“Eat”ly A wonderful country of rich history, warm people and scrumptious food.

 

  

Once upon a time two little twin boys, Romulus and Remus were abandoned by their parents along the river Tiber – it was a female wolf who nursed and raised the children and then an entire empire that spread around the Mediterranean across three continents was named after one of these twins. Welcome to the city of Rome’ance, named after Romulus who killed Remus to become the king. A city to eat, pray and love. A lifetime is perhaps not enough to comprehend a place with such rich history and culture.

The city of Rome is a live excavation site, a casual walk through any of the strade and piazza will lead you to discover marvellous art, magnificent sculptures, glorious architecture and infinite ancient stories. It is a place with a living history; some monuments such as the Pantheon and the Colosseum can transport you back in time to nearly 2000 years, into the traditions and the lifestyle of the Roman emperors, their games of treachery and their sport of atrocities.

An artist would take special pleasure at the sight of some of the most illustrious pieces of Renaissance and Baroque styles from the famous Raphael, Michelangelo and Bernini; masterpieces such as the Sistine chapel, Saint Peter’s square, the David in Florence and the many obelisks. The city of Venice is an architectural wonder, often referred to as the floating city whereas Bologna is a city thoughtfully designed with the longest (45 kms) porticos in the world.

The country offers a variety of astonishing tales from the past and just as many culinary varieties to masticate and deliberate upon. Just like the Roman emperors the Italians are fanatic about both gastronomy and astronomy. The Romans travelled far and wide to explore the culinary diversity and bring home the variety of foods, herbs and spices. The origin of pasta has been attributed to the Venetian merchant Marco Polo who got the idea from his travels to China. The Italians have since invented approximately 250 varieties of pasta. A series of ten different cookery books “Apicius” have been written and illustrated to satisfy the appetites of a Roman monarch. The modern day Italians are no different, each region in Italy has a speciality food matching corresponding wines that should not be missed, “Risotto with Bardolino” in Milan, “Pizza with Tuscan Chianti” in Naples, “Tortellini with Sauvignon Blanc” in Bologna and “Cassata with Grappa” in Sicily.

The friendly Italians will love to tell you many interesting stories about their country and their food. It is not unusual that you started to ask an Italian on the street for some directions and landed up having dinner with her family the same evening. Food etiquette is however very essential to all Italians, so please do not make the mistake of ordering a latte post breakfast or asking for ketchup with your pizza, they will not only refuse to serve it to you but you may get a long sermon with fierce hand gestures about how to drink your coffee and eat your pizza, even if you don’t understand Italian. Jamie Oliver once did a cooking show in Italy and was obliged with cooking tips by every Italian on the street.

It might be helpful to get some insider reviews on the country with movies and books such as, Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, The Broker by John Grisham, To Rome with love by Woody Allen and Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. You might be surprised to find out that facts are stranger than fiction.

Wealth Redefined

Dubai is the closest holiday destination from India. Yet I happened to holiday to Dubai for the first time all the way from Sweden only this Christmas.

I did not think the place could astonish me in anyway as I have heard and read a million stories about Dubai. Besides, I have lived in Singapore with which it is often compared.

Nevertheless, being there physically just took the air out of my lungs. This oasis that was barren until the discovery of oil in 1971 had a foreigner population spur of over 300% thereafter. The abundant oil find in Abu Dhabi in spite of Dubai’s love hate relationship with its neighbour led to the formation of the seven UAE states. This makes the region obscenely wealthy. Dubai especially with its glamour image and free trade policies has turned into a financial refuge for the rich and the glitterati.

What the place lacks in sophistication it makes up with its spill of obscene wealth. They have created artificial beaches that are calm and serene. They have reclaimed land constructions to make gigantic villas, which maybe better called palaces. They have built artificial ski resorts and ice skating rinks so that they do not have to travel a million miles to get a taste of a different weather. They have built 828-meter tall towers to feel at the top of the world. They have created a new standard of luxury by making seven star hotels.

The city is on an economic downturn presently and all I saw was giant malls filled with shoppers carrying fancy shopping bags and a New Year firework display that could have fed an entire country for that day. The Sheikhs certainly have their priorities laid out clearly; they punish the criminals severely to make their land safe for none other than the larger and perhaps richer community of the tax invaders. They take hospitality seriously and do not mind going that extra mile to attract the rich and famous. They have managed to work out a win win situation for indulgences in entertainment, experience and the exotic. All in turn to their own benefit.

The Drama of Life

How often in life have you had that feeling of Déjà vu ? This is spooky, and I have once and again in my life felt that I am experiencing things that I already knew were about to happen and they occur in the exact same fashion as they did once earlier.

So, I ask myself if I am hallucinating or am I in a matrix. The nodes and the patterns appear to be the same. The setting and the plot are all familiar. The only difference is how “The me actor” manages to handle the situation differently and improvise.

Then I stumble upon a rather interesting subject – and I wonder if it explains some of these feelings…

Here is a Wiki explanation of a Social network:

A social network is a social structure made up of individuals (or organizations) called "nodes", which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.

Social network analysis views social relationships in terms of network theory consisting of nodes and ties (also called edges, links, or connections). Nodes are the individual actors within the networks, and ties are the relationships between the actors. The resulting graph-based structures are often very complex. There can be many kinds of ties between the nodes. Research in a number of academic fields has shown that social networks operate on many levels, from families up to the level of nations, and play a critical role in determining the way problems are solved, organizations are run, and the degree to which individuals succeed in achieving their goals.

In its simplest form, a social network is a map of specified ties, such as friendship, between the nodes being studied. The nodes to which an individual is thus connected are the social contacts of that individual. The network can also be used to measure social capital – the value that an individual gets from the social network. These concepts are often displayed in a social network diagram, where nodes are the points and ties are the lines.

Worlds most difficult driving test!!

I may have driven for over 20 yrs. I consider myself to be a safe driver and have never hurt anything or anybody until now. However the stringent laws for acquiring a driving license in this country is wee bit frustrating.

There are a gamut of books you need to read up for your theory test and just reading them casually is not enough as the questions are designed to flabbergast you anyway. The answers are not stereotypical and may wary from situation to situation. Which essentially means they trick you once and again. The gala “gödkant” (pass) is achieved only if you scored over 80 % and what’s more is that after all this hard work you need to pass the dreadful practical test within a span of 2 months or else you go through the entire exercise all over again.

When I say “the dreadful practical test”, I am not being the least dramatic. This is a test dreaded by even the most experienced drivers. Even after spending an average 20-30,000 SEK on training you may be refused the license for not having looked in the rearview mirror before turning on the indicator to show your intentions of changing the lane or for briefly driving in the left lane, which is considered an absolute taboo if you are giving your driving test.

And one wonders what do they achieve with such stringent laws, so here is what it is. Sweden claims to be targeting a zero fatality rate in the next few years. The number of persons killed in road accidents has dropped to 221 this year, which is about 50% less than 2007. The alcohol tolerance is so low that you would rather hire a cab then be brutally fined or jailed for being caught for drunken driving, which is the greatest cause for fatalities on road. This is something that even USA has been humbled for not being able to handle. In fact in USA the casualties have been on an up rise to a whooping 41471. If you look at the statistics of all of Europe, you may not see anything unusual. However, if one looks at the Nordic countries the statistics are unusually low, with the tiny little Iceland leading the way at 15 fatalities.

As I continue being frustrated and being ripped of financially by the traffic authorities here the only consoling factor is that it is all for a good cause. Amen.

A mid life beginning?

A typical life can be described in the following phases,

0 - 15 – Growing and learning phase
15 - 30 – finding a partner and experimenting phase
30 – 40 - settling down and reproducing phase
40 – 50 – regenerating health, wealth and security phase
50 – 65 – reflective phase
65 – 85 – watching the life your offsprings


I am perhaps half way through my life span. A time most people start to worry about midlife crisis, and here I am just beginning

To learn to speak, (a new language)
To learn to write, (creatively)
To study, (Masters in Interaction design)
To learn to drive, (on the other side of the road)

In other words, I am just beginning to rediscover life all over again and believe me I am just as nervous as I used to be at 20. I am wondering if this is a sign of failure or hope.

Parenting in Sweden

The expats of Sweden have many views about the country. The Europeans complain about shyness of the Swedes, The Asians complain about the extreme weather and the Americans complain about the miniature food portions. I agree that all of the above is true. However, the country’s ideology is very progressive, and that cannot be overlooked.

I meet many Swedes who are self-critical regarding certain issues and do not see eye to eye with the current policies. However, I have noticed that the Swedes are extremely forbearing people. They have amazing patience and incredible tolerance. This has its positives and negatives in various ways – the climate, multi cultural and multi racial tolerance with the influx of foreigners, on humanitarian grounds regarding adoptions, punishments, gender equality, sexual preferences, social welfare and immigration laws.

But what I most admire about this country is its scientific approach to most issues. They are not very emotional people. But they have their heart in the right place. I meet innumerable adopted people who are in there 30’s and 40’s now from Asian & African continents. I have seen parents going through many difficulties to adopt children from such countries. But I have seen them doing it simply because they want to do it. Not because Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt has done it. Not as a fad, not as a charity and certainly not out of pity.

I have also noticed that the Swedish parents are incredibly patient towards their little ones. They talk to their children, explain them, teach them, but there is not a trace of stress. I have never seen a Swede raise their voice. And I think these characteristics can be attributed to government policies and the incredible importance given on parenting and also the special employment benefits received when you are a parent.

Both the parents get extra benefits for spending time with their children. This encourages equal parenting. While it may be natural for mothers to be more actively involved in the bringing up of a child in almost all other countries. In Sweden, mothers are not solely responsible to bring up the children as fathers remain busy at work. Even ‘stay at home’ mothers get paid for spending time with her child. And working mothers get almost a whole year off with 80 % salary after pregnancy. As opposed to Americans who resume work in the 4th week after pregnancy. It is no wonder that most Swedish women who marry foreigners drag them back to their country.

In fact, the environment in this country is almost simulated, incredible freedom, no stress and extreme honesty. It is almost too difficult for the Swedes to adjust to any other country. But the Swedes are too polite and laid back to even complaint of this.

Gadgets

Every year my dear husband gifts me with a new mobile phone – with extra features and extra complications at that. While I smile politely and say thank you honey, under my breath I am hating to start learning the manual all over again and figure how to get to the address book, and set up the speed dial and such.

I am very basic with gadgets…I like them as long as they are helpful and make my life easier, but when they demand too much from my brain, I feel exhausted. I like to use a mobile phone to make calls and a camera to take pictures and a computer to check email. I hate the Blackberries and the PDA’s and those scary looking multifunctional mobiles which open in strange ways.


However, my whole perception to modern technology and gadgets changed when I was gifted the iphone last year – it is a marvel of design according to me. The touch screen functionality is childlike simple. It is brilliant in its design because it is not based on human intelligence but on human intutions.


And that is the key to futuristic design – as I start my Interaction design course next semester I started to research the field – and it is almost fascinating to see what one can do with these modern gadgets. Have a look at some of these videos:

http://www.interactiondesignblog.com/2008/05/buttonless-remote-control/
http://www.interactiondesignblog.com/2008/04/microsoft-surface/


As of now, it is magical to see my 5 yr. old daughter reading interactive books, fishing, scribbling, sketching and learning her first alphabets on her shiny new ipad effortlessly and playing tennis, cycling and bowling on V.