You must be wondering, what on earth does a German company like Boehringer Ingelheim or a Graduate funding source (from the same family, henceforth called Boehringer Ingelheim Fond or BIF) has got to do with Cricket, a terribly English game, which rarely shows its presence on some of the greenest fields of Germany. Well, you will see the not so obvious link if you garner the appetite to read on.
Flashback September, 2007:
Three months after I left my much loved city Berlin to start a PhD in Munich, I was struggling, sweating, swearing at my boss, who was constantly suggesting changes to my research proposal fated to be submitted to one of the best and prestigious doctoral scholarship foundations. And now, I had little less than a week and a half time to complete the proposal. I came to know about the deadline at the beginning of September. The first weeks were spent either procrastinating or reading papers and/or discussing a solid proposal with my immediate supervisor(demoted to the true self from the earlier 'boss'); I don't exactly remember which one but could be a mix of all. It was like a subcontinental bazaar with both of us keeping on bargaining about the right ingredients for the proposal. In the end with a speed that surprised me more than others I turned up with two full proposals, one complete with my ideas only, the other, not exactly a love child of ours but nevertheless from the both of us. I was a sigh of relief as I posted the proposal on the D-day and forgot about it. Eventually the interview call was followed by another D-day and I was not too unexpectedly feeling calm. This happens to me all the time that I am more than my usual calm self on the important viva and interview days not really able to figure out what I should be more nervous about, my lack of preparation or the person sitting across the table. A cigarette with my best mate later, I was heading for the ROOM. I chatted with the lady across the table, that is all I can say about the hour long interview.
Flashforward March, 2008:
As the cricket season in Munich approaches and I desperately look for equipments to buy for my fine debut (the official debut was last year but didn't get to bat) this year, I was wondering about where to get the money from as my meagre(in Munich, for sure) doctoral stipend certainly won't manage it even with lotsa stretching. One telephone call later to the foundation's headquarters, I was scratching my head about the money for the celebration in the lab(for you know what).
A few days later, I am out in the Munich city-centre, buying my new soccer boots and oh, I definitely have ordered my cricket stuff over from the UK!
I told you BIF is good for sports too among other things!
