Absenteeism!

Absenteeism from a meaning full post is not appreciated.

A midst of my vacations in India there are some things to write about and I am looking forward for the time when I come out of my pause mode to write something here.

Till then I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

The disgust for the disgusting ones..!!

There are some people that you meet in your life for whom the only emotion that you can have is a sorry.

People who cannot think above themselves.

People who can see someone else even die just for the sake of keeping them irritated.

People who see negativity in all the positive things.

People who always LIE.

People who curse everybody else and never even bother about their sins.

People who are always illogical and they call it their stand.

People who showoff every time even for smallest things.

People who always give their ideology but don't follow it themselves when time comes.

People who believe that whatever they know is right and if they don't know any particular thing then that thing does not exist. 

People who are always eager to know about others life but don't disclose anything about themselves.

People who hide behind excuses to prove themselves like- society, status, honor...and all other blah blah blah!!

One question... What do you get from all this??!!

Maybe a feeling of utter satisfaction for a day, a month or an year? But after that? Do you even realize that you lost all your loved ones in this ego of yours? Do you realize that the society (which was your excuse once) is now mocking at you? Do you know that there is no one who trusts you now because all you ever did was a lie?!!

What did you get by showing off all the time or by lying for every small thing? Don't you know that the person to whom you are lying is not stupid/dumb and one day that person will come to know about the truth for those small things? Why do you take those people for granted who do not cross question you because they are just so irritated with you that they even don't want to correct you?

Pity on you..!! Really...from the bottom of my heart.

Life might have been tough for you once but you are carrying the venom of it. Hate, disgust,bitching and cursing are your reasons to live but probably you don't know that these are not even worth the reasons to die.

I pity you for your disgusting attitude towards everyone else. I pity you when you see yourself in a mirror. And in case you don't know..

What goes around comes around...

Note: I read this post on one of my fellow blogger and felt that she has written this post as if she has read my feelings. So, I took this post from her blog and have added few things from my side in it.

Help others to help yourself.

If you help someone then you don't have to feel great about it, neither you should expect thank you thank you  or that generosity from that person every time you meet him/her nor you should expect help in return from him/her. If you are helping some one then you are not helping him/her, actually, you are helping yourself. Help others to help yourself.

I am a believer of above lines which are given to me as a gyaan by one of my uncle. If you do good things then good things will come to you, its kind of law of attraction, it depends on you what you want to attract to yourself. 
Well, not going in to deep of this philosophy I personally believe that we should help others in whatever way we can, some times people feels that others are taking advantage of your help or may be your friends or dear ones may say to you that other people asks for your help because they don't want to do things by themselves. Well, this is true sometimes, I think it depends on every individual i.e. how to identify/sense that who is taking advantage or who is actually taking help, but you are not gonna loose anything to offer your help.

As I said, I am a believer of this philosophy and this belief turns into reality this year. I can never forget those series of event that took place in the month of Jan 13. As I have to move to Sweden in the month of Feb 13 I was specifically looking for a Swedish currency (SEK) travel card and I had two options, either to take it from HDFC bank or from Axis bank. Having a good experience with HDFC bank I decided to take this card from them and that was the time when my trust with HDFC bank broke and built again. What happened that day is mentioned in my below email which I sent later on to the manager of that HDFC bank employee as a token of appreciation.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Sir,

With due respect I would like to grab a chance to share my recent experience with HDFC bank executive's in concern to the Foreign exchange department.

This whole experience is from date 10-Jan-2013, I had to travel to Sweden and I was looking a Visa based SEK Travel card which HDFC bank provides. I did a lot of research on SEK travel card and compared travel card provided by other banks with HDFC but I found HDFC SEK Travel card more cheaper so I made my  mind to go with HDFC.

Although, I am not a HDFC bank user but as my father is I have always seen him more then satisfied with the extensive good quality of services provided by HDFC bank to him. Moreover, my father is an extremely satisfied customer so the same trust passed on to me which made me to choose HDFC bank with blind faith.

As I am talking about my trust, this was broken on 10-Jan-2013 but later saved by Mr. Vipul Awasthi.  

I went to the HDFC bank's Indirapuram (Ghaziabad) branch and the customer service executive told me that this branch does not deal in Forex so I should go to the HDFC bank's Vaishali branch. I went to HDFC's Vaishali (GZB) branch, there the lady in the Foreign exchange department told me that I should go to the HDFC's Noida Sector 18 branch to have the SEK card. I asked the lady executive that why should I go to sec-18 branch as this product (SEK travel card) is on the shelf product and as www.hdfcbank.com says that I can purchase this card from any branch by just walkin to it then she told me that HDFC's Vaishali branch is not the Forex branch and sector 18 branch is specialized Forex branch for this purpose.

To my aggression that lady executive asked to me to leave my number so that I can be contacted by an HDFC executive for this matter. I was contacted by Mr. Vineet and I was astonished and disappointed  when he told me that any kind of Travel card can not be issued to a customer who is not having any account with HDFC bank. When I asked Mr. Vineet to cross check this information he talked to me rudely and said that whatever information he is giving to me is correct and the HDFC bank website is not updated. When I told him that whatever he is telling me is not true then he gave me the number of Mr. Vipul Awasthi and asked me to contact him.

As I was in urgent need of HDFC SEK card I contacted Mr. Vipul with the hope that he may help and trust me Sir, Mr. Vipul came to help me as a savior that day. He told me that I have been misguided and any HDFC branch should arrange the card from other branch if they are out of stock of any Travel card. He asked me to wait at HDFC Vaishali branch and promised me to call back with in half an hour. 

Since, I don't have time to wait I went to the HDFC's Noida sector 18 branch and there also the lady executive told me that SEK card is not available with the branch and she don't know which other branch might have it, in fact she told me that HDFC bank do not provide any SEK card, the bank has never launched such card, she provided me the contact details of some Money exchanger from where HDFC's Noida sector 18 branch get its currency conversion.

I again contacted Mr. Vipul and explained him the whole scenario, he asked me to wait for 5 minutes and he talked to Mr. Ajay Tiwari at Noida sector 18 branch to help me out. There after, the SEK card was issued to me in the same branch whose executive was denying the existence of such card in the market.

I was even more impressed with the customer service of Mr. Vipul Awasthi when he himself took out little time from his busy schedule to keep following up the status. He contacted me to confirm whether the card has been issued to me or not, by that time it was not issued and he again followed up the whole issue and scolded some other executive keeping me in the conference call.

I must say employees like Mr. Vipul Awasthi can never let faith of bank's customer down and sets example for other employees for delivering highest customer satisfaction.

If Mr. Vipul has not come in to the picture that day then I surely have loosed my trust and faith with HDFC bank and have purchased the SEK travel card from AXIS Bank.

I am sorry to write such a long mail but the intention was to let you know how customers are misguided by the bank executives and how helpless they can feel in the era of competitive banking. Such small things and misguiding results in lose of customer which is not good for a premier bank like HDFC.

I hope some sort action can be taken against those executives.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, this whole experience left me with few questions:-

1. Who was Mr. Vipul Awasthi?
2. Why did he helped me as a unknown person?
3. What he is benefiting from all this?

I only had answer of question 2, may be because I have helped some one known/unknown some time and I got the return that day. 

All I could have given to Mr. Vipul is my sincere thanks and the above appreciation mail to his manager. I don't know if there was any action taken against those executives who were misguiding me but my purpose was solved by a unknown man.

Don't be so formal.

You may have noticed that most of the time we say in formality "come'on yaar don't be so formal" but we sometimes mind if one does not say things formally or considers that person as rude if they say things directly which they actually mean to say instead of saying it in other way around with a nice wrapping of words so that the recipient don't feel bad.

There may be culture difference, since we adopted all these mannerism and formal words like sorry, thank you, excuse me from British we expect the same things from others, at least from those who are just acquaintances. 

What I mean by saying all these, about what and whom I am saying these? May be those are the questions in your mind, so, I am talking about some of my work culture experience which I gained by working with my Swedish colleagues. 

 I have observed following things which they say and I will compare these with our way of saying (with all my so called learned Indian corporate ethics of never saying no directly).


Situation 1: When you want some information from a colleague who is doing some other work.

Me: Hey!! Did you get a chance to look at that mail which I sent to you?

Colleague: I don't have time for it and I am very busy right now.

How I would have said this 

Me: Hey! Yes, I looked at it from the very top level but to answer your question I need to collect some more information. Do you mind if I come back to you on this before EOD today as I am occupied in this task?


Situation 2: When you go to a colleagues desk to ask some thing and they are working on something.

Colleague: (After they sense that you are coming towards them or you are sneaking around) Give me a minute. (They say it and continue doing their work with out looking at you).

What I would have done in this situation

Me: (After sensing that somebody is around to say something and before they say something, look at them) Hey!! (and listen to them/their question, reply it quickly if you know the answer already and get back to the screen or if you don't know the answer, say) do you mind if  I come back to your desk with the answer .


Situation 3: In a meeting, you are explaining to your boss about your plan to do a particular task.

Boss: I don't care how you do it. Do whatever you want.

How I would have replied if I were a boss

Me: Hmm!! that sounds like a plan, let me know if you  need any information or assistance from me and keep me posted.

Initially I felt rude but then I come to know that in Swedish language there is not much formality like English and may be what they are trying to say in English is completely different from what they are trying to meant in Swedish.

I guess I will come to know about this later part when I will be proficient in Swedish but the thing to note is that you can really reduce the amount of words to say if you don't care how the receptor may feel :D 

***Disclaimer:By this post, I am not implying that Swedish work culture is like what I am representing here but it is from my so far work experience while working with Swedish colleagues in an Swedish software firm. ***

When you find Gandhiji randomly..

We all know very well that where we can find Gandhi ji these days (at least not in the morals and ethics of people), may be in government offices or I believe I am not wrong to say in the wallet or pocket of every one in the form of currency.

I am not going to write about any random encounter with Gandhi ji like Munna bhai but what I meant to say from this catchy title is what would you do when you find some money randomly when there is no one to claim it ?

If my memory is not wrong then I have not found or been lucky in past 10 years to find money on the road or any other places when there was no one to claim it but I do remember what I did when I found it and my actions were different according to my age.

I finely remember that I found Rs 20 while playing outdoor when I was in my childhood, me and my friend went insane on deciding how to spent this money. It looked to us that we can buy lots of candies, chocolates, cold drinks, red color rubber ball for our cricket matches, funky stickers to stick them on our school notebooks, wo lambi waali pencil with the palm cap and many other things. But, we were not aware that we could actually buy few of them from our long list. We settled for two red color rubber ball for our cricket matches and chocolates for rest of the amount.

As I increased numbers in my age count with passing years I got a gyan funda from somewhere that "Jo aapka nahin use rakh kar koi fayda nahin he... agar aap use rakhte ho to aapka hi nuksaan hoga".
Believing this from a fundebaaz or I should say getting scared of loss I donated rs 100 in the donation box of a temple with the belief that when it neither belongs to me nor to any one else then it belongs to god.

Later, I started believing that god does not need money and god will be happy if I help some body with this money who is in actual need. So, the next time when I found Rs 100 again, I gave it to a beggar and made his day. That guy looked at me like I am very rich man and started doing salaam, giving me blessings. While he was doing all those beta...bhagwaan things I noticed that other beggars are coming towards me with the gleam in their eyes and hope in their hearts "Arey koi gaadi waala bada sahab aaya he aaj to.... usko 100 de diya to hume bhi de dega"  but their facial expression changed from raised eyebrows to narrow eyebrows when I picked my bicycle and ran from there. (Kya perception hota he logo ka... cycle waale ko koi kuch samjhta hi nahin he).

And the last when I found Rs 500 I was in first year of my graduation and my philosophy was changed again "Instead of giving hard cash to poor buy them a meal" so I kept those rs 500 separately in my wallet and whenever I saw any poor guy begging for food I bought them some meal and learnt that rs 500 is too much to spend if you start buying cheap meals from road side vendors. 

Its been 10 years and I am still on that last philosophy.

Till 2012 before leaving India I had one time meal in Rs 10 from a road side chole kulche waala, not sure what is the condition now but I feel rs 500 are too much if you have to buy some one this 10 rs meal or 5 rs Parle G biscuit which reminds me one of my experience with an old lady in Congiri or emotional atyachar

Superstitions.

It does not matter in which part of world you are superstitions always follow you and are present in every where with in the locals.

Few days ago we invited some of our Swedish friends over Indian dinner (as their taste buds are compatible with spicy food) and while chatting with them topic of Superstitions came and we were surprised to find few of Swedish superstitions common with our Indian superstitions. We didn't expect to have commonalities in few of our very common superstitions.

The common ones:-

1. If a black cat crosses your path then it is treated as bad luck and to cancel it Swedes spit three times or wait some one other to pass.

2. Sneezing: I remember that we ask that person to sneeze one more time to cancel the bad effect while Swedes consider it as your enemy has mentioned your name and ask you to say 'prosit' or to make a pair of sneeze.

3. Don't go under a ladder, I remember this as told by my grand mother but I never understand the exact logic (may be something fall you and you get hurt) but Swedes consider it as bad luck for 3 weeks.

4. Touch wood: I think for us this one is a modern one but Swedes also touch wood to prevent something nasty happened with a line "Pepper, pepper touch wood".

The uncommon ones:-

5. Not to step on a crack in the street. If you do it will bring terrible, irrevocable misfortunes.

6. Never put your keys on the table.

7. Spilling salt gives bad luck.

8. An open umbrella indoors spells serious bad luck.

So, that's why I said that  it doesn't matter in which developed country you are people are superstitious every where. Well, I can say I am little superstitious, I mean, why to take chance when you come in such situation but I don't follow all of them.

When I saw a black cat crossing my way I just wait for some one else to pass it first, I know that's selfish but that's how I cancel its effect and I don't follow the days to cut my nails, hair but I have stopped putting my keys on table from the moment I came to know about this Swedish one.

Well, are you superstitious? What!! you said no, come'on!!! I know you are... Chalo tell me which one you follow.
6.

I wish if I could have more than 24 hrs

Yes, that's what exactly I am thinking, I wish if I could have more than 24 hrs in a day. Arey yaar kitna kuch karna he time hi nahi mil rha and my TO DO list is growing day by day.This laziness and mood to do nothing is keeping occupied me to do nothing and only keep me thinking and planning about ticking those items from my yellow sticky notes. Uff!! ye lazy lazy lamhe. And, jab mood karta he tab neend aa jaati he or it is too late in the night that I had to leave it undone so that I can reach next day office on time.

Wo saying he na ki "Aalasaya manushya ka shatru he" but I think these days this Aalasaya is my best of best friend. Every day after getting home from office I get on to the couch and leave it to answer either nature's call or to go to sleep. Yesterday was the epic, I slept on the couch and when a loud voice (from my wife) broke my sleep I simply changed the place of sleeping from couch to my bed just like a small boy who do the things silently which his parents told him to do with a scared and about to weep face.

Bahut kuch karna he yaar mujhe:-

1. My friend has asked me to design his website in the month of May and I have not completed it so far. Neither I am giving up nor I am completing it. WTF I am doing!!!!!!!

2. Its only one year left for me before I turn 30 and I have to start controlling my sugar intake, start some exercise to be on healthy side of 30.

3. I have to be more serious about my writings if I have to achieve my dream of becoming a writer ( I know every blogger thinks that). I don't know if I have that writer thing in me but sapne dekhne ke koi paise thode hi lagte hein. :)

4. I have to finish reading my unfinished novel.

5. I have to study some technical things related to my job on a very serious note.

6. I have to do some more studies for my certifications.

7. I have to ...

Well, the purpose of writing this list is to give it to the world so that world can help me to complete it. Ab aap soch rahe honge ki kya funda hua illogical sa... to ye funda nikala he The Secret book se... usme kehte he na secret batane waale log "All you need is to tell the world what you want and the world will attract those things towards you" so for now I want this Yellow sticky note in the recycle bin.

The Versatile Blogger Award

Recently I have been awarded with "The Versatile blogger award" from my blogger friend Pooja who writes her blog Thoughtless Ramifications.

Well, there was no award ceremony for it through which I got it but one day when I visited her blog from my blog feeds I was surprised to see that she chose me to share this award with me.

As the tradition of this award is to write seven things about your self and share this award with 15 other people so I will start writing seven things about myself:

1. I love eating all sweet things specially cakes, pastries, ice-creams and Indian sweets with out thinking their effect on my body.

2. I love reading novels in me time. (Those who are married can understand the meaning of me time). :D

3. I love cooking and it leads me to give suggestions to my wife which sometimes turns in to more suggestions rather than appreciations.

4. I don't why but I always seek perfection in things and I also try to do things in perfect manner. I know sometimes somethings get worse to make them perfect and they are perfect being imperfect but still I always try it.

5. I love travelling to new places and gaining new experiences.

6. My favorite time pass is to observe people when travelling through bus, train or any public transport.

7. I bother a lot about people or I am too conscious about people i.e. I always think ki "main aisa karunga to mere baare me log kya sochenge, kya kahenge, mera mazak udayenge" which sometimes leads me to not enjoy in some scared situations or moments. 

Although, I had some more points to write in above list but I think seven are enough for the moment :)

I would like to share this award to my other fellow bloggers and I hope I will add more people in chain.

Sakshi Chopra: Timeless Imagination

Chithira Menon: My Space

Supriya Garg: Being what I always wanted to be.

Ajai Ravikesavan: AJ's Take

Pratik Gupta: Hakuna Matata

Divya: Sprinkles of Stardust

Megha Punjabi: Alone on the road

Congratulations guys!! I hope you all keep writing on your blogs from your heart, mind and soul.

The day that went by.

By the way, this post was supposed to come on 26th July or if it would have been posted on 27th July then also it was acceptable because one can understand that the guy must have been busy in his bday celebration but posting it after two weeks is something weird but as I promised in my last post that I will write an post on how my day was so here it is. (And, if I say my apologies then is it fine with you?)

So, it was my 29th birthday with full of surprises and I still have 1 year to turn 30, I don't know how I am gonna feel on turning 30 but lets forget about it. Tab ki tab sochenge :) ... back to the topic again.. 

So, it was my birthday and it was a working day so I had to go to the office but the day started with some breakfast surprises, my wife made my favorite things in breakfast and there were the things which I am not allowed to eat very often. When I saw cheese balls and Moong ki daal ka halwa served for me my eyes were gleaming like a 5 year old child who gets happy to have candies and chocolates.

This year my birthday was different as compared to past birthdays, it was my first birthday on a foreign soil with my wife. Earlier, all day used to went in taking bday wishes on phone calls from family and friends but this year it was replaced by few messages on Whatsapp and few calls on Viber (Hum foreign me rehne waale desiyon ke liye Whatsapp, Viber, MobileVoip/Rynga jaisi applications hi sahara hein apni country waalo se touch me rehne ka.) Also, some of my friends and relatives gave me birthday wishes at 00:00 hrs according to Indian time which actually was 8:30 pm here in Sweden so it was a strange feeling to get your birthday wishes on the day before it. Ab ye to hota hi he, hum videsh me chale gaye to kya, apne log to apne deshi time se hi kaam karenge. :D

Oh!! I get carried away in emotions, bbrrrrrrrrr!!! Haan, to kahan the hum....

Yes, after taking that delicious breakfast (with out any suggestions only with appreciations...[what was that?? Well, you will come to know about it in my next post]) I went to my office and it was a usual day with meetings, client conference and daily official work but guys at my office have arranged a little gift for me. They surprised me with a bottle of nice Red wine and it was a first experience to receive my birthday gift in such a nice manner, kyun? India me to toot jaati thi yaar bumps kha kha kar but I was kind of missing my those  kamine friends jo pehle room pe maarte the and phir office waale alag maarte the :)

When I came back to my home in evening my lovely wife has decorated our living area for me for my little bday celebration and she has invited few of our Indian friends as well. Bas, fir kya tha...wohi sab.. cake cutting, bday jingles, exchange of cake and cake facial.

Although it was little but it was nice celebration, 
at least we had some friends here to come over otherwise we two would have celebrated it by ourselves.

The best thing of the day was cake, it was so yummy!! That's why I love Europe, you will get many varieties of breads, cakes, pastries, bun etc and if you are a sweet lover then you will always crave to have those fancy looking items.




Lastly, we went to an only Indian restaurant here for dinner and my special day got finished with the cup of ice-cream. 

So, this was the day that went by and it is always nice to get surprises.... only the good ones :D (Come on who loves to receive bad surprises?)

The year that went by.

It's 26th today and it's my birthday. Turning an another year older does not give any special feeling but the day itself become special. Every year I don't know what happens on this day, I sleep the night before and wake up on this day by feeling special. Suddenly I become special for the world around me, I feel that happiness from inside that its my birthday today and I am special for the day which leads to a constant joyful smile on the face.

I know the whole day will pass with wishes and with the curiosity that who all are going to wish me, whether I am going to get wished by my list of expected people or how many wishes I get from the unexpected people.

I will write another post on how my day was but right now I would like to recall how was the year that went by:-

1. Last year I was with my parents on this day and today I am very very far from them.

2. My wife had surprised me with the gifts which actually already started this time as well.

3. Got reward and recognition from my employer.

4. Learnt dance with my wife and delivered our first stage performance in the marriage of cousin.

5. Was selling and rearranging my household stuff for relocation.

6. Left my Indian employer.

7. Partied hard with my friends before leaving India.

8. Relocated to Sweden and joined an Swedish employer.

9. Joined Android family.

10.. Started to learn new things at work, place, language.

11. Made new Indian friends in Sweden.

12. Have been to Amsterdam, Paris, Stockholm, Norway on trips so far.

13. Had many varieties of cakes, breads, pastries etc so far.

Hmm, not bad. I pray to god to bless me and give me the strength to achieve my all dreams.

Happy Birthday to Me.

That feeling to do nothing.

I don't know about you but sometimes I go in to a state where I don't want to do anything but still I get frustrate that why I am not doing something. Sometimes it happens on a day of weekend and sometimes on weekday. Well, weekday becomes different because in any case I have to do my work in office but then apart from official work I don't feel to do anything and I get irritated with that boredom feeling.

I ask myself, what you want to do

1. Do you want to check your Facebook?
No, it's not interesting anymore.

2. Do you want to watch any movie?
No, I am not feeling to do so.

3. Do you want to sleep?
No, I am not feeling sleepy.

4. Do you want to eat something?
No.

5. Do you want a drink?
Yes, but I am not interested to make it, so leave it.

6. Do you want to talk to somebody?
No, I want to remain silent for some time.

7. Do you want to lay on this sofa like a pig?
No, I don't want that either.

8. Do you want to listen any music?
No, I have already listened my favorite numbers many times.

9. Do you want to complete your unfinished novel?
No, my brain is not in the mood to work.

10. Do you want to cook?
No, I forgot all recipes.

11. Do you want to see porn?
Chee!! No!!

Then what the hell do you want ?
I don't know, I don't know..... this boredom feeling is killing me. Oh dear god, please help me.

And, then I don't know how that phase gets over and I again start doing something.

Btw, doing nothing is in itself a great job you are doing as you are not doing anything. :)

Second hand Jawani and Halkat Jawani

***Disclaimer: No! this post is not about Saifeena and also not about the songs which have the words as of the title of this post. These words do not seem awkward when you listen them in songs but they do if they are used to symbolize about somebody's personal life.
You may find this post a bit weird or ugly due to the usage of language and words which were used actually between a group of people.***

Conversation 1:

Person 1: Abe saale!! wo tujhe pagal bana rahi he, use kar rahi tujhe.

Person 2: yaar aisa kuch nahin he.

Person 1: kya kuch nahin he? hum sab ko kya dikhta nahin he. Pehle waale ko to usne chod diya Gay bolkar and tu fresh he isiliye tere chakkar me he. <Ice daaliyo bhai>.

Person 3: <Oye, mere bhi ice daal de>, sahi to bol rha he ye, tabhi to tere ko itna space de rahi he. Tere alawa aur bhi logo ne module pe saath kaam kiya he phir unse itna friendly kyun nahin hoti wo. Tere ko fasa rahi he wo.

Person 2: yaar! kaisi thinking he tum logo ki!! shit!! hum bas friend he haan professional friend se aage waale friend he bas.

Person 1: Abe, friend vriend kuch nahin hota, tujhe apne jaal main phasa rahi he. Uske liye to badhiya he na ki ek fresh ladka pat jayega, nahin to ek middle class divorcee ko second hand jawani hi milti he.<saala!!, high ho kar bhi uski perwi kar rha he.>

Person 3: Abe koi he nahin uske pass, isiliye tujh me rab dikh rha he use. Warna kaun si "just friend" ladki raat me 1-2 ghante phone pe baat karti he be?

Person 2: WTF!! how do you know that I talk to her in night?

Person 1: <arey ye khatam to kar> Abe BKL!! hum ek flat share karte hein, itna to pta chal hi jaata he kaun kis se baat kar rha he.

Person 3: Initially we thought that you are just doing time pass with her. But now every one on the floor is talking about your not so secret floor love.

Person 2: Guys!! give me a break, Okay!! now both of you are crossing the line and both of you have already insulted mine and her relation whatever it is. I love to spend time with her and I don't care if she was married once or twice, it does not matter to me. It's my personal life and I don't expect to hear such sluggish things from my roommates.

Person 1: <accha hua glass ni phoota> dekh bhai yahi to hum chahte hein that you take a break from her. Try to understand yaar, time pass thik he but why are you so serious about her. You are just 27 and in a year later you will be at good position in your career then you can choose any good girl from many girls. I am not saying that she is not good but she is experienced yaar.

Person 3: and it is like that only, fresh choose fresh for relations.

Person 2: Both of you, shut the fuck up, okay!! if you were not my room mates then I would have broken this bottle of magic moments on your fucking head. Douche bags.

Person 1,2: bhai, ye to gya, ye nahin samjhega.<chalo khatam kare, nahin to humare sir pe hi phootegi>

Conversation 2:

Person 1: Abe tujhe nahin pta? uski do shaadiyaan hui hein.

Person 2: Accha!! aisa kya hua? 

Person 3: Kya pta, bhaag gayi hogi pehle waali chod k ya phir isi ne bhaga diya hoga... maza nahin aa rha hoga ise.

Person 4: tabhi main sochun ki saala har time sab ki maa behen karne pe kyun lga rehta he, lagta he pehle waali chod gayi isiliye aisa rehta he.

Person 1: Abe jo bhi ho, doosri to mil gayi na!! saale ko do do mil gayi phir bhi baaki ladkiyon ko dekh kar tharkiya rehta he. 

Person 3: Saala, yahan ki tharak apni doosri waali pe nikalta hoga.

All: Ha ha ha!! 

Person 5: shhh!! wo saamne se aa rahe hein.

All: Good Morning Sir!

Person 1: Chalo be nikalte hein yahan se nahin to abhi humari hi le lega.

I hope you have interpreted what the above two conversation were about, what they were depicting and for whom by whom. 

Well, it seems that above conversations were taken between uneducated people with orthodox thinking but surprisingly they were taken among the employees of an IT firm for their top most manager and for their colleague. 

It's very sad to see that educated people working in IT firms have such kind of thoughts for people who have been through failed marriage or got married twice for any reason. Why to develop false perception for such people with out even knowing the exact reason of their failed marriage?

We talk and believe that everybody has the right to live a happy and cheerful life on the other hand we symbolize these people as nymphomaniac, despo etc. whatever they do we are always ready to take a vouch on them , laugh about them and criticize them on their back, no one does the same thing for the people who are single or living a happy first marriage life.

There can be many reasons behind a failed marriage which leads one to go for second marriage or to have a second chance in love but it does not mean that society and people want them to be always single to show their sympathy and always pity them "Bechara! kitna bhala aadmi he... ab akela he..." or to use them as an object for making fun.

Different people have different thinking on this topic but I feel that the perception/image of a person should not be based on his/her personal life and one should neither try to find out the reason behind their commitment status nor to project them as a person which actually they aren't.

Trash them up.

From past few weeks operating system on my laptop started giving me warning about low disk space, I don't why it started to buzz me when there was still 8 GB free space left from 300 GB hard disk drive and I was still like "keep talking.. you moron!! I am not gonna do anything until it comes down to 1 GB or 2 GB" but then one day it started behaving like old celeron or P1 processor which actually leads me to do some clean up.

When I started cleaning and rearranging data on hard disk drive I realized that how much clutter and seems to be useful and interesting unwanted things I have stored on it. Having a 300 GB hard disk I didn't think twice before storing something on it. Storing which movie or which songs did not matter till you have the full disk. If you have 500 GB or 1 TB hdd then its just gonna occupied with most of the  things which you actually don't require.

I don't know why I have collected and stored enormous number of technical and some novel's e-books/pdf on my laptop. I have hardly read some of them but I am sure that I am not going to read each and every pdf stored in my laptop in my entire life, so what's the use? I don't know? I still have them... ab gyaan ki cheezein kaise delete mar sakte hein :D. When I was done cleaning I was able to free 80 GB from hdd, it is the size of one hard disk drive which I used to have for my desktop in 2003.

But this whole cleaning process and a blog post who am I by Pooja  lead me to think one thing, just like hard disk drives, how much clutter or unwanted things we generally store or have in our life as well? It all seems to be important and useful but still its all unwanted and the moment you remove it from your life you will feel light, more spacious just like free space in hard disk drives.

Some small things, gives us or teach us some great things, if I start seeing things from a philosophical view then every thing says something to us which we sometimes listen or sometimes ignore.

So, sometimes we need to do them up, I know from hard disk drive perspective its easy and its hard from the real life perspective but still sometimes we need to shred those things.

That innocent child Inside you.

Most of the time I used to say to my wife "Yaar, you know you are talking like kids" or "Why you are behaving like kids? Com'on!!You are grown up, you are not a kid anymore." and to this she always says "haan haan aap to bahut bade ho na, you are sounding like a very very mature person".

Sometimes I wonder, we are now adult who understand things, situations, conditions, we know how to behave and what to speak but still sometimes we become that small kid which we used to be with out caring about this grown up world.

Yesterday, we were at the place of our one of the Indian friend here in Sweden for FIKA ( Swedish verb and noun (pronounced "fee-ka") that means "to drink coffee/tea/squash," with some sweets usually accompanied by friends). We met, chatted and after spending some time there we decided to go back to our place. The moment we reached downstairs it started raining heavily and then we have to stay there to wait for rain to stop.

We were again guests for our host, my friend took out his Nintendo Wii to play some games on it and it was my first experience with Nintendo Wii after all those child hood video games,brick games, college hood computer games (College hood, I know that's not a word :D ) and my experience was awesome. It lets you move from your place so its not like you are sitting at one place all the time in front of the TV screen. I wondered at that time if my parents would have been here at this moment then I could have said to them that "Ab aap log nahin keh sakte ki saare din is game k chakkar me TV k saamne betha rehta he... dekho ye bethna waala game nahin he :D".

The girls were least interested in playing that game so they were chatting and preparing dinner in their kitchen while we boys were jumping, bouncing and shouting while playing games on Wii :). Yesterday, I became that small child when I was playing those games, I told my wife two or three times to not to cross from area between me and the TV screen because I was getting disturb and loosing points there :D. I played, won, loose and giggled about it.

While going back to our place my wife started saying all those dialogues which I used to say her as mentioned in the opening of this post and why shouldn't she, she got such a nice chance to say something same back to me. :D, she was happy, I was happy, we both were happy.

It was fun to play such kind of games till college life, I don't know how and where that charm for these games vanished midst of job, career and family life but it is always fun to somethings which you did in your childhood. Its not like that I was not aware about Nintendo Wii or Xbox but still never purchased them. I still remember that day when my father bought us (me and my brother) our first video game and again he became super dad from just dad :D........ and we started to install it with TV and started fighting to choose who is gonna take first remote.... and...

Pufffffffffffffffffffffffffffff............. ohhh.... I am just back from my old memories. I know I was talking like a kid.

Modernity has stolen the greatest gift to mankind -- Innocence **read it somewhere, don't know who penned it**

Takiya Kalaam (Catch Phrase)

Takiya kalaam a term from Urdu language, used as a metaphor. It roughly  means 'a habit to say particular words (sometimes with no meaning),even when not necessary'.

I believe everyone of us have one such kind of catch phrase and we speak it almost every time when talking to someone with out realizing that we are saying it. It comes so unintentionally that sometimes you say it when it is not supposed to be said in some situations.

These catchphrase gets so attached with you that they become part of your identity and if you have spent some time with a person then you can easily identify him with his catch phrase. Actually, that's how I identified one of my friend :), few days back I received a call from India from a unknown number and the conversation went like this

Me: Hello! this is Ankit speaking.

Friend: Aur be saale, kya haal hein?? (How are you doing man?)

I realized that this must be one of my friend (as most of my friends start talking like this and even I do the same with them, no Hi no Hello direct baat... Seedhi baat, no bakwaas :D) so I replied  in a manner to not to sound like I have not recognized him.

Me: main.... main sahi hoon.... saale tu kaisa he? (I am doing fine dude, how are you?)

Friend: main bhi mast hoon.... saale pehchaana ki nahin pehchaana? (I am fine as well, did you recognize me?)

Now there comes the tough question, the answer was No but I didn't tell him this.

Me: Abe kaisi baat kar rha he, kyun nahin pehchaanuga, bhai he tu. (What are you saying bro, why wouldn't I recognize you?)

Friend: Chalna Kamine, mujhe pta he....nahin pehchaana tune... saale India se bahar jaa kar bhool gya bhai ko. (Oh come on man, I know you have not recognized me, you forgot me after going out of India)

Now, here starts the emotional drama

Me: Abe kaisi baat kar rha he, tujhe kaise bhool sakta hoon? (What are you saying man, how can I forget you)

Friend: accha!! chal naam bta kaun bol rha hoon? (Alright! tell me my name and who am I?)

Oh! now I was caught but still I managed to some more emotional drama

Me: abe kaisi baat kar rha he yaar, tujhe vishwaas nahin he mujh pe, ab kya tujhe naam bataunga tabhi manega tu? ( Come on dude! what are you talking about, don't you believe me? Now, Do I need to tell you your name to make you believe that I have recognized you).

Friend: nahin be... chod, mazak kar rha tha... "Aur bta kya maujh aa rahi he"

"Aur bta kya maujh aa rahi he" suddenly this line ran through all over my brain and my brain indicated that it is familiar with this line, it has heard this line somewhere and then it started Googling for this line in the mind database to find out that associated link or name with this line. Bingo! It give me a name and a smile on my face. 

Me: bas yaar chal rha he asusal, tu bta <yahan maine uska naam liya, mujhe confirm ho jaye ki wo wahi he and use bhi vishwaas ho jaye ki maine use pehchaan liya> kya chal rha he? (nothing new buddy, life is going as usual, you tell me  <here I took his name to confirm myself and also to make him believe that I know who  he is> how is it going at your end ?)

 and the conversation followed.

So this is how an Takiya Kalaam or catchphrase can help you in some situations if you know about them for different person.

One more thing, have you  noticed the English translation of that conversation? Isn't it more funny in English :)

Dil ki nahin Dimaag ki lag gayi...

You know what, I listened this song "Dil ki toh lag gayi" from the Movie Nautanki Saala, I like this song and right from that moment is gaane ne mere dimaag ki lga di he :) although this songs talks about "Dil ki toh lag gayi" :)

Does it ever happened to you that you liked a particular song, heard it 4-5 times and then you feel that this song is playing continuously in your mind every time? Whatever work you are doing your mind is playing this song in background in parallel to giving you inputs to do that work (multiprocessing..) and the moment you start humming or whistling a song then its the same one on your lips. 

It doesn't matter how many times you say STOP!! STOP!! to your mind or try stopping it by putting your finger on upside of your eye (The Rowdy Rathore style) it doesn't stop. Its like conscious mind wants to work and subconscious mind wants to play this song at the same time, two parts of brain competing with each other to see who wins either by distracting me from work completely or getting me concentrated on work completely. Log kehte hein ki apne dimaag ki nahin dil ki suno but sometimes dil k darwaze pe dastak dene pe bhi koi jawab nahin milta lekin aisi situation me to dil bhi kehta he ki "beta, kaam kar le nahin to teri **** lag jayegi". Lastly, feeling irritated and helpless you have to just let your brain fight because dimaag to dimaag he... Dil to pagal he lekin aisi situation me to saala dimaag pagal he.. Nautanki Saala!!

Well, this what happening with me, let's see how long this continues :)

Monday Morning Blues..

Monday, a day to start new week and like most of you I also don't like Monday morning blues. 

I everyday look forward to go to my office and do work but still Monday of every week is the most unmanageable day for me. I don't know what weekend does to my body, every plan or procedures to avoid Monday morning blues gets fail at the moment when I have to wake up in the morning, I don't know how many times my alarm clock goes for snooze round before I actually switch it off.

The hangover of sleep doesn't go very easily, I don't know about you but I usually feel sleepy and lazy whole day and after completing my whole day at office (anyhow..) I just want to fall asleep right after having my dinner so that I can get some extra sleep to compensate the left over sleep of Monday and to avoid Tuesday morning blues but in reality this does not happens most of the time :( . The whole day I felt sleepy and thinking about getting some more sleep but the moment when I try to sleep early on Monday evening I could not, I don't know why my mind plays these strange games with  my body.

The same thing happens on Friday night (I know you must be thinking who sleeps early on Friday night.... well, neither I), the joy and excitement of weekend, the feeling to get lazy just takes the thoughts of sleeping on usual time away on Friday evening :).... isn't it strange? saala kuch to chemical locha he...

Well, you may find many tips and tricks to avoid Monday morning blues but I am sure for most of you they gets fail on the Monday morning.

Are you Facebook Dumb or Facebook Intelligent?

Seriously, tell me are you a Facebook dumb or Facebook intelligent?

Well, if you are not getting what I mean by Facebook dumb or Facebook intelligent and want to know about it then keep reading, otherwise, if you think this is a stupid question or you already know the answer then you may leave this page right away.(If you are leaving then thanks for increasing the visitor counter by one and I hope you come back here again :D)

So, what I meant by Facebook dumb or Facebook intelligent is:- (In my view)

1. A person who uses Facebook with out caring about privacy settings or about the audience of their profile can be categorized as Facebook dumb i.e. a person who post/share anything on their profile mainly photos or their friend's photos with public settings can be considered as Facebook dumb.

2. A person who uses Facebook by taking in to consideration that who is going to be the audience for their each post can be categorized as Facebook intelligent i.e. a person who does not post their personal or their friend's information publicly.

Although, if a person is posting something with public settings on purpose then the above categories are not for them.

If you fall under the first category then keep reading else congratulations you are not Facebook dumb.

Well, through some shared articles or photos on Facebook you might have read about misuse of photos posted by people here. I am not saying that it is totally true but in a rarest case if it is happening than isn't it worth to give a thought about your privacy setting before posting anything especially picture on Facebook?

Posting pictures with public access on social media portals/websites is something like a irreversible process, once you have posted it then it's not sure that it will not exist anymore the moment you delete it.

I am not saying that you should stop posting but always choose what you want to share with public and what with your friends, even Facebook has customized access settings to a very good extent in terms of choosing the audience of your content.

Oftentimes while browsing Facebook I come across many profiles where I saw the entire albums of people who are not in my friends list, I thought they might have album/photos visibility settings set to friends of friends but to my surprise they were posted as public. If I can see them then any body on this Facebook world can see them. This is the situation when I call such profile owners as Facebook dumb.

Well, it may be possible that you are falling in this category unknowingly because there can be many reasons for that. In this era of smart phones and tablets people generally use their smart device to upload photos as it is the most easiest way to share your picture among friends without taking the pain to first transfer pictures from your smart device to desktop/laptop and then upload them manually. It could be one of the reason to categorize one as Facebook dumb.

Facebook application or in fact any other social media applications on Windows, Android and Mac platforms makes this task easy for you, just go to the gallery, select pictures, select share on Facebook/Twitter/Google +, enter your status and done. After pressing button done the application goes in background and upload your pictures to your account but, here, I would like you to keep one thing in mind, you still have to select privacy settings of your album otherwise it will get posted as public.

Well, I am not going to mention or reiterate all the privacy settings of Facebook here as you can refer them there itself but I would like to quote some tips:-

1. Select your audience while posting through any smart device.

2. While uploading your pictures through web interface do check settings. Look for settings button while creating album or adding photos in a album through web interface. When Facebook changes it album creating and photo uploading interface then buttons may get rearranged.

3. When posting through your wall "what's on your mind?" then select your audience before posting.

4. Make separate lists from your friends list to classify your photos, posts among the group. For example, make a list of all family members among whom you can share your personal family photos or make a list of your bff among whom you can share your top secret stuff :).

5. Decide what you want to share with your friends and what with your friend of friend.

6. While tagging your friends check if you are not compromising their security settings.

7. Android devices comes with a feature of instant upload on Google+  i.e. any picture you will click on your phone will get upload automatically from your gallery on Google+. This feature is enabled by default so check your phone settings and disable it if you don't want instant upload.

8. Cover photos are public be default and you can not customize it so decide if you want to post your picture on it.

9. You can select visibility settings of your friends list, albums, which pages or to whom you are following and who all are following you. Select your setting.

10. You can view your profile as your friend i.e. you can check how one of your friend will see your profile, this is an useful facility provided by Facebook to adjust your privacy settings. The default view is set as public.

So, you, Facebook dumb people I hope you get my purpose of writing this post. Now don't be a Facebook dumb, be a Facebook intelligent.

Unknown Relations

As the title of this post says sometimes we don’t know what to name some relations or can we actually call them as relations? In our day to day life we come across many strangers, we forget most of them because we do not see them often but sometimes we remember some faces. Faces of those who come across regularly in our day to day life. It is not necessary that these people are our friends, colleagues because with them you interact.

They can be any one or two out of all who boards the same bus/train as you do every day or just a person who runs a shop which you pass every day.

You don’t speak or interact to them but you see them everyday,you don’t even pass a small smile across to say silent hello on seeing each other every next day but your eyes start searching for that person if you don’t see him/her in your daily schedule and you start wondering about their reason of absence and assume it yourself. You don’t do anything about it because it doesn't matter to you at all but again your eyes start looking for him/her the very next day just to mark his/her presence.

Some times it happens that you don’t see that person for a week or two and then suddenly seeing him/her makes you willing to ask if everything is all right and why he/she was not coming but you did not do it. You just get a kind of strange satisfaction and the day to day journey continues. If the person doesn’t show up any longer then you just don’t care and forget him/her.

So, can we give such unnamed relations any name? I guess, no they are just Unknown relations. Btw, do you have any such relations?

Tips and Guide for Linkoping, Sweden

Note: I have moved this blog to http://desiswede.com where the content is more updated as compared to here. Request you to kindly visit this link to get the same updated information mentioned on this page.

I came here in Feb 2013 and I am writing this post based on my personal experience and all information provided by the fellow Indians who are living here since long time (a big thanks to them) to help people who are coming from India or nearby countries of India. I have tried to put the smallest details here but if you have any questions then please don’t hesitate to ask through comments.

1. How to arrive in Linkoping.
2. Preparing for travel.
3. Banks in Linkoping.
4. Local commutation.
5. Vegetarian Restaurants.
6. Shopping Stores.
7. Doctors and Medicine.
8. Finding an apartment.
9. Swedish for immigrants.
10.Swedish social insurance agency.
11. Getting your personal number.
12. Getting an contract phone.
13. General monthly expenditure.
14. Some useful links.
15. Electricity contracts.

16. Driving License.

17. Jobs.

1. How to arrive in Linkoping:

I know, the obvious answer is through Flight but I am going to tell you a cost effective way. Try to look for flight to Stockholm from New Delhi or Mumbai and then take train or bus from Stockholm to Linkoping. Turkish airlines offers much cheaper tickets to Stockholm as compared to KLM and Air France.

You can come to Linkoping through Amsterdam or Copenhagen by KLM or Air France airline but it will cost you more. Actually, Linkoping airport receives flights only from KLM and Air France.

There is a direct train to Linkoping from Stockholm Arlanda airport and direct bus to Linkoping from Stockholm bus central.
So, choose your cost effective way.

2. Preparing for Travel:

It is advisable to keep the following things for Sweden before leaving India:-

1. A good jacket, woollen skull cap, hand gloves and muffler. I will suggest to buy a woodland jacket. It works like wonder here. Overcoat also works but jacket is more easy and insulates you from every single point from where cold or wind can enter inside.

2. Shoes:
   For Men: Leather shoes, I will recommend for Woodland. It works here. You may also like 
   to buy high neck shoes for winters.

   For Women: Boots with flat heel. Boots with high heels will make them tired soon
   because if you do not have any vehicle here then the only option you have is to walk.

   For Both: Keep a pair of sport shoes as it will help you in spring and summers for walking.

3. Sweaters: I would like to recommend you to not to put your many or heavy sweaters because when you will go out then you can not survive only in your sweater, you have to wear jacket but once you are inside any building then you will not be able to tolerate your sweater or even your jacket. There is always warm inside with the help of heaters.

4. Travel card: I recommend to take a SEK travel card which you can buy from any HDFC bank or Axis bank branch in India. It helps a lot while doing shopping here and if you are not going to have some cash in your hand during your initial days then it will work for you like wonder. The SEK card from HDFC bank is much cheaper, they charge card issuance fees as Rs 125 while Axis bank charge card issuance fees as Rs 250.

In Sweden, every shop retailer has card machines as Swedish government is targeting to stop hard cash flow of lately. If you are planning to bring Euros in cash and get it convert in to SEK from money exchanger then please keep in mind that there is no money exchanger at Linkoping airport but if you are coming through Stockholm then you can find one there.

5. Travel Insurance: If you are coming here for long time then it may take some time for your personal number to arrive and with out personal number or co-ordination number you will not be able to have any medical assistance here, so, its better to take your own travel insurance for say 1-2 month from ICICI Lombard or Bajaj Alliance ( these two are going good these days) but don’t spend too much on them.

6. Medicines: Bring some medicines with you for emergency purpose. You can bring 3 months medicines with doctors subscription and put them in check in bag, generally no body checks about it but why to take chance. Do remember to put first aid small essentials like band aids, cotton, antiseptic tubes etc.

7. If you are Indian food lover than it is highly recommended to bring pressure cooker and a kadhai for deep frying. You will not find them here easily and if you get them then they are very expensive.

In Linkoping, there are no gas burners, hot plates are used so bring your utensils with flat bottom surface.

8. Grocery items for initial days. Put everything in Checkin bag and everything will pass through.

3. Banks in Linkoping:

Only Handelsbanken has Internet banking in English among other banks. Nordea bank has their mobile application in English.

Handelsbanken has no yearly charge for Internet banking as other banks has around 250 SEK/year or 39 SEK/month. Handelsbanken charges SEK 250/year for your Visa based ATM cum debit card.

Opening an bank account is a job of 15 minutes but for that you should have your personal number and Swedish ID card (it costs SEK 400). Most of the bank will not open an account for you if you don’t have an personal number and Swedish ID card but Handelsbanken can open an account for you with your personal number and your passport as identity but they will not provide internet banking un till you give them copy of Swedish ID card however you can use their Swedish mobile phone banking application.

4. Local Commutation:

For local commutation you can walk, use bicycle or take bus. You can find more information about city buses from www.ostgotatrafiken.se. All buses originates and ends at Resecentrum which is the central point of Linkoping, the bus station and Linkoping central train station are connected with each other.

You can not buy tickets in the bus so you have to obtain a bus card from their office at Resecentrum/Linkoping central station. First time card issuance fee is SEK 20 and you can recharge it with any amount. You can use single card for a family of four.

They have below classification for the fare amount:

For Age between 7-25: Youth, fare is SEK 12
For Age between 26-69: Adult, fare is SEK 19
For Age above 70: Old, fare is SEK 12
For Family: fare is SEK 34

Note: Once you punch the card in bus then you can travel at many places or change buses between the first hour, all you need to do is to just punch your card every time you board a bus. If you are still under first one hour then machine will give green signal otherwise it will give red signal and then you have to do take tickets again.

Ex: Suppose you boarded the bus at 10:00 AM then you can change the bus and go to other place in the same price till 11:00 AM. However, after 11:00 AM if you board the bus then you have to again swipe your bus card to purchase ticket.

5. Vegetarian Restaurants:

If you are a vegetarian then you don’t have to worry much, you will get limited vegetarian options in restaurants here.

1. Mc Donalds:  Mc Donalds have vegeterian options in all over Sweden. You will get Mc Bean burger and Mc Veggie wrap (Similar to Paneer wrap in India). They use Kidney bean (Rajma) tikki instead of Aaloo tikki. You can find many outlets in Linkoping.

2. Pizza Hut: There is only one outlet of Pizza hut present in Linkoping and that is near Tornby Centrum. You can take bus number 10 from Resecentrum to IKEA and walk from there or you can take bus number 1 from Resecentrum to Skaggetorp and walk from there.

Pizza hut offers good options for vegetarian pizzas, they also have vegetarian Salad options.

3. Yogi: The only Indian restaurant which is present in down town at Platensgatan 5.
Despite of only Indian restaurant in city it does not has good reviews for Indian food.

4.Tapas: at Sparregatan 5  http://tapaslinkoping.se/ You will get good vegetarian options but its not Indian.

5. Meze: Its a completely vegetarian Lebanese restaurant http://www.almeza.se/.

6. Burger King: They keep vegetarian burgers.

7. Max: Its an Swedish version of Mc Donalds and you will get vegetarian burger.

8. Subway: Vegetarian Sandwich named as Veggie Biff is available in Subway.

9. Spicy India: Another Indian restaurant located in food court of Skaggetorp centrum

6. Shopping Stores:

6.1 Stores where you can buy Furniture and general house hold stuff:

1. IKEA: Provides the most cheapest furniture, kitchen utensils, textiles and many other things. Check www.ikea.se

2. Rusta: A big General store. Check www.rusta.se

3. Biltema: This store is a house for all mechanical things like electronics, bicycles, tyres, hardware etc. Check www.biltema.se

4. Coop Forum: A big General store.

6.1.1 Second hand stores:

5. Myrorna: A second hand store. People donate their used things in this store which is sold at cheapest price and the money goes to Salvation Army of Sweden. You can get used stuff but in good condition like Sofa, furniture, textiles, clothing at non beatable price. Its good for buying furniture and house hold decorative items. Check www.myrorna.se

6. Heart to Heart: A second hand store like Myrorna but it is much  bigger as compared to Myrorna. Check www.hearttoheart.se

7. Linkopings Stadsmission: an another second hand store at St. Larsgatan 43A,58224 Linkoping. Its across the street to Netto.

8. Erikshjalpen: www.erikshjalpen.se

6.2 Stores where you can buy general grocery stuff:

The good thing here is that you will get most of the things in terms of vegetables and fruits and one thing to keep in mind is that every store has its own price for the same product,so if you find something expensive in one store then you may like to take a chance to look for that same thing in other grocery store.

Hemköp:

This is one of the big grocery store in Sweden and it has several outlets in Linkoping so you can check your near by areas for it. It has its branch in Linkoping downtown near Swedbank.
This store has good variety of vegetables. You can get Indian Mangos and Indian Pickles here.

Netto:

This is the cheapest store among all Swedish grocery store and it has its several outlets in Linkoping so you can check your near by areas for it. It has its branch in Linkoping downtown near Mc Donalds. Just look around Mc Donalds and you will find it.
If you do not find any vegetable or fruit here then you can visit nearby Hemkop for the same.

Ica:

It is a general grocery store in Sweden and it has several outlets in Linkoping so you can check your near by areas for it. Its prices are between Hemköp and Netto.

Priso:

Same as others but one of the expensive grocery store but it has large variety of vegetables and fruits as compared to Hemköp and Netto.

Siam Shop:

It is a Thai shop and it is very near to Hemköp in down town. You can get good and fresh Lady fingers and green chillies from here. They get fresh stock every Wednesday.

6.3 Stores where you can buy Indian grocery stuff:

Salam, Skaggetorp Centrum:

This is an Iranian store,they keep things imported from Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and you can find many of the Indian items at good price. This shop is in a big mall which is just in front of Skaggetorp centrum bus stop. You can take bus number 1 from Resecentrum (central bus station) to Skaggetorp and same bus number to Resecentrum. There are one or two people who understands and speaks English.
You can get following things from here:-

• 5kg/10kg packets of Shakti bhog Aata.
• 5Kg/10kg packets of Indian Basmati Rice (Unfortunately no Indian brand but few brands from Pakistan which has Indian basmati rice).
• Haldiram’s namkeens, bhelpuri.
• Gits instant mix food item like rasmalai, gulab jamun, idli, uttapam mix etc.
• Gits or Haldiram’s ready to eat food packets.
• All kind of Indian Masalas, daals, chole (Chick pea), rajma (Kidney Beans).
• Poha, soozi (Semolina in Swedish), ghee (from one of the Pakistan's Brand).
• Suzi toast (rusk), Haldiram’s pickles, Sun flower Oil, Indian Tea (Chai patti), Rooh-Afaza.
• Chicken Tikka Masala and other stuff for Non Vegeterians.
• Vegetables like Lady finger (Okra in Swedish) and other.
• All kinds of Dry fruits.

Below is the Salam store layout:-

Days of Operation: Mon-Fri:08-21, Sat: 08-20, Sun:10-19
Tel :+4613176901

Frukt and Nutt, Ryd Centrum:

You can get Indian Masale, daal and other stuff here as well but it is a bit expensive as compared to Salam. I mainly go here to pick Haldiram’s paani puri and namkeens. You will get Poha, soozi and good variety of Haldiram’s Namkeen. This shop is in a mall at ground floor which is just behind the bus stop of Ryd Centrum. It is a fourth or fifth shop from the entrance at left hand side. This shop also has flower shop so you can recognise through it.
You can take bus number 3 from Resecentrum to Ryd Centrum and vice versa.
Tel: +4613172205
Address: Mårdtorpsgatan 27, 584 32, Ryd Centrum, Linkoping.

Stores where you can buy cloths:

Lindex and H&M are two good stores in down town. Go to down town and you will find them.

Stores where you can buy shoes: 

There is a shop called Diechmen in Granden Mall at Down town. Here you will get shoes at reasonable price with lots of variety.

7. Doctor and Medicines:

Once you get your personal number then you will be allotted to a clinic based on your residential area. You can call clinic’s 24 hours number to talk about your problem and take appointment to see the doctor. You have to pay initial amount ~ SEK 1000 in a year and if your expenditure goes beyond that then it is covered automatically by your health insurance. So no more payments in hospital for any kind of hospitalization after SEK 1000.
You will not be able to purchase prescribed medicines with out doctor’s prescription and you will also not get any medicines with your Indian doctor’s prescription. You need to pay ~SEK1200 for medicines in a year after which you will get it for free.

Prescribed Medicines for Children till age of 18 years is free.

8. Finding an apartment:

Well, you will not like the system here for renting an apartment. In Sweden, everything goes on queue system (In most of the stores you will find a token machine in a corner and you need to take your token and wait for your turn) so once your dates of arrival gets finalize register yourself to one of the housing websites to earn queue points. Normally it takes around 3 months for a person to get an apartment on rent. However, the jugaad system is present here in this case. If you ask your employer for it then they might help you in this or if your employer knows any landlord directly then he can help you in making a deal.
Like India, there is no 2 months or 3 months rent as a security amount system here. You just need to pay the rent for next month by 30th or 31st of every month. The house rent normally includes laundry, heating system and sauna bath in it.

Below are the links which may help you in finding an apartment in Linkoping:-

http://www.studentbostader.se/

http://www.stangastaden.se

http://www.graflunds.se/

http://bostadspoolen.com

http://willhem.se/
http://www.victoriapark.se/
http://mannersons.se/

9. Swedish for Immigrants:

SFI is a program run by Swedish government and it is totally free for people who are new and from outside of Sweden. You need to register for it once your personal number arrives.
Note: You can not do anything with out your personal number here.

10. Swedish Social Insurance Agency:

In Swedish it is called as Försäkringskassan  and it is agency which insures that you get your benefits and allowances you are entitled to. The Swedish social insurance covers everyone that lives or works in Sweden. It provides finan­cial protection for families and children, for persons with a disability and in connection with work injury, illness and old age.
Visit this link:  http://www.forsakringskassan.se/sprak/eng

As of now this was all in my mind which I wrote here but I will keep updating this page so keep visiting here.

11. Getting Your Personal Number:

As soon as you arrive in Sweden the first you should do is to get register yourself at Swedish tax office which is Skatteverket http://www.skatteverket.se. This tax office is in downtown, check their website to find exact address.

All you need to do is to take your passport, visa, marriage certificate (in case you are along with your spouse) in originals with you and fill out an form for personal number. They will make copies of your documents and register your request. Your personal number will arrive soon.

12. Getting an Contract Phone:

If you are new in Sweden and you want to purchase a contract phone with one of the phone operators like Telenor, Telia, 3, Tele2 etc than there are different conditions applied by these operators so its better to check with them. Generally, these operators require your stay in Sweden to be minimum six months or sometimes two years before providing you the contract phone, some of them will even ask you for your Swedish ID card.

If you are here to work for more than two years then you can give them your work contract paper and they may give you a contract phone, at least Telenor gave me a contract phone based on my work contract.

You can also buy an smart phone on cash i.e. with out any contract but I would say a big no for that as electronics is much expensive as compared to India, so, its better to buy your smart phone in India and use it here.

13. General Monthly Expenditure:

Well it depends from person to person on how much one likes to go restaurants, shopping and spend money on movies and all but if I have to give a general idea then it generally goes around SEK 15000 to SEK 20000 for a family of two (husband and wife) including monthly house rent, electricity bill, telephone bills, Indian grocery items and two to three times lunch or dinner at restaurants.

Go to Top

14. Some useful websites:

www.blocket.se   -->   Website for sale and purchase like olx.com and sulekha.com in India

www.momondo.se --> Travel website like makemytrip.com and yatra.comwww.compriser.se --> A comparison website for comparisons of Insurance, electricity charges etc.

www.ryanair.com --> This is the cheapest airline to go on different places in Europe.

www.mediamarkt.se --> Online electronic items store.

www.netonnet.se      --> Online electronic items store.
www.dustin.se          --> Online electronic items store.

15. Electricity Subscriptions:

If your apartment's electricity is not sponsored (if you are working at University and staying in an apartment provided by University then electricity contracts and bills are taken care by University) then you are the one who needs to take up an electricity contract.

In Sweden, electricity is traded like commodity in market so there is always variations in the rates of electricity. Here, two companies are involved to provide electricity in your apartment, one company is responsible for laying down the electricity wiring network and the other company is responsible for sending power to your apartment through electricity wire.

You can choose different between electricity (they call it as Energy in Sweden) providers as they have different rates for per kwh but you can not choose between different electricity wiring network providers.

Every consumer has to pay two bills, a fixed yearly charge for using electric wiring network and your energy/power/electricity bill based on your consumption.

You can use website www.compriser.se to see comparisons for consumption charger per kwh provided by different electricity vendors and the electricity price-kwh is normally cheaper during summers and expansive in winters so if you make an contract in summer then you will pay less in winters.

You can go for a contract between three options:-

1. Fixed: The price which you selecting at the time of taking contract will be fixed till the duration of your contract (like for 1 year, 6 months, 3 months etc).

2. Movable: The price will move up or move down according to the daily market rate of electricity.

3. Both: It includes 50% of fixed price and 50% of movable price till the duration of your contract.

If you take a contract for one year then the price/kwh will be less as compared to prices in other options. It may be possible that this is not true always so better you check when you are making an contract.

Two things to keep in mind before making an contract :-

4. Notice period i.e. while making an contract check about the notice period time to be given by you to the electricity provider in case you are changing your electricity provider. It is also advisable that before making an contract with other electricity provider you call your current provider and ask them if they can give you the price/kwh which you are getting from other provider. They don't mind when you take name of other provider.

5. Type of home: If you are living in an apartment then select apartment or select villa. There is always a difference between price/kwh for villa and apartment in which apartment is cheaper then villa.

16. Driving License:

If you are planning to have a car or to drive here then there are three options but the last one is kind of a Jugaad.
1. Before your arrival here take an international driving license from India. It is valid for 1 year in all over Europe.
2. If you are here for long time then you can apply for a driving license here but this option is a costly job. You will first have to apply for a driving course at Traffic School, the driving course takes around 5-6 months and after passing the driving exams you can apply for Swedish driving license.
3. If you are on a contract job here which is longer than 1 year then you can apply for a temporary license through Transport authority and it costs between 600 SEK to 700 SEK. The validity of this temporary license will be till the end of your contract date.


17. Jobs:

Well, this is a tough part here. For getting a job here has a requirement of knowledge of Swedish language. Although, if you know any Swedish person who can refer you then this compulsory thing of Swedish language gets ignored. So Jugaad yahan bhi chalta he.
For part time jobs also they require Swedish language so apply for SFI classes as soon as you arrive here.


PS: There is also an second part available of this post which you may also like to go through, please visit it here