by Mrs. Saru, ASHA counselling and training services, Coimbatore, India
My first encounter with Mr. Kübel was in December 1999 when he visited Coimbatore to inaugurate the training Institute in Coimbatore (KKID) along with his wife Mary Anne Kübel who by then had become a good friend of mine.
I met Mary in 1997. She attended the international Conference on Transitional Analysis for which I was the convenor. She was using TA in her institute her own Institute the Odenwald Institute. Two of the very senior trainers of TA, Fanita English and George Kholreiser were regular facilitators and trainers in Odenwald Institute and Mary herself was trained in TA. We took to each other instantaneously.
I was very impressed to by the history of the Karl Kübel foundation and the vision and objectives of its founder Mr. Kübel. Thereafter I became very associated with the activities of KKID through its then director Mr. Thoma Abraham.
Mr. Kübel fell sick when he was in Coimbatore
Mary gave me the special honour of seeing him personally in his room. Even in his sick bed he looked charismatic. He was hospitalised for a few days and I visited him again. The calmness and serenity with which he bore his illness was remarkable. He was 89 at that time. The marked disparity in the hospital setting and facilities did not disturb him. He had no complaints.
The next I met him was for his 90th Birthday. I was privileged and honoured to be invited. All arrangements were meticulously made to receive me and put me up in a hotel etc. The public function was the next day all the arrangements and organising was absolutely excellent befitting the German standards. My admiration and reverence for Mr. Kübel increased then when ZI heard the tributes and the respect that were showered on him. It was a grand function attended by dignitaries, diplomats, beurochrats, friends, colleagues and all who admired Mr. Kübel. People spoke of his exemplary magnanimity and the lofty ideals he stood for. Everybody had such admiration for him which was well deserved. I stood there in awe with a burning question in my head "What would have inspired him for such lofty actions and ideals?"
"To Share" was his strong message
The crowning glory of my experience was with this grand man was staying in his house under the same roof for 3 days. Despite his age his respect for me as guest was beyond words. He came and had all meals together with Mary and me. On one of those occasions I asked him my burning question. "Who inspired you to this lofty ideal and magnanimity?" With a glimmer in his eyes he said "My Mother". Then he explained how he was brought up in a large catholic family and how his mother shared everything they had with others especially during the war time. So "To Share" was his strong message. He did that to the core so nobly with the real spirit of Christianity. He shared with great generosity not only in his own country but in countries which needed it most, mainly for the improvement of family life and for children. He knew the essence and influence of family and he also knew children are the backbone of every nation.What was amazingly striking for me was the reverence and tenderness and sensitivity with which Mary tended him and cared for him. That itself was a reflection of what Mr. Kübel stood for. Despite all the wealth Mr. Kübel made and all the luxury they could have indulged in ,they lived such an exemplary life of simplicity and magnanimity What a different place this world would have been if there would have been few more KÜBELS.
