He is the German Ambassador to India. But for the children of the six Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) in the city, Michael Steiner was a far cry from the aloof, inaccessible sort of high-ranking official they expected to meet.
In fact, halfway through the cultural programme organised specially for him by the Goethe Zentrum here on Monday, Mr. Steiner was barely to be seen at the venue as he chose to sit on the floor, among the children, to enjoy the show.
The Ambassador and his wife, Eliese, were completely involved in the performances put up by the KV students as they sang along to popular folk tunes and Christmas jingles in German.
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He spoke of how impressed he was by the children he had interacted with while travelling across the country. “What is so impressive is their eagerness to learn, to discover something new,” Mr. Steiner, whose address stressed the importance of travelling and interacting with people on a global basis, said.
He said it had been barely two years since he had assumed the position of Ambassador here, but even in such a short span of time he felt he had changed profoundly.
“Being posted in a country like India, what you look forward to most is all the differences you have.
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“The effect India has had on my wife and me has even prompted me to change my viewpoints on Germany. I now have so many different ideas of what we need to do back home, and all of that stems from the experiences here,” Mr. Steiner said.
He said what he loved most about India was food. “Especially paneer,” he said, going on to explain the rule in the Steiner household in New Delhi imposed by his wife Eliese, an architect who has to her credit the renovated German embassy building. “When we have Indian guests, we serve only German food, and when German guests come, we prepare purely Indian food,” he said.
He said that while children were very different across India, there was one common trait that struck him. “Everybody already has a vision, an idea of what they want to do in life,” he said, asking a few students in the audience what their ambition was.
“All these professions – be it doctor, architect, astronaut – they will depend not only on your immediate experiences here in your hometowns, but also on your exposure abroad. It is in your interest that you know what others do. Unlike before, it is important to have links to the outside to excel,” Mr. Steiner said.
The German Ambassador said it was very important to foster relations between people in Germany and India to build on the political and economical collaboration between the two countries.
Planning Board member G. Vijayaraghavan and Director of the Goethe Institute Syed Ibrahim were present.