A Svarga called Sverige

(Svarga is a Sanskrit word which means heaven!)

Over the lockdowns during Covid, I had a lot of spare time and I used some of that to know more about things like circular economy and climate goals. One can not go deep into understanding climate goals without bumping into the things/people/events related to the tiny Scandinavian nation of Sweden (or Sverige in Swedish). This year (2023), I was extremely lucky to have spent four months in Sweden in a small town called Trollhättan near Gothenburg. Each day I came to know more about Sverige and each day I came to appreciate the land and the people ever more. 

The Climate!

The first thing people mention when I utter the word "Sweden", is the climate. I spent January to April in Sweden. Before I arrived there I was pretty scared. I had read all about frost bites! I had read about depressions caused by long nights as well! Well, I wont say that the weather was not challenging. But, it was way better than what I had imagined. I have lived in Edinburgh and have visited many cities in Germany and the UK. These cities are mostly mildly cold but mostly overcast all the time. It is depressing to be in a place with cold weather and no sun. Compared to that, most places in Sweden have a lot of snow but also a lot of sun shine. With sun and snow even mundane places look magical. And, if you are healthy and have a decent jacket then its not that bad. This one evening I lost my way and had to walk for one hour in snow. The temperature was -10C. And I just had a good pair of trousers and a very good pair of shoes. No inners. It was not challenging at all! 

The People

The Swedes, in general, are very humble and down to earth. Internet says that the Swedes are cold and do not like it when you greet them. It is not correct, at least not in West Sweden! I have been approached by random people who start conversation on many occasions. And these are usually pretty deep and personal conversations. On one occasion, a guy in his 50s started talking to me in the central library in Gothenburg. He told about his times in many countries. On another instance, a young guy started talking to me when I was hiking alone in a forest. Before long, he was telling me about his family and his job! This does not happen in South Africa where everyone greets you on the road but no one really cares to chat.

Another interesting character of the Swedes is well summarised by a Swedish word, lagom. It basically means in moderation; not too much and not too little (kind of like the middle-path preached by the Buddha!). It is reflected in the way the Swedes live and think; and is also a driving philosophy behind the famous Swedish minimalistic design. Have you ever thought why IKEA designs look so appealing? Its because of this moderation in every aspect. 

Lagom is also one of the reasons the country is egalitarian. I had the good fortune to work with a few officials from the local municipality. Each one of them is concerned about how best to save public money. A mind-blowing result of this mentality is the cycle-pool system in Trollhättan. The municipality bought some bicycles, fitted them with sensors and used them to run a bicycle sharing system in the town. Nothing novel. The surprise comes when you know about where did they buy the cycles from! They took the pain to shop extensively; found a bike-sharing company in Stockholm which had gone bankrupt and was selling the cycles at a reduced rate; ended up getting the cycles for less than 60-70 EUR each! 

The Swedish Design and Architecture

Swedish designs and architectures are minimalist, functional and "cute"! The elegance with which they design new buildings besides old ones (so as to create a mellifluous design) is amazing. 

Wires to deter seagulls from seating and shitting! But, look at the design. Someone has applied some creativity and it looks like a reindeer...."cute"!

Above two are architectures from Malmo. Note how elegantly the modern architectures blend into the older ones.

The ubiquitous IKEA lamp!

Swedish Food

It is surprising how unique Swedish cuisine is and how many interesting food and food cultures are there in this small country. There is fika (coffee but with a panache) and there is fikabröd (a sweet confectionary eaten with coffee). There is lördagsgodis which literally means Saturday goodies! This is a mixed bag of candies that Swedish kids get on a Saturday! Being health conscious the Swedes also have a nut version of lördagsgodis (mixed bag of nuts). And there are many different types of cakes. I am a big fan of cheese-cake (made the American way). I was looking for cheese cakes for a long time. Then, I discovered the range of Swedish cakes like ostkaka (literally means cheese-cake but its a much healthier version!), kladdkaka (Swedish style chocolate cake), kanelbulle (Swedish cinnamon bun) and my favorite chokladbollar (chocolate ball but made from oat!). Swedes are also famous for their meatballs and a mind-blowing range of fruit ciders. After all, its the home of the famous Rekorderlig ciders!

lördagsgodis in a local shop.

Fika with kladdkaka!

The Industries

Sweden throws its weight in international arenas thanks to the big industries which call Sweden their home (from IKEA to Volvo to Scania to Northvolt). One thing I noted was that most big industries try to operate from small towns. So much so that I would like to call Sweden the land of small towns. This is a great thing that other countries/industries can learn. This can give rise to more uniform growth of a country.  

Sweden also comes in news, often, due to its climate-actions. The good thing I found in Sweden is that many people actively endeavour to live a sustainable and low-carbon life. Many use bicycle and public transport. One of my colleagues is so committed that he tries to avoid aeroplanes as a matter of principle. He even goes to his in-laws' place (in Italy) in summer taking a three-days long train trip! I have seen elderly people carrying their bigger waste items to the waste collection centres. Many new cloths also note how much water has been used in making them! And, of course, the government does its best as well. 

I have lived and visited many developed nations. None, so far, has impressed me as much as Sweden. I hope more nations try to follow Sweden as much as possible (and of course in their own ways (e.g. India can not just copy Swedish policies for obvious reasons)).

Wowed by Wuhan!

Early this year it seemed that I would have a chance to visit China. Wuhan in China! Let us be honest. The name Wuhan does not get the kind of excitement like Beijing or Shanghai. And the name China does not give the same excitement as Japan or Korea. 

Finally, I took the trip in late November. It was my first time to China. I consider myself as a logical person, the kind of person who does not get affected by propaganda! Boy, I was wrong. In this blog, I shall pen down some of the positive and not-so-positive experiences I have been having in Wuhan. Before I came, my ex-student turned close friend Naadir (who had spent one whole year in China) was extremely excited for me! He will always tell me "sir (he wont give up addressing me as "sir"),  I am so excited that you are finally going to China!". I just could not understand why...till I came!

Landing and Arrival: The behaviour of immigration officers at your port of entry can tell a lot about the people and the land. Cape Town and Bangkok have always given me the best experiences. In spite of working all day, the African officers in Cape Town will always try to crack a joke to make you smile! Wuhan was different and was pleasant. As soon as I started filling my entry form an officer approached me and started asking me questions and taking notes. My heart beat increased. But contrary to my experience in the USA and (once) in Germany, this officer started chatting with me and then started filling my form in Chinese to help me out! It was quick and easy.

Finding cash and SIM card: This was a huge challenge. If you do not have AliPay or WeChat then you would be severely challenged. In all the countries I have visited so far there would be agents in the airport to sell you SIM cards and to exchange cash for you. Not in Wuhan. And no ATM machine accepts MasterCard or VISA cards! These two companies have made travel so seamless. Not in China! It took me a while to appreciate what I was experiencing. A whole country has been working pretty well without depending on these banking giants. #respect ! Oh well, it worked out OK. I could get AliPay and now a days AliPay allows you to link your foreign credit card. So it was all good at the end. 

The University: I have seen pictures of Chinese universities. Big buildings and big roads. I was up for a surprise here as well. Universities in China, at least in Wuhan, are full of trees and gardens! Of course they have nice buildings with cool architectures. But, the amount of forested lands they have been able to maintain is mind blowing. In my experience, I have seen such prevalence of forests only in UC Berkeley. 

The Museums: Being a provincial capital, Wuhan is home to a lot of museums. I started with the Museum of Wuchang Uprising. Till that time I never knew how important Wuhan is Chinese history. It was in Wuhan where the famous Xinhai Revolution started that ended the last imperial dynasty of China and started the first Chinese republic led by the legendary Sun Yat-Sun. Then, I visited the new Qintai art museum whose architecture was more impressive than the art collection it had. Not that the art collection was bad; just that the architecture was next level. Later, I visited Hubei Provincial Museum which is a massive building with an impressive architecture. It had a lot of collections from the history of Hubei. And, of course anything and any place in China would have a history of at least 3000 years. I was really pleased to see it full of visitors and school-kids. I did not have time to visit many more museums though the choice was literally endless. Every museum is huge and impressive and there is NO entry fees (even for foreigners)! This is how museums should be, free to the public. It is a crime to charge entry fees to museums maintained by public money.

Wuchang Uprising Memorial

Qintai Art Museum Building (from top)

Hubei Provincial Museum

City Planning and Nature: I wont lie. Before visiting China I had an impression that Chinese cities would be like Dubai, full of concrete jungles. And I was wrong. At least Wuhan kept reminding me of Sweden. The more I explore the city the more I respect the city planners who designed this city of 12 million people while still making sure that no where in the city is too far from forests. There are many many massive gardens. When I was in Sweden, I came to know from the municipality officers that they found a substantial reduction in air pollution if there is a row of trees between roads and buildings. They try to do that in most new developments in Sweden. I found that in most streets in Wuhan. I visited the massive botanical garden they have which can easily take one a good six hours to visit. Apparently, they follow the Feng Shui guidelines to city planning. Traditionally they used to do this. During early phases of modernisation these guidelines were not followed causing in high levels of pollution, congestion and flooding. I was told that in the modern times they are trying to follow Feng Shui guidelines again so as to have a sustainable city co-existing with nature.

I am crazy for watching moonrises on full moon evenings. I was lucky to have full moon on one of these days. I randomly tried to find a place from where I can watch the moonrise. Then I took the bus to that "spot". The spot was actually a bridge in one of the lakes here. Surrounding it was a forest which took me 40 minutes to walk through! The view was breathtaking. But I was really impressed by the fact that the city government has taken all the pain to build the forest, the bridge and many such places where people can come for "FREE", be in nature and enjoy. 

Another thing I was amazed about was the preservation of wet-lands. This is a major problem in Indian cities. Greedy developers and corrupt governments have made sure that all the wet-lands in Indian cities have more or less disappeared. The result is urban floods as soon as monsoon starts. My own city Bhubaneswar suffers acutely from this. When I was a kid the city had many wet-lands. Now it has none! When I was a kid rain water would disappear within minutes. Now even a one hour rain will cause floods in many suburbs. In Wuhan they have made sure to retain a lot of the wet lands. 

And of course, did I tell about the public transport? It works! Every time things were on time (unlike Germany!). The frequency was good enough to make you not take a cab. Trains were on time and very fast. The (economy) seats in the trains had deeper pushback than economy flights! Oh, its all very cheap. A ride in metro to anywhere will cost you 25 Cents (USD). My train ride (220km) costed me 10 USD and took me 1 hour and 15 minutes!

Rows of trees between road and buildings.

Road inside the forest leading to my "spot"!

Sunset from my "spot"!

Wetlands within the city.

The People: As I mentioned above the immigration officers dealing with me were extremely courteous and efficient. I faced this many times in my short stay. For example when I arrived at the Hubei Provincial Museum, I realised that it needs pre-booking using WeChat and I had no WeChat! The security saw my passport and was all excited that I am from India. She used her WeChat to book me in! I was in Jingzhou and wanted chicken fired rice. The lady managing the small eatery asked me many questions. When she knew that I am from India and am travelling alone (poor me!) she started giving me free tea and then offered me free stinky tofu! I have been genuinely touched by all the kindness I have got from complete strangers. 

Stinky tofu offered by the kind eatery owner.

I am still processing my experiences in China. At least in the urban areas and the semi-urban places I have been to, things are better off than many European cities. I am sure there might be issues and I am sure there are geo-political things I am not aware of or things I have not been exposed to. But, who is perfect? Just a few weeks ago the Australians voted, in a referendum, against giving voice to the aboriginal population. But, I am not going to go political in this blog. All I wanted to say is that as a visitor, that too from India, I experienced tremendous amount of kindness. What I witnessed are perfectly working infrastructures and governments which take great care of what they are supposed to do. It is definitely a country to visit. However, be warned that there are just too many things to witness. You need at least a month to even touch the tip of the iceberg that is China.

PS: By the way, the city of Wuhan is a research mega-power! It has 35 higher educational and research institutes including two universities ranking within the top 200 in the world!

 

Two war-torn countries

Long back I read an anecdote. A teacher was trying to teach a life lesson to their students. They heated water in three pots. In one was added an egg; in the other a carrot and in the last one a few coffee beans. After a while the teacher asked the students to check the condition of the three things. They used them to explain three ways in which people react to adversaries. 

Carrot: It was tough and firm before the hardship (i.e. boiling water) and was converted to something soft and pulpy. 

Egg: It was soft and brittle at the beginning. It became hard and tough. 

Coffee: It was ordinary before. The hardship not only made it aromatic rather it made the hardship (boiling water) aromatic as well!

Wars destroy generations; wars destroy spirit; wars destroy humanity. I was privileged to visit two countries which have had been the stage of a lot of violent wars in the last hundred years. I visited Serbia in April and Vietnam in June. 

Serbia has been a small but extremely powerful nation throughout the history. Being squeezed between two big powers (Ottomans to the east and Austria-Hungary to the west) it got the favour of neither and was the ground of frequent wars. The last war to hit the soil was, of course, the Balkan wars. Wars have made the Serbs rough and admire "masculinity". Strong spirits (pun intended) were in abundance. The common Serb is proud (and rightly so) of their glorious history. The present is not very glorious though. Infrastructures are dilapidating, houses and apartments are in need of maintenance (most apartments looked really ugly with peeled off paintings) and roads were full of potholes. I found the following click very symbolic of the present day Serbia. 

A toy tiger guarding over a garbage bin with potholed roads and Soviet style buildings in the background.

That being said, the country is trying its best to improve things. Heavy investment and aid from the EU is creating islands of fine building and architectures. 

A sculpture by the banks of Danube in Novi Sad.

Buildings of a specialised research facility (biosense.rs) focussing on the use of technology to solve challenges in agriculture.

And yes, if you are in Serbia do not miss the amazing food it has to offer. Being in the middle of two civilisations has its own benefits one of which is the emergence of some very unique and amazing foods. Cafes are in abundance and the meat you get in Serbia is one of the best in Europe. (No offence; but the meat in western Europe is just disgusting!)

One of the numerous road-side cafes.

Now, let us look at the coffee of our story (pun intended), the country which is the second largest producer of coffee, Vietnam. In spite of decades of war the common Vietnamese is extremely hospitable and kind. Everyone you meet will greet you with humility (for no reason) and a kind smile. The place is not very developed. But, unlike Serbia the infrastructure is in good condition. Even rural roads have no potholes. It is an extremely safe country. In a walk in the morning you will bump into elderlies (in 60s and 70s) exercising, meditating, practicing dance and Tai Chi. Cafes are in abundance and the coffee is really of very high quality. Road side places keep serving Pho from early morning till late night. 

The quintessential Pho :)

Your common Vietnamese is humble for no real reason. Because they are one of the most aware and educated masses I have come across. They know about their history and culture. They know about science and facts. The guy serving me coffee in a cafe knew of the scientific reasons of why there are so many small hills in Halong Bay! A digital marketing guy I met knew a lot about the artefacts in their national art museum.  In India or South Africa, even highly educated people would know nothing about art museums!

A lacquer painting (sơn mài) from Vietnamese Art Museum (Hanoi). Vietnamese artists are well known to have mastered lacquer painting. On the top left part of this painting you can notice the great leader Ho Chi Minh.  

A wooden statue of Avalokeswara Boddhisatwa. Avalokeswara is the Boddhisatwa of compassion. He was so compassionate that he decided not to achieve enlightenment and rather help all the suffering sentients. He was granted a thousand arms (by Amitabha Buddha) to help him in his endeavour to help thousands of suffering sentients.

Overall, it was a very pleasant experience. I loved to get drenched in the vibes of Hanoi. I felt relaxed. I felt rejuvenated (even in their heavy traffic!). Not sure if it were the kind people. Not sure if it were the extremely sweet tender coconut water. Not sure if it were the old couple running a fruit shop who insisted on taking less money from me for the juice I drank at their place everyday. Not sure if it was the coffee! Not sure if it was the sunset. Not sure if ......

Super sweet tender coconut water in the morning. In the background is a scooter which is the main mode of transport for millions of Vietnamese hoi poloi.

Sunset from West lake (Hanoi).

 

P5 Path to Purpose

 A few weeks back, I was listening to a podcast which talked about the difference between purpose and goals in one's life. I have been musing over it since then to find purpose in my life. Finally, I came up with a flow or algorithm which I think might help one to find a purpose in life. Of course, I am not going to talk about grand purposes like saving the earth and stuff. If that happens, it happens. 

I think, for a normal person purpose can have many facets. Facets which one thinks may make one happy. Facets, that may contribute one to have a meaningful life. Here are the five I found for myself. I think it kind of captures it for most people (especially those from the orient). 

P1. Parents: This came up pretty high up in my list. Being able to be there for my parents would make me feel satisfied and happy, for sure. 

P2. Partnership: This was also very important for me. Partnership both in terms of good friends and companies as well as a romantic partner. 

P3. Passion: I do not want to be one of those guys who look forward to weekends! I want to do things I feel passionate about so that I feel relaxed by working on them.

P4. Payment: Of course, I need a decent regular income. My needs are few. So my payment desires are mediocre!

P5. Place: Place matters a lot as well. A place with easy access to nature. A place where one does not have to face unkind people on a daily basis. A place that works.

To be clear, these are not the purpose of my life. These are enablers. These enable one to see the path to purpose with clarity.