Tina said.
Deb said it was a good idea to involve artists from outside who had never been to Germany. “Their viewpoints will be fresh like that of the students who would be going to Germany,” the veteran artist said, advising the German artists to go around the city with a sketchbook in hand.