Finland - Land of Thousand Lakes

Finland - the land of thousand lakes, vikings, snow, reindeer and Santa Claus. Open Cafes, bicycle lanes, colourful market squares, plush lawns, yellow maple leaves all over, seagulls at the port, fat pigeons, crows and a host of myriad birds. Churches, Public sculptures, blue christmas trees at Kamppi, squirrels and cute babies in coats twice their size. Long summer days and equally long winter nights. Snow all round the year and polar nights sans sunrise for days together in Lapland.

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The peculiar weather, westerly winds, occasional fog together with the mild sun create a mystical aura about Helsinki. It probably has to do with being situated at 60 degrees N latitute. The lighting is intensive and delightful here. Whenever the Sun decides to peep out from the cloud cover, he creates wonderful patterns in the sky, drawing all attention to himself. At times as mild as the moon even at noon, yet at times dazzling even if his weak rays try in vain to pierce the freezing blanket of air. The conifer trees and the leafless temperate trees add to this aura, creating a beauty that is almost divine.

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Santa Village at Rovaniemi

Santa's Office

Lapland is even more wonerful, with wilderness every where, towards every direction. One of the last havens of untouched nature, it draws humans and wildlife alike into its magical fold. It was my first experience of sub zero temperatures - it was -12 on the morning we arrived there. Frozen dew on the tundra shrubbery, frozen lakes, frozen coke on the fence with icicles, frozen slabs of ice on the road on which I was trying to mild-skate with my new Goretex shoes. The wind is chilling yet the sun shines brightly.

Reindeer

Santa's Cabin in the fell at Rovaniemi

No wonder the official Santa Claus resides here, together with his elf helpers and Mrs. Santa Claus, who runs the ginger-bread bakery. In this land of ice and reindeer, there is real magic and it is hard not to believe in fairies and leprechauns. Why, one of them might be hiding behind this shrub, in that burrow over there........

Helsinki - The Nordic Haven

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This Scandinavian capital is one of the most pretty, clean and quiet towns. Did I say capital? and town?? Helsinki is hardly a city and retains the small town characteristics in most parts. The city is rather flat, with the only sky scraper measuring twelve floors - not much, by European standards. This building also houses a coffee place on its top most floor, which offers excellent hot chocolate as well as excellent views of Helsinki by the night, studded with jewels of light.

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Do you find any pollution, grafitti, garbage, traffic jams, beggars here? Fat chance. May be an empty wine bottle or two on a weekend night. The city is extremely clean and rule abiding. At the prime hour, in the city centre, one cannot hear a single car horn nor a police whistle. Ten pedestrians on one side of the road, fifteen on the other, not a single car in sight - still everyone waits for the light to turn green before crossing the road. This doesn't happen in Paris or even Stockholm, and Amsterdam is ofcourse chaos, with trams, buses, cars and pedestrians crisscrossing each other.

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Even the police are hardly seen on the streets. Where is the need, when domestic violence is the most feared crime? Finnish jails are famous for their comforts and opportunities to earn, famous to the point that the Russian immigrants commit petty crimes just to get into them. And don't be surprised if you bump into a convict on a saturday night, for they have vacations in the jails. This now a matter of political debate, along with the major debate on whether the fines for people travelling without tickets are high enough. Quite surprising for people who grew up with the Kashmir issue.

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They have a very efficient public transport system - maps, ticket machines and notices everywhere. A single card enables one to take bus, metro, tram and an occasional ferry to the nearby islands. The night buses ply till 4.30 on weekends and the first metro starts again at 5.30, which means one is never stranded. The malls are all connected to the metro stations, rather built in the same complex so that no one has to step out in the freezing cold. Same with bus stations - they are in the same complex often, on different floors. And a train at 1.51 pm arrives at 1.51, not even at 1.50 or 1.52. This reminds of me the train on a German border town, which was just seven minutes late, but caused all sorts of apology notices go up.

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A city of extremely reserved and private people, it is a bit difficult in the beginning to cope with the silence in public places, but it is addictive over days. People are very helpful and some of the 'unforgettable' incidents include an elderly man accompanying us till our destination, explaining the historic importance of monuments and public sculptures; Another is when the tram driver did not know which stop is the nearest to the street of Indian Embassy and stopped the tram to search the maps, ask the passengers and finally verified it on the wire less. Where else in the world does anyone find a combination such as this?

This hilarious article is written by a Dutchman who spent two years in
Bangalore , India, as a visiting expert.

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Driving in Bangalore/ India.
For the benefit of every Tom, Dick and Harry visiting India and daring to drive on Indian roads, I am offering a few hints for survival. They are applicable to every place in India except Bihar,here life outside a vehicle is only marginally safer.


Indian road rules broadly operate within the domain of karma where you do your best, and leave the results to your insurance company. The hints are as follows: Do we drive on the left or right of the road? The answer is "both". Basically you start on the left of the road, unless it is occupied. In that case, go to the right, unless that is also occupied. Then proceed by occupying the next available gap, as in chess. Just trust your instincts, ascertain the direction, and proceed. Adherence to road rules leads to much misery and occasional fatality. Most drivers don't drive, but just aim their vehicles in the generally intended direction.

Don't you get discouraged or underestimate yourself except for a belief in reincarnation; the drivers are not in any better position.

Don't stop at pedestrian crossings just because some fool wants to cross the road. You may do so only if you enjoy being bumped in the back.

Pedestrians have been strictly instructed to cross only when traffic is moving slowly or has come to a dead stop because some minister is in town. Still some idiot may try to wade across, but then, let us not talk ill of the dead.

Blowing your horn is not a sign of protest as in some countries. We horn to express joy, resentment, frustration, romance and bare lust (two brisk blasts),or just mobilize a dozing cow in the middle of the bazaar.

Keep informative books in the glove compartment. You may read them during traffic jams, while awaiting the chief minister's motorcade, or waiting for the rainwater to recede when over ground traffic meets underground drainage.

Occasionally you might see what looks like a UFO with blinking colored lights and weird sounds emanating from within. This is an illuminated bus, full of happy pilgrims singing bhajans. These pilgrims go at breakneck speed, seeking contact with the Almighty, often meeting with success.

Auto Rickshaw (Baby Taxi): The result of a collision between a rickshaw and an automobile, this three-wheeled vehicle works on an external combustion engine that runs on a mixture of kerosene oil and creosote. This triangular vehicle carries iron rods, gas cylinders or passengers three times its weight and dimension, at an unspecified fare. After careful geometric calculations, children are folded and packed into these auto rickshaws until some children in the periphery are not in contact with the vehicle at all. Then their school bags are pushed into the microscopic gaps all round so those minor collisions with other vehicles on the road cause no
permanent damage. Of course, the peripheral children are charged half the fare and also learn Newton's laws of motion enroute to school.

Auto-rickshaw drivers follow the road rules depicted in the film Ben Hur, and are licensed to irritate.

Mopeds: The moped looks like an oil tin on wheels and makes noise like an electric shaver. It runs 30 miles on a teaspoon of petrol and travels at break-bottom speed. As the sides of the road are too rough for a ride, the moped drivers tend to drive in the middle of the road; they would rather drive under heavier vehicles instead of around them and are often "mopped" off the tarmac.

LeaningTower of Passes: Most bus passengers are given free passes and during rush hours, there is absolute mayhem. There are passengers hanging off other passengers, who in turn hang off the railings and the overloaded bus leans dangerously, defying laws of gravity but obeying laws of surface tension. As drivers get paid for overload (so many Rupees per kg of passenger), no questions are ever asked. Steer clear of these buses by a width of three passengers.

One-way Street: These boards are put up by traffic people to add jest in their otherwise drab lives.

Don't stick to the literal meaning and proceed in one direction. In metaphysical terms, it means that you cannot proceed in two directions at once. So drive as you like, in reverse throughout, if you are the fussy type. Least I sound hypercritical, I must add a positive point also.

Rash and fast driving in residential areas has been prevented by providing a "speed breaker"; two for each house. This mound, incidentally, covers the water and drainage pipes for that residence and is left untarred for easy identification by the corporation authorities, should they want to recover the pipe for year-end accounting.

Night driving on Indian roads can be an exhilarating experience for those with the mental make up of Genghis Khan. In a way, it is like playing Russian roulette, because you do not know who amongst the drivers is loaded. What looks like premature dawn on the horizon turns out to be a truck attempting a speed record. On encountering it, just pull partly into the field adjoining the road until the phenomenon passes.

Our roads do not have shoulders, but occasional boulders. Do not blink your lights expecting reciprocation. The only dim thing in the truck is the driver, and with the peg of illicit arrack (alcohol) he has had at the last stop, his total cerebral functions add up to little more than a naught. Truck drivers are the James Bonds of India, and are licensed to kill. Often you may
encounter a single powerful beam of light about six feet above the ground.

This is not a super motorbike, but a truck approaching you with a single light on, usually the left one. It could be the right one, but never get too close to investigate. You may prove your point posthumously.