German diplomat meets farmer in Indian village, wears gamcha, handles cow dung

Marius Osswald, Minister Counsellor and Head of Political Affairs at the German Embassy in New Delhi, visited a village farmer and tried his hand at several farming activities, from feeding cattle to handling cow dung.German diplomat meets farmer in Indian village, wears gamcha (Photos: German Embassy in New Delhi/Instagram)New Delhi,Oct 16, 2026 08:32 ISTA German diplomat traded his formal attire for a gamcha and got his hands dirty while experiencing the realities of rural life in India.Marius Osswald, Minister Counsellor and Head of Political Affairs at the German Embassy in New Delhi, visited a village farmer and tried his hand at several farming activities, from feeding cattle to handling cow dung.The German Embassy in New Delhi shared a video of Osswald’s rural adventure that has gone viral on social media.Osswald met farmer Pramod Sharma who explained the challenge awaiting the diplomat. Sharma pointed out that Indians travel to Germany to learn and work, and now it was Osswald’s turn to experience life in an Indian village. “We will teach you how to drive a truck, but we want to see whether you will be able to live in the village or not,” Sharma told him.As the two got started, Osswald remarked on the heat and took off his blazer before wrapping a gamcha around his neck, following Sharma’s instructions. The farmer then introduced him to the cattle in the stable and showed him how to feed the animals. Osswald also tried operating a hand-powered chaff cutter, getting a taste of the physical work involved in farm life.The real test, however, came when he had to pick up cow dung. Asking Sharma, “It’s dirty, right?”, Osswald received a straightforward response: “No, it’s not.”Putting his trust in the farmer, the diplomat smiled and picked up the cow dung with his bare hands before placing it in a container. Sharma then helped him wash his hands.Speaking about the experience, Osswald summed it up in a simple observation: “Farm life is not easy.”“Few diplomats have probably ever gotten their hands as dirty at work as Marius, our political counsellor. But if we want Indians to make it in Germany, we also need to prove, that we can make it in India. This time the challenge was a more traditional one - farming! What do you think, did Marius make it?” the embassy wrote in the caption.Watch the video here:The diplomat’s willingness to embrace an unfamiliar experience delighted viewers as several pointed out the courage it took to participate in village life without gloves and while wearing formal clothes.Many others appreciated the initiative as a way to connect with local people and understand their lives, agreeing with Marius Osswald’s observation that farm work was far from easy.- Ends