With an open atlas in front on him, Dirk Angelroth tried hard to console Hixe, his new bride, who “wept bitter tears” after the job application from the Goethe-Institut, Munich, revealed that he would be posted in Madras. It didn’t help that one of his relatives didn’t approve of India. So, this little South Indian city fit nowhere in the tasteful travel plans of the couple. That was in the mid-60s.
Thirty years later, in 2005, his expedition turned out to be incredible enough to make its way into a book — Die Weiße Frau im Baum. “Today, Hixe smiles more at the mention of the word ‘India’, than of the word ‘Dirk’,” he says. “Since 2001 (when I retired), we’ve been spending six months every year in India.”
A compilation of anecdotes and short stories from Dirk’s postings in India, Pakistan and South East Asia, Die Weiße Frau im Baum has now been translated into English. The White Lady in the Tree by Hem Mahesh was launched at the Goethe-Institut, Max Mueller Bhavan, Chennai, on March 15.
Hem and Dirk were colleagues during the latter’s posting at the Max Mueller Bhavan in Pune and Mumbai in the 70’s and the 80’s.
Hem says she was one of the first who insisted Dirk to chronicle his travels in a book. “He would tell me these stories that were so interesting that our friends and I strongly felt they should be written about. After he wrote the book and it was published, he asked me if I could translate it. And I’m glad I jumped at the offer,” she beams.
Of the many eventful experiences in Chennai that Dirk writes about, is his encounter with a Bhramin landlady, who refuses to sign the lease-contract of his first ever rented house because the time was inauspicious. As the procedure gets delayed, Dirk writes, “My wife and I felt as we were standing on hot coals, as we had arranged for our goods to arrive at 12 after finishing the formalities at the port.”
Was the city intolerant to foreigners then? “Whether it was the ’60s or now, there is nothing intolerant about Chennai. Though the place was new, we came here without prejudices, with an open mind. That helped us fall in love with everything it had to offer,” says Dirk. Adds Hixe, “Of all the cities we’ve been to, Chennai has maintained its charm. We would go for concerts at the Music Academy, when I was introduced to MS Subbulaksmi. Till date, I have been in awe of her and Bheemsen Joshi.”
During this trip, Dirk and Hixe could not spot their old house on Kasturi Rangan Road. “All of the city has changed, except Mylapore,” says Hixe. Today, the couple lives partly in Kreiglac and Vienne, Austria, and partly in Goa.
It wasn’t hard for Hem, who is based out of Chennai, to offer the sense of empathy that is often required while translating fascinating, real-life stories. “That I knew him as a person helped me relate to him while translating. What I loved the most was that it was a serious subject written in a nice, humourous way. At the end of the day, it’s about the wonderful things that surface when two cultures meet,” she explains.