Goethe Institute

The German international cultural institution is commonly known in India as 'Max Mueller Bhavan' (MMB). It has had a huge impact with a large number of branches all over the sub-continent, set up during the last six decades. Raju Raman was - until his retirement - one of the public faces of the institution.

Bus conductors in Kolkata often call out 'Mascular Bhavan' for passengers who want to get off at the stop near MMB. The erstwhile hostel adjoining the branch in the city of Pune was commonly known as 'Match-making Bhavan'. In many ways MMB has become an integral part of cities where it has branches. Young and old use the premises as meeting point, cinema, theatre, concert hall, library, art gallery and sometimes also for learning the German language in the well furnished and cozy class rooms. Many famous personalities from the field of art and culture have made names for themselves by using MMB as a platform for their activities.

A huge impact

Very few people have been part of the MMB phenomenon for as long as Subramanian Venkatesh Raman, commonly known as Raju Raman. As a program officer at MMB, Kolkata, Raju Raman actively played the role of interlocutor for stalwarts of the German cultural world like the world famous writer Günter Grass and the late dance-theater choreographer Pina Bausch.

Looking back at his long association with the Goethe Institute Raman told Deutsche Welle, "I think the presence of the Goethe-Institut for the last 60 years has had a tremendous impact - not only on the cultural life and the language teaching sector in India but in the sub-continent as a whole. Because of various restrictions where other institutions could not do certain events Goethe-Institut provided a platform which was neutral in nature and where everybody could voice their opinions."

Of course Grass and Bausch were not the only visitors. Many other German artists, musicians and performers have come to India and found like minded partners – thanks to the expert knowledge and experience of the staff of the Goethe-Institutes. Many interesting bilateral projects developed as a result of these contacts.

The promotion of Indo-German relations through the exchange of artistes and personalities from the cultural field has been a remarkable success story in the South Asian context. Raju Raman explained the core essence of this achievement, "The motto of the Goethe Institute has always been 'for promotion of German language abroad and for international cultural cooperation. So as the motto itself is international cultural cooperation – it was not a one-way traffic of saying 'we know better, we will try to teach you what you should do' but it was always a give and take. So artists from Germany did come here and also took back something from the experience they had in India."

German: A much sought after language

German is certainly one of the most sought after foreign languages in India – along with French, Russian, Spanish, Japanese or Chinese. Many Indian institutions offer their own foreign language courses. But institutions like Max Mueller Bhavan stand out for more than one reason, as Raju Raman explains, "Thanks to the Goethe Institute the quality of language teaching as far as the German language is concerned has been pretty high in India.

Especially with some new initiatives like PASCH or 'Partnerschulen für die Zukunft' where partnerships have been forged with certain schools all over the country, kind of introducing the German language at the school level itself, and have proved to be very effective. And the interest – not only in the language, but also whatever is surrounding it by way of culture, habit and customs of the people and the festivals in Germany. This is also reflected in certain activities in these institutes which have promoted interest in the German language. With a lot of companies now thinking of investing in India, especially in places like Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore I think a lot of doors have been opened for interaction and hence the requirement for language and communication."

The demand for German language courses has rapidly increased in the last few years. In earlier days romantic dreamers used to attend German classes aiming to read Goethe, Heine, Rilke or Brecht in the original some day. Now, Indians are more focused and 'invest' money, time and resources in learning something that will bring them good 'returns'. So IT-specialists, tour operators and would-be managers at German companies queue up to attend courses at MMB. This quite often results in long waiting lists.

Not enough teachers to go round

But this growing demand has also led to an impasse. There are simply not enough teachers to cater for the demand. Many of the good German language teachers are also being lured into highly-paid and secure jobs at German multinationals. Raju Raman points to the historical background of the situation, "Now this has been an area which has perhaps been a little neglected. Those who entered the teaching profession as far as German language is concerned, say in the sixties remained until they retired and sort of blocked a few areas. People did not pay sufficient attention to the fact that at a certain point in time new teachers would be required. Now this is being done on a war footing and a lot of training programs are being conducted for teachers. And quite a few of the young teachers are being trained so that they can also go to the various schools which are teaching German as well as to companies which require a certain amount of basic German for their employees."

Seen from that perspective the future of the Goethe Institute appears to be very secure.

Author: Sanjiv Burman
Editor: Grahame Lucas