Moeglings birthday celebrated

MANGALORE: Sixteen German citizens from different professions were united in their passion to mark the 200th birth anniversary of Basal Evangelical Missionary and linguist Herman Moegling in a unique way.Realising that a road-trip on the very same route Moegling took to reach Mangalore, was no better way than commemorating the visionary’s perseverance, 16 Germans took off from Frankfurt on October 17  to Bangalore.Far from being just a road-trip it was an emotional journey for the direct descendents of Moegling and his pupil Ananda Rao Kaundinya, confesses Kaundinya’s great grandson and Germany-based advocate Peter Kaundinya.If the gruelling journey from Germany to Mangalore lasted for four months for Herman Moegling (1811-1889), it took just 10 days for the team from Germany to reach Mangalore. “Herman Moegling travelled on foot, but we travelled in coaches,” informs Ulrich Heckelmann, also a descendent of Kaundinya.Interestingly Kaundinya, born as a Brahmin, embraced Christianity in 1843, and became the first Indian to be trained as a missionary by Basel Mission. Recollecting places they visited while tracing the path of Herman Moegling, Heckelmann said after reaching Bangalore they travelled to the northern parts.The team on Friday, will leave for Anandapura in Kodagu district, which was the birthplace of Ananda Rao Kaundinya. Peter Kaundinya confesses to experiencing surges of emotion on witnessing his great grandfather’s tomb still lying intact near Ooty. For Ulrich Heckelmann, a retired teacher, this is his first visit to India. He described Indian cuisine as ‘fantastic’ but found some practices strange. He hesitatingly revealed that he found it strange to see trash everywhere. His wife Monika Landgraf is the great granddaughter of Moegling.