Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | NXg | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest |

GOING NATIVE

Mr. Nice guy

Photo: Neeraja Murthy

Hyderabad dreams Hauke Pagel

“In Hyderabad, the main rule is that there is no rule,” Hauke Pagel says as we sit in a cosy cabin in his office at Iridium Interactive in Srinagar Colony. In denims with a blue shirt to match, Hauke looks like a model more than an office-goer. “I have been to France and Indonesia but always wanted to see Asia. I came to Hyderabad as I wanted to discover India,” he says anticipating our question about the reason to visit the city.

He works as an internee and lives in a flat at Masab Tank with six other guys and commutes in bus to different places. Hauke pauses for a second when we ask him to share his not-so-good experience in Hyderabad. “There is never a bad experience and it’s all about how you feel about the situation. People will be the same everywhere. Just because one person has not been nice to you, how can you blame the whole city?” he shoots back and goes on to give one example: “I used to buy jackfruit every day from the hawker near our office. The guy used to charge me more as I was a foreigner. It is not discrimination as may be Indians will also experience the same situation when they are abroad.”

Hauke is one of the Mr. nice guys with a real cool attitude. “It is all about having a perspective. Once I tried to jump into a bus and missed it. An elderly person gave me a ride till Masab Tank. When I offered to pay him the money, he didn’t take it. He was a complete stranger but was so helpful,” he recalls.

Hauke has seen only a few tourist spots in the city as he is waiting for his mother and friend to join him from Germany to go on a sight-seeing tour. His Hyderabad specialities are mangoes and vegetarian south indian thalis available at different hotels. “A thali with 10 cups of different delicacies and spices is just fascinating. I would just mix everything and eat and people sitting in the tables nearby would just stare at my act,” he smiles.

He has also acted in the latest Siddharth-starrer Oye “I am there in the background in a scene and visible on the screen for just 4.3 seconds,” he laughs. Hauke will also be seen in Vishnu’s new film Saleem – Dummu Leputaadu, where his role is ‘little bigger.’ “Vishnu is a thorough gentleman and quite a down-to-earth person. He had no airs and talked to all of us on the sets,” he says.

Even as he has nice things to say about Hyderabad and its people, Hauke hopes for one change: “The entry fee at all the heritage structures like museums or Ajanta Ellora caves is very bizarre. The ticket price is less for the Indians but exorbitantly priced for foreigners. The fee can be made uniform for all tourists just like it is done in foreign countries,” he says.

His final word: “Before coming to Hyderabad, people asked me to be careful with my wallet as there are thieves here. After being in the city for so many weeks, I feel secured to walk here than in a Berlin subway.”

NEERAJA MURTHY

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail