Postcard from DenmarkThey say it's one of the coldest summers Europe has had in some years - the last fall-out of the El Nino or the early chaos of El Nina - either way I am the unsuspecting tourist and the unprepared traveller, shivering my sweet butt off as I walk down the wonderful boulevards of the tiny, chintzy hamlet of Copenhagen in Denmark. This is Hans Christian Anderson land and the Tourism Board of Denmark makes sure you never forget it. From the recently re-capacitated head of `The Little Mermaid' (much akin to the Shivaji Statue at The Gateway Of India) to the kitsch and cute shops and cafes that line the long, winding central street, everything is geared toward attracting the dollars that make tourism one of the sustaining industries of this tiny nation in Scandinavia.While I was unlucky to have missed some of the big summer attractions and parades that are organised to celebrate the brief warm months I was able to participate in one of the largest events that Copenhagen has seenin over 15 years. The World Cup Soccer game between Denmark and Brazil. I came upon this event by chance. I was sipping an aromatic coffee at The Sebastian Cafe (a chic Bohemian hangout full of artists, performers and cinema stars) when my eye met that of a beautiful looking Dane called Lars. We chatted briefly and he asked me to be his companion to watch the soccer game. Now anyone who knows me knows that I am not one for spectator sport, so, I tried to make my escape but Lars was persistent.And I thought why ever not? Ten minutes later we walked down the boulevard and entered the central town square where the Tivoli Gardens (a hideously beautiful pastiche of over-the-top bad taste) and the Clock Tower nestle and found a large television screen had been set up by the local municipality. When we arrived there was still two hours to go before the game was scheduled to begin and over a hundred thousand people had already gathered. On a stage erected under the television screen a colourful Brazilian band wasplaying Ricky Martinesque tunes (recent memories of friends at the Copa Cabana flooded in!). By the time the game started the crowd had swelled to over twice the size and everywhere I looked there were red and white Danish flags being waved, red and white shirts being worn, red and white face makeup and red and white balloons being let off . it was truly magical.The Danes are a polite and cheerful people and while nationalistic fervour was high there was none of the jingoism and fascist hatred that I have seen manifested in the recent Indian nationalism being demonstrated at home. If the Vikings have found civilisation there is hope eternal that our 5,000-year-old culture vultures may one day learn to enjoy the benefits of peaceful co-existence.Free to publicEuropeans have mastered the art of outdoor festivities. Apart from the footie match, I was pleased to participate in free concerts at other street corners and even take in The Copenhagen Jazz Festival, with some renowned jazz musiciansperforming, another free-to-public event.Now if only MTDC and the Ministry of Tourism used this method of promoting Indian artists there would be so much to enjoy in Mumbai. Free Sunday concerts at Hutatma Chowk, Shivaji Park and Juhu Chowpatty . there is no end to the potential gains for our cultural community. Of course I am not forgetting the yeomen efforts of our cities several entrepreneurs who have attempted this in the past, but what is needed is a concerted attempt by the state to foster outdoor free-to-public events. And these need not be mega events but small street corner activities. Like in Mumbai of yore when one went to the various bandstands "haava khaane aur mujhic sunne".FootnoteIndian art and design is very big in Scandinavia right now. Shop fronts and window displays are replete with keri designs and Ganesh motifs. And `Om, shanti, om' is infused with tabla beats in a lot of music. Devoid of its political flavour these symbols of Indian culture look, soundand smell so sweet.Riyad Wadia, avante garde film-maker joins the ranks of the travelling minstrels. Watch this space for his travelogue
