Out & About

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.