Showing posts with label stockholm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stockholm. Show all posts

Sunday, May 3, 2015

This or that - a fool's story



As a rule, man is a fool. He wants cold when it is hot, and hot when it is cold! 

I am not sure which intelligent soul set this bang on theory. I heard about it when I was in school, on the verge of deciding my major. Never did it cross my mind that my life will be stuck around this theory day and night, year after year. 

It was a bright and sunny day today. Stockholm waits for this kind of weather since previous year's November. And it is finally here - out of the darkness, when you go to work in dark, and come back in dark. The only time you can see what is next to your building is for a couple if hours during the day, when you are engrossed in the zillions of tasks at hand at the office desk. Anyways, coming back to the sun, Vihaan and I got ready, all ecstatic and vibrant, to go running. the plan was run/ skateboard to the park, and have ice cream while watching the ducks at the lakeside. We implemented the whole plan. 

While coming back, as intuition struck, I bought a strong sunscreen, the one with 50+ SPF. I reached home, with red neck, and red arms, itching, scratching, highly irritated. It had come back, again this year - "the sun allergy". Rubbed a thick layer of soothing calamine lotion, while thinking about penning this down. I remember the doctors asking me before prescribing medicines - "kisi cheez se allergy yaad kijiye" (are you allergic to something?). 
So I want the winters back now, so that I can safeguard my skin from my nails, they have already bruised some skin. 

Referring to the above theory, another totally unexpected incident goes like this. I recently bought my domain name, and moved from blogger to wordpress. You are right, I am still working on blogger. Read on. I got it done professionally. After spending quite a lot of mullahs, I am totally dissatisfied with the new site, new theme, new widgets, new concept, everything. The team did a fantastic job, exactly as per my requirements. Alas, as a rule, I am a fool, I want hot when it is cold, and cold when it is hot! 










Friday, October 19, 2012

The tram line, and we...


I am lucky to live in a city which is by far the best in public transport system. The need for your own car/ vehicle never arises. Around a year back, atrociously, the bus stop near my home disappeared. This was thanks to the new tram line construction (from Solna to Alvik, in Stockholm, Sweden where I reside). And thus began the journey, which our neighbourhood is still reeling in. The 800 metres walk to the nearest metro station is suddenly extended to 1200 metres. The whole day we have sirens to warn against the loud thump of dynamite blowing the rocky terrain, to build a tunnel for the tram line. I would like to mention that the sound of this dynamite is much less than the honks and noises of the blue line buses in Delhi. You get to feel a thump (reminds me of "Jurassic Park").


A couple of days back, I returned back from work to find a box of Marabou chocolates in my post. The box is specially ordered, and has a "Tack" printed on it. That means "thank you" in Svenska (Sweden's local language).



 There is a note attached to the box as well. I have translated it (the note was in Svenska as well). It is a "thank you" note from the construction company NCC who are handling the tram construction work and SL, the Swedish public transport company. 



The note thanks the residents of the area for their patience, and tolerance towards the disruption of normalcy in the locality. They thank us for enduring the noise, the disturbance in  the walking track and barriers on the road, which have led to discomfort to the public. 
An immediate curve on my face, and all becomes fine. :). I am excited about the whole process now. I am looking forward to the day when I will use the tram to reach my favourite shopping destinations, or to my friend's place. Thanks to the Marabou milk chocolate and the simple thought from NCC-SL, just the concern for the common man, 




Being an Indian, I tend to immediately compare the situation with the construction of the Delhi Metro, whch is the latest which comes to my mind. Just as a reminder and a stark comparision - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11161014


The tram line is expected to be on in the summer of 2013.