Life is easy kya karein

In Dhanbad, the only things I knew was what was written in The Telegraph, Reader's Digest, Jane Austen books. My knowledge was limited to that and later to Sidney Sheldon, Harrold Robbins and one cry baby author . I am glad I do not remember her name because in all her books the hero or heroine died and one was left alone. Then in Mumbai, so many new words were heard and a lot of cuss words too. Swearing was so fashionable. Now I find it so sick. Much later I came to know what was Stockholm Syndrome. Till then that was my only connect to Stockholm. Strange but when I was in Stockholm, I never thought of it.  I am sure people do not think of it like that. For me certain words bring certain images.  Jharia means childhood, Sophia was college life, Nariman Point was Oberoi, Colaba was hostel, Buffet was Outrigger, Coffee shop was Shamiana and Samarkhand and Ikea is amazing home stuff. I had been to the Ikea in Dubai years back and then avoided the store as it was always out...

Stockholm is the most spectacular of the Scandinavian cities. The old buildings are imposing. The City Hall is grand. This is where the Nobel winners come for a party after they get their Nobel Prize. There is a fancy restaurant as a part of it. The pavements and the bridge across the river/ sea is used for fitness coaching. Children have to jump on the poles which support the bridge and balance themselves to jump back on the pavement. The kids and adults are doing all this with so much ease. The 14 islands of Stockholm are well connected in the Baltic Sea archipelago. People cannot swim there as there is huge amount of water traffic. There are cycle tracks along the roads. In the evenings, there is huge traffic in the cycle lanes. People in office clothes cycling back home, a never seen before sight. And then cars, buses and trams apart from the trains. The public transport is very cheap and best is to buy the Travel Pass depending on the days you are staying as you can use all ...

Drobak is a small island outside Oslo. It is an hour by boat or by road. It is ethereal with the flowers and the little houses. There is a church by the fjord and an art gallery with a sea view.  When we stepped into the art gallery in a hundred year old house, I forgot to admire the paintings as I was so fascinated by the play of sunlight on the water through the quaint windows. The artist himself was present. All the paintings were based on the colours of the sea. The nature was much more resplendent. There is a village square which had the locals of different nationalities set up food stalls. There is a second hand shop as soon as you get off the boat and walk towards the village.It is a gold mine. Crockery in Norway is so beautiful. I wanted to buy the unique green crockery there. I just managed to buy a vase and get it back intact. The fjords here are lovely, the cruise liners pass through it. We swam in the sea at 16 degrees temperature. There is no beach. You walk into the...

Oslo is stunning and spectacular. It is the capital of Norway and the most beautiful of the Scandinavian cities. I would go a step further and say it is the most beautiful capital city in the world. It has fjords, mountains, lakes, rivers all in the city.  The people are super fit. Since we were there on the onset of their summer, the local people were all out in the sun running, jogging and exercising . They all looked so gorgeous. Now what should you do in Oslo? Day one land at the airport. take a local train to oslo central railway station. There is a non stop express train Flytoget from the airport to Oslo central. It is more expensive than the local train. Time difference in their arrival time is not much. Travel time is 45 minutes. Buy your Oslo travel Pass at the airport so you can travel in all public transport and travel will turn out cheaper. As you reach Oslo station, take a tram to your hotel in Grunnerlukka.  If you are staying near the Oslo Central railwa...

When we were in school, all students wore black Bata shoes. The shoes could be bought from anywhere but I called it black Bata shoes. On Games and PT days, we wore white canvas shoes. There was always a chalk available to make our dirty shoes look white. The concept of sneakers or sports shoes came much later. It was a total foreign phenomena. If you had relatives abroad, you had chances of owning a pair of sports shoes. I learnt the word Sneakers only when I came to Mumbai. And then when the children grew up, I learnt that 'Snickers' is a brand of chocolate. I knew the word ' sniggering'. We did a bit of that in school. Learnt in my higher class  that P.T. was Physical Training. The Bata shop was the best looking shop in the whole of Jharia with red and white Laminate. We called laminate as 'Sunmica' which was brand name of the Laminate. Like I still say 'Xerox' for photocopy. All our stationary shops also put up a board saying "Xerox for Re.1...

Plastic ban has come into effect in Maharashtra. When I was leaving for my vacation it was on the anvil.  I saw with a keen eye how much plastic and paper is used all over Europe. And everything is packaged. Shops, stores n boutiques do not give you cloth bags. The office crowd is buying plastic packed ready to eat food and sitting in the park enjoying their salads n food in lovely one time use plastic containers. The disposal system is excellent so there is no litter seen anywhere. The garbage collectors are hunting through garbage cans for beer bottles. They get one euro or ten Kroners per bottle. The beggars are there at railway stations in Paris, major shopping streets in Oslo, Stockholm and Paris. The beggars collect the alcohol bottles. All beggars have their own cell phones, a suitcase and a huge plastic sac. All people who drink alcohol, do not put the bottles in the dustbin but leave it in the grass in the park for the beggars to collect. They feel they are doing their b...

People will go to Oslo after they have finished the more popular destinations of Europe namely Paris, Switzerland, Italy etc. Paris almost sounds like a country rather than a capital. Apart from being the most visited place on the planet. I wonder why as most monuments were burnt and rebuilt. The pressure of Paris and Switzerland is unbearable if you have not visited them. Come summer and Mumbai seems to head to the cooler climes of Europe. No, I did not meet anyone I knew during my vacation. I am super excited to meet people I know. It makes me feel very happy that I know so many people that I bump into them wherever I go. Trees are getting chopped due to rains and the fear of falling branches. The trees on the footpath on my way to the Yoga class grow back after every trimming they get. I feel bad seeing the chopped wood and leaves and the nests gone. But Nature takes care of itself, we just have to trust it. The lone Koel is heard occasionally. I often wonder what the Koel doe...