My Stockholm Diary -19

At Hötörget

At Stockholm Centralan

August 4 was an exceptionally hot day in Stockholm with temperature around 35 degree Celsius. I went to down town with Anju by Pendel Tog (local train) from Rotebro and changed to tunnelbana from Stockholm Centralan. From T- Central (Central Station of Tunnelbana) to Östermalmtorg station and reached my son Naresh´s shop, Bomboo Organiconly in Sture Gallerian, a high end Mall in the heart of Stockholm. It was a good experience to renew our association and stay in Stockholm from 1991-94. The infrastructure was good already which has been maintained very well. We in the developing countries like India need to learn much from countries like Sweden in this regard. In the afternoon, I ventured to walk from Sture Gallerian through Kungsgatan, Sveavägen Hötörget and Drottninggatan to reach the Indian Embassy. Memories of our stay crossed my mind. I used to walk around these places during the lunch break. Drottninggatan was as alive and vibrant as it used to be. One glaring difference was that there were beggars around on every nook and corner. It was not the position before. I think it is the ill effect of the enlarged EU. Swedish people enjoyed healthy life style. They were slim and tall. Now there were more out of shape  and obese ladies particularly children walking around. It seems that it is impact of junk food and excessive use of modern gadgets  and services like Telephones, TV, Games etc. Less and less people are interested in healthy entertainment and sports. 

With Ambassador Manoj Bharti, Anamika  Bharti& Bimla Chander

At the Indian Embassy, I met the Charge d´Affaires Jagdish Meena, First Secretary Bimla Chander, an old family friend, Attache Vijay Chauhan who was working with us in Prague and other officials of the Embassy. It was nice and nostalgic to see my old work place. We were to meet my colleague and successor in Minsk (Belarus) Ambassador Manoj Bharti and his wife Anamika at the Embassy after their city tour for sight seeing. Manoj and Anamika were visiting Stockholm privately by car and boat. I found them adventures and energetic to undertake this long journey. It was pleasant to meet and talk to them and renew our memories of Minsk. With a view to have a little longish time with them, Naresh invited them for some refreshments in one of the good restaurants  on the nearby Drottninggatan. It was good and refreshing.