Tags:
Journalism of Courage
8220;Everything looks beautiful in this city.8221; Quite a sweeping statement this, but a mere reproduction of Anders Muller8217;s sentiments. The 18-year-old Dane is a first year student at the Mahindra United World College of India at Mulshi. Out of Europe for the first time, this teenager shrugs and says, 8220;I8217;m not a big-city person,8221; which is how he describes Mumbai, Delhi and even Pune to a certain extent.
His first trip out of Europe, and though the change from his countryside island hometown of Taasinge is drastic, he is quickly getting accustomed to the foreign land. His sharp reaction on walking out of the Sahar Airport at Mumbai, and which was reiterated on landing in Pune about two months ago, has mellowed and he has since recovered his bearings.
And from the way Anders talks, it8217;s evident he prefers our city over the capital any day. 8220;The people here are polite to foreigners. You don8217;t have them staring at you as has been my experience in Delhi. Nor do they attack you for alms.8221; Pune, on the whole, is a calmer city, with definitely less pollution. 8220;I could feel it in my lungs and eyes in Delhi,8221; says the Dane.
One area where Delhi scores is the music scene, and the availability of CDs stocked in music stores. 8220;Music is my passion, and the choice on the shelves here is really poor,8221; he says. But he is relieved that places like Zamu8217;s exist, 8220;because that8217;s where I can get beef, an integral part of Danish cuisine.8221; ABC Farms, the shops in Clover Centre, Dorabjee8217;s 8211; these are the quintessential hangouts.
An Indian culture freak, he is glad that Pune has retained its traditional flavour, and to give his folks back home a peek into the same, he plans to send them items of traditional craft such as a marble figurine of Shiva as Christmas gifts. Greetings from the land of the Peshwas all the way to Taasinge!
