Thank God for Beer

Get a taste of German camaraderie at the 18-day party called Oktoberfest

You haven't partieduntil you'veattendedOktoberfest. The18-day-longGerman celebrationof debauchery has happydrunks from every nationdescending upon theBavarian province of Munich.

From the airport to thebus stations, you'll spotalmost all the locals deckedout in traditional Oktoberfestcostumes women in cleavage-exposing 'dirndls' (a costumethat includes a bodice,blouse, skirt and apron) andmen in their 'lederhosen'(shorts and suspenders).

Celebrations at thegrounds of Theresienwiesebegin at 9 am, and if youwant a seat at one of thetables, you'd better be there.

The entire ground spansout like a mini city filled withamusement rides, gamingstalls, and of course, themassive tents. These structurescan each accommodateat least 7,000 people, thoughat maximum capacity, thereal numbers are anybody'sguess. You won't be servedunless you find a seat, sobeg, plead, flirt... do whateverit takes to make sure youcan squeeze on to a table ifyou haven't booked one inadvance.

Make a song and dance
The most popular tentamong tourists is theHofbrau-Festzelt. Teemingwith Australians, Americans,Italians, Germans and thelone Indian, the tent has aband playing on a stage highup in the centre. The bandsstart playing around 6 pm, bywhich time everybody isdrunk enough to cheer forevery tune. It's strange howeverybody knows all thesongs, even if they're Italianand can't speak aword of German.Outside, benchesare set up toaccommodate thelast minutearrivals who don'tget a place inside.While nobody getsas excited as thecrowd inside, it'snot unusual to findan entire table break into aperformance of the YMCA.

In good cheer
Once you've safely scored aseat, it's time to attract theattention of one of the hundredbar maidsscouring the place.They're trained tolift about eight ofthe one-litre beermugs (4.5 euros orRs 277 a pop) at atime even whenfilled to the brim,without spilling adrop. Once thisgravity-defyingfeat is accomplished, they'llwish you a merry 'prost',which is German for cheers.

Before taking that first sip,you must, without exception,wish everybody with a largecheers and banging of beermugs. And if anybody in thevicinity decides to say 'prost',you're going to have to returnthe good wishes.

If you down four and a halflitres of beer, like I did, you'dbetter back it up with asnack. The German versionof 'chakna' is a pile of chicken,usually the whole bird, onyour plate. At 8 euros (Rs490) a plate, it's literally ameal for the entire table.

While Germany doesn'tshare the same sense of hospitalityas India does, this isthe one place where our sensibilitiesmatch. People whipout their wallets in a drunkenexcitement to order drinksfor the entire table, an almostunheard of phenomenon inthe rest of the country. Andwhile you're loudly cheeringwith a motley crew fromaround the globe, be sure tolook up to the sky and thankgod for creating beer.

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