Mumbai girl in top three at German Olympiad

A holiday in Nainital, Uttarakhand last summer was the trip Yamini Vaidya won’t forget easily. That’s where she had a chance meeting the German language teacher, Mridula Dhatta, who got her so interested in the language that it led the 16-year-old to participate in nothing short of the German language Olympiad held in Hamburg, Germany, in July this year, where she secured the third position.

On returning from her summer vacation, Vaidya enrolled into a
German language course, where she learnt about the Olympiad, and PASCH Buero, a body which is part of the Max Mueller Bhavan and gives students in the city a chance to participate in such Olympiads.

“I thought I would give the exam for fun, test myself on how good I was at the language,” smiles Vaidya. Little did she know that she and another boy from New Delhi would be chosen to represent India in the finals of Internationale Deutscholympiade where they would compete with participants from 45 countries. “I was flabbergasted when my name was called out, and more than me, my teacher Manasvi Patel sprang out of her chair when she heard my name.”

Two months before leaving for Hamburg Vaidya was jumble of excitement, nervousness and anxiety. But it all built up to the two weeks in Germany with students from different countries that she will cherish for the rest of her life. She recalls the moment when her name was announced for the third place as if it were yesterday. “The best part of the whole interaction was that language was not a barrier. We all spoke German!” says Vaidya, though she admits her German was not as fluent as the others’.

Known to be an introvert, the time spent at Hamburg changed Vaidya’s personality greatly. “Winning the Olympiad, and the trip, made me immensely confident; I was reaching out and talking to people. I was no longer the shy introverted girl that everyone knew,” she smiles.

Goethe-Institute student Vaidya wants to continue learning German and probably go to Germany for her post graduation. But apart from that, she is keen on learning another foreign language — either Japanese or Spanish.  And before we bid adieu,Vaidya shares her favourite phrase, Der knochen kommt nicht zum hund, sondern der hund zum knochen (you have to pursue your own dreams; your dreams won’t come to you).