Sandeep Singh Chhatwal: A Second-Generation Indian

DW-WORLD: When did your family come to Germany?

Sandeep: My father came to Germany in 1956 to study mechanical engineering but before he could start his course he had to do an internship for six months. It was winter and since he spent the whole day in a coal-mine he did not even get to see the sun in those six months. It was a very hard time for him and more so because he did not know anybody. He began his studies after the internship but had to interrupt them many times because he needed money to sustain himself. He would do odd jobs till the late hours in his simple struggle to survive. But he never gave up and he finished his studies relatively quickly -- in almost six years. My mother joined him in 1968.

How was Germany for you as a child?

As a child, I was simply one of the German children with whom I used to play or to go to school. There were a few incidents in which the kids made fun of me, but I had learnt not to take them very seriously by then. I learnt how to be one of them and also when and how to show them the difference. Today I think that I never really had a serious problem in school. I remember incidents of other children in my class being bullied very badly -- at least more than me, and they were not always foreigners. I am a Sikh and traditionally a Sikh boy is supposed to keep his hair long and wear a pakta or a turban on his head. But my parents decided to cut off my hair when I was a child. I think that this decision was truly wise and it may have helped my integration into German society since we lived in a very small city. At the beginning, my family used to speak Punjabi and English at home. But soon after, when I was around 3 or 4 years old, they changed the language spoken at home to German. My parents wanted me to speak German as my mother tongue, like any other German child.

Did you feel any difference once you had grown up?

By the time I had grown up, I had understood that I was 'somehow different'. I understood that I had a very uncommon name compared to the rest of my friends and that my skin colour, or my build is entirely different. At the end I told myself, I am a German but with Indian roots. I had the same problems at puberty as any other German child of my age. I did not know that, for a majority of Indians, this stage of life simply does not exist -- they either suppress it or it is suppressed for them. For me, it is a part of life when a young boy or a girl simply rebels against his or her parents, or against the prevailing social order -- representing a period in life when one looks at things a bit more critically than at other times. At that point in my life, I also had long hair, drove a Vespa and went to night clubs, met friends. Before puberty, I was mostly interested in sports but from then I also wanted to go to pubs, go pub-hopping and chill out.

Did you have girlfriends at that age like Germans?

I had girlfriends from an early age -- which is again unheard of in India. My parents are really open-minded and wanted me and my brother to have the same amount of freedom as the other kids in Germany. They never had a problem when I brought my German girlfriends home because that’s what was normal for a boy who growing up in Germany, my parents thought. All they wanted from me was to know what I was up to and that I was not hiding anything from them. I think they would have had reacted similarly if I'd had a sister. Obviously I knew that my youth was very different from that of the average youngster in India. Whenever I visited India and had a chance to talk to my relatives or friends of the same age, I realised it all over again.

You are now 33 and live in Cologne. How do you earn your bread?

I am a lawyer by profession and have a law firm of my own. I want to specialise in Indo-German company law and want to guide Indian companies coming to do business in Germany. I think that because I am an Indian trained in German law, I would be the best guide for an Indian firm setting up in Germany. I have been visiting India almost every two years and I also speak a bit of Hindi or at least understands most of it. As I was brought up in a traditional family, I am very much accustomed to Indian customs and traditions. As for the Germans, I think, I am not a bad choice because I understand German culture and the mentality of the Germans. I believe that one should readily integrate wherever one is living. My parent never forced me to lead the life of an Indian in Germany.

Do you feel 'exotic' in Germany?

I know that I look different but everything else about me is basically German. That’s why I do not want to be branded as 'exotic'. I love Indian food but my food habits are German. I would happily watch a Hindi movie but I would actually prefer it to have German sub-titles. I feel comfortable in European clothes but I’ll also wear an Indian kurta while attending an Indian gathering. I have had German girlfriends but I could also marry a like-minded Indian girl or maybe even a Chinese or simply a good girl from anywhere else. I value the Indian family and would love to give my kids the same kind of upbringing I automatically received at the hands of my Indian parents -- the language, the food, the tradition and the rituals of the country. So that they too can grow up with an open mind and understand the roots of their parents, their grandparents, not to speak of their own. Because a part of them would be exactly like their father's -- Indian.

What do you in your free time?

I try to be active and go to the fitness studio regularly. I love computer games and I'm very keen on recent developments in world economy. Though I try to read as much as possible, especially on law, I have read only some Indian authors. Maybe I’ll do that at some stage in my life. And I’d love to travel. My dream is to travel all over the world. But for the moment my main interest is to work on my concept of being a mediator between Indian companies and German bureaucracy.

How would you describe your identity?

I think each and every individual is unique in the true sense of the term. I don't mind being 'interesting' either for Germans or for Indians. But I’d never want others to typecast me as a ‘Germanised Indian’ or an ‘Indianised German’. I want everybody to take me for what I am, just Sandeep.