Sweden ಅನುಭವಗಳು

ಪ್ರೀತಿಯ ದೊಡ್ಡಪ್ಪ 

ನಾನು ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿಗೆ ಬಂದಾಗ ನನ್ನ ಅನುಭಾವಗಳನೆಲ್ಲಾ ಬರೆಯಬೇಕೆಂದು ಆಸೆ ಪಟ್ಟಿರಿ. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ಈ ಬ್ಲಾಗ್. ಇದನ್ನು ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲೇ ಬರೆದರೆ ಹೃದಯ ಮುಟ್ಟುವುದೆಂಬ ಭಾವನೆ, ಆದರೆ ನನ್ನ ಕನ್ನಡವನ್ನು ನೋಡಿ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಹೃದಯಕ್ಕೆ ಆಘಾತ ಆಗಬಾರ್ದಲ್ಲವೇ?

Anyways, last weekend I had been to a place called Björboholm, Lerum ( read as : byurboholm, leeroom) which is located 40kms from my house. It was a Friday evening. I was out in the town with a few friends (from Volvo). Suddenly, I received a call from a friend (we are a group of 4. 2 boys and 2 girls, one of it is me) been a asking for where I was. He probably was mad at me as I was not at home waiting to leave to the country side to celebrate the birthday of another friend of his. The birthday boy is also my friend, probably not as much as he is to the others. On my defence- I was mad too, since I need atleast 2 days of notice to go anywhere (not that I had work to do over the weekend but just the thought of half hour notice feels bizarre).

I headed straight to the train station from the town and they joined me there. We took the bus from city at 8:24 and it is a 46minute bus ride on Orange express. It is January, the more inland we go the more white with snow it gets. the temperature was maybe about -5 degrees. I had been to the cottage previously for a strategic planning workshop. I was the only one aware that the cottage was 4kms walk from the main road. There is definitely nothing to be afraid of in the terrain / cold of Swedish winter, however, the cold and the dark itself freaked me out a little bit. But as we got off the bus and started to walk, my fears faded as I was well dressed (as the swedish saying goes “ there in nothing like bad weather, its bad clothing”). We walked on icy roads though the piles of snow. The journey was spectacular-nothing to be afraid of, nothing to fear.

What amuses me even more is the little cute cottage I have seen in the summer. It had not impressed me as much it did this time. Far away land in the winter wonderland was this tiny cottage for 6 people. Exceptionally nice land lord, horses, hot water, excellent sewage, house heating, beds, microwave, TV, radio, fridge, hot plate (to cook) and even a couch. There was nothing more I could ask for. It impresses me how swedish people are equipped with everything. I wonder if is because of the economic situation of the country as a whole or the general attitude of a swede!

Earning respect!

As I wrote my previous post, it just flashed to me that I met another immensely influential person on the very same day!! And so I decided, I should write about him.

I was so involved in talking to people and stuffing my face with cookies and delicious apple pie, that I barely moved from my seat at the fika table. In the middle of this random conversation with people around me (I was acting socially incapable), fairly old, quite plump and adorably cute (I know I really cant describe a person in this way: since he is much more older and is a person of high stature approached me :P). He has sparkling, powerful and approachable eyes. He walked up-to me along the room - it had an old rusty decoration but was impressively well maintained. Across the big rose wood table, he called me. Inside my head it spun- who would want to talk to me? Did I screw-up something? Where is the sound coming from? I reacted rather quick wondering why someone like him wanted to talk to me. In my wonder stuck situation, i got up from my seat and pushed around several people (as I was sitting in the center of this magnificent table) before I made it to him. 

It was a very short conversation lasted less than 2 minutes. He said exactly 2 sentences to me : "Good speech down there! I wanted to talk to you, since I am Chairman of the Board, I would like to be in touch with you" (or this is how I remember it). And we exchanged emails and I sent him a thank you email. EOC(end of conversation).

The next day I see an email sitting in my inbox from him. xxx it read:

Hi, as I said I am most interested in feedback on the master program.

Do not hesitate to contact me if you believe I can help.

Btw: I am using linkedin for keeping order of my connections.

Feel free to send me an invite to LinkedIn

I could not find you. I guess your name is not that uncommon.

Regards

Natural feeling, I expected no email reply from him at all. It thrilled me. It also left me thinking. And even today I wonder and feel amazed. It was a 2 mins conversation. He inspired me. No matter how far up we reach, one must never forget the person within you. He earned the respect. His actions spoke stronger than his words. Some things may feel small life. You never know what you are leaving behind- like Bjorn did to me. It may have been his job, but it takes great maturity in life to walk up-to to a small student like me in a filled room (I am not familiar with it from where I come from). 

Swedishness justified!!