Not so perfect....
The first time I saw a beggar in Stockholm was in a train...he came by handing out pamphlets in Swedish which i guessed talked about why he needed the money. I was curious to see how the Swedish would react. Back home, we're so accustomed to beggars that we're not swayed by them anymore..be they children or adults. So we see a beggar and the natural reaction is the quick head shake, "No".
Seemed like the Swedish are pretty much on the same lines...very few on the train gave him any change. Me seeing that beggar affected the impression I had until then...all through the first 2 weeks it was like I was in this perfect country with the supermodel like perfect people! Some imperfections after all.....
Trying to keep those connections
We went to an Indian Association of Stockholm celebration of Baisakhi. In a hall with less than 100 people, we got to see some Punjabi folk dances, a Bengali dance, singers belting out old Hindi songs and of course, some Bollywood numbers as well. It reminded me of my days in Botswana....how, with functions like these, you make that effort to celebrate and educate: Celebrate a festival in any way you can away from your country...and educate those who maybe have never seen such celebrations in India at all....and in this way, hang on to memories of your home.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Sweden Ahoy!
First Impressions
Stockholm is beautiful – in a very “in your face” way. Firstly, there’s the place itself. I think the beauty lies in a certain sense of being “untouched”. Right in the middle of the city you’ll see small mountains of boulders interspersed with groups of trees……rows of houses lined with trees…you feel like you’re in the country side all the time.
Secondly, there’s the people – Whoa, the Swedes are a pretty good looking bunch! They all look like they should be supermodels! Nope, I don’t think I’m exaggerating. The women, blondes, brunettes, brown eyed, green eyed – they’re all there! And they’re all thin too!!!!! There are very very very very few even slightly overweight ppl here….and they don’t look the “anorexic thin” types either….hmmmmm…must be something in their DNA!
Stockholm is beautiful – in a very “in your face” way. Firstly, there’s the place itself. I think the beauty lies in a certain sense of being “untouched”. Right in the middle of the city you’ll see small mountains of boulders interspersed with groups of trees……rows of houses lined with trees…you feel like you’re in the country side all the time.
Secondly, there’s the people – Whoa, the Swedes are a pretty good looking bunch! They all look like they should be supermodels! Nope, I don’t think I’m exaggerating. The women, blondes, brunettes, brown eyed, green eyed – they’re all there! And they’re all thin too!!!!! There are very very very very few even slightly overweight ppl here….and they don’t look the “anorexic thin” types either….hmmmmm…must be something in their DNA!
Sweden Calling....
April 01, 2007
The Flight In
It’s beautiful what you see from the plane as you land in Stockholm – beautiful because it’s unexpected. The flight from Vienna landed on a tarmac surrounded by pine forests – a nice change from the usual drab buildings you see when you land at an airport.
Standing at the baggage claim area, I noticed the yellow line around the ramp (didn’t know what else to call the moving surface you pick up your bags from) – I hadn’t seen this before at other countries I’ve been to like the USA and Dubai; it’s definitely not there in India – we’re too “chaos prone” to have to temper down and not rush to collect our bags .
That set me thinking about chaos and India – 2 words that I think go hand in hand. On the one hand, I think the fact that because we’re surrounded by chaos in India, we’re able to adapt so effectively wherever else we go. Whichever countries I’ve gone to, I’ve seen how we manage to adapt no matter how hard it is being away from the familiar: family…..friends…..festivals?
No matter how motivating the motivating factors can be (money?? A symbol of success?? “Abroad” tag to make oneself more eligible in the marriage market???), being in a new place with its own set of rules can be very very hard…….
Having said that, there’s the other side to being surrounded by chaos: I think when we go outside of India, because we don’t have clear rules always (or, rather, we don’t follow rules : -) ), we end up having to consciously ‘mellow down’ abroad: we need to be alert about signs we see around us….watch others to see how they follow rules….the yellow line at the airport that says “stand behind this line” really means standing behind it ..…not on the line, not just in front of it, not with one foot forward and one foot behind…but behind it.
The Flight In
It’s beautiful what you see from the plane as you land in Stockholm – beautiful because it’s unexpected. The flight from Vienna landed on a tarmac surrounded by pine forests – a nice change from the usual drab buildings you see when you land at an airport.
Standing at the baggage claim area, I noticed the yellow line around the ramp (didn’t know what else to call the moving surface you pick up your bags from) – I hadn’t seen this before at other countries I’ve been to like the USA and Dubai; it’s definitely not there in India – we’re too “chaos prone” to have to temper down and not rush to collect our bags .
That set me thinking about chaos and India – 2 words that I think go hand in hand. On the one hand, I think the fact that because we’re surrounded by chaos in India, we’re able to adapt so effectively wherever else we go. Whichever countries I’ve gone to, I’ve seen how we manage to adapt no matter how hard it is being away from the familiar: family…..friends…..festivals?
No matter how motivating the motivating factors can be (money?? A symbol of success?? “Abroad” tag to make oneself more eligible in the marriage market???), being in a new place with its own set of rules can be very very hard…….
Having said that, there’s the other side to being surrounded by chaos: I think when we go outside of India, because we don’t have clear rules always (or, rather, we don’t follow rules : -) ), we end up having to consciously ‘mellow down’ abroad: we need to be alert about signs we see around us….watch others to see how they follow rules….the yellow line at the airport that says “stand behind this line” really means standing behind it ..…not on the line, not just in front of it, not with one foot forward and one foot behind…but behind it.
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