Desh vs Videsh

It's been exactly 4 weeks since i've been in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, the Cleanest countries of all (i ain't sayin it 4 d sake of sayin it Proof), one of the coldest countries in d world, & farthest from home it had been by far for me.

Life keeps movin, & so do we. But the contrariety is the most startling aspect. i mean, i don't wanna compare history, geography, civics of the 2 lands (Go Google for that). what strikes me r d teeny-weeny things in which we differ, what i witness daily before my eyes, what amazes me to the extent that reminds me that i'm very far away from home. Life's really strange.

Without further wanderings, lemme get down to the subject at hand...

vs

Here we go !!

• Thirst

When i came onto the apartment straight from the airport, i was thirsty. searched for water, but apparently, found no drinking water as such. out-of-options, i drank water from the kitchen tap. i cudn't dare to ask any1 about this until 1 day, i saw my manager drinking from the tap in the basin used for washing mugs. it was only then i realised that there is not seperate drinking water here like in our land.

That being said, a colleague narrated to me that, when he landed here, he was made 2 stay in a hotel. now the hotel rooms don't even have a kitcken or a basin as such. there's was no water jug as well. he called up someone he knew in helsinki. he was told that the water in the bathroom tap is equally good for drinking. infact, they have glasses kept in the bathroom to be used for drinking purposes. now i feel as if i was lucky to land up in an apartment. A kitchen is better than a bathroom after all :)

It's not our fault thou. it's in our veins. it's something we've been following since birth. people may call us fools if they wish to, but we are moulded in such a stupified manner that we can't really get these things outta our minds. (i keep drifting to my left whenever walking down the road, until i realise that every1 else is to their right. now since i was in class 2, i was taught "Keep to your Left" on the road. is it my fault ?)

• Dogs

Well, this is sumthin i found very specific in contrast. Here in finland, i often encounter people with their dogs in the buses. i was wondering what wud happen if they started barking furiously on someone inside the bus, & shit & al those fronts :) they are paid due respect (though i haven't figured out one in a Mall yet). Videshi kutte hain bhai, manners waale.

• Pizza Taxi

this italian craze had hit every nook & corner of this earth. Poor indians deliver pizzas on their scooters/bikes (& stil they claim "30 minutes, nai to free"). Now as it's so cold in here that d 2-wheelers are barely visible anywhere on roads, Pizzas are deliverd here in cars, wholely dedicated to the job. Pizza Taxi is the brandname itself. Now that's modernization my friend.
aur 1 bechaare hum :)

• Bus fare

We all know they r developed, & hence it's costly 4 us. You board a bus, & u pay 2.20 euros, irrespective of where you stop (within the city). my office is 2 stops away from my apartment (1.3 kms, takes 3-4 minutes), & i pay 2.20 euros for a ride. & on the weekends, i go to the market place (several kilometers, 30 minutes ride by bus), & still i have to pay 2.20 euros. earlier i used to wonder how people bear with so high a price, but now i find it rather convenient. now, back in my town, the bus fare we pay varies even between the same 2 stops :)

• Crowd

A colleague brought onto my face the fact that after living here for a certain period of time, one feels annoyed walking on the streets, anywhere in India. Now you c, this is a land whose government is more than glad to reward people who reproduce, even if they are not permanent finnish citizens. For every child you give birth 2 in here, there a monthly allowance, which increases by roughly 50% for each child, till the child reaches the age of 5. so it's quite obvious they can't compete in the crowd count with a nation which is about to burst open with population & where children in smaller grades are taught the concept of population explosion & heavy words of that kind.

vs
Even the main market streets here are calm, if not empty. I've never seen a bus, i repeat, NEVER, which has all the seats occupied. Yeah the transport is good & frequent, but it's amazing to realise that none here travels in a standing mode. Now i'm from the land where people hang on to the poles of the doors of buses, however frequent they r. We are just so much. No wonder india succeeds everywhere (Now we've started picking on Oscars in a gud amount as well). out of 1.2 billion fools, a few are bound 2 succeed in sum field or the other.

& Lastly,

• The Weekends

have you ever visited a Mall/shopping store in India on weekends. you know what i mean. we, back in pune, avoid going to Big Bazaar/Vishal MegaMart on saturdays & sundays, for the single reason that there's not enuf space to keep ur feet in sight. while on d other hand (& that's quite irritating infact), all stores/malls/shops (simply everything) is CLOSED on sundays, & open for a limited time on satudays. like our govt. banks back in India. man works for long hours on weekdays, & he has just half a day for a weekend, as if namesake, because Helsinki wishes to rest for the rest of d weekend. sounds sick 2 me atleast. got used 2 it now anyways, i go 4 shopping on saturday afternoons.

someone told me that the shopkeepers have 2 pay a per hour charge on weekends, so they prefer closing for a larger extent. can't confirm it though.


So, those were a few aspects i find the current land & homeland differing, from what i encounter in day to day activities. We are same though in a lot many ways (i ain't gonna write a blog on that :)), & there r indeed a few things we have in common, in addition to love of course :)

There's still time to spend in here. There's still time to go.
i hope i'l fall in luv with this place !!
i just luv the snow when it falls right onto d face :)