I read an article recently, which was about how cats are being reared and killed for meat in China. It said that Cats paw is considered a delicacy in China. The article was vivid of the details of the gore atrocities done to cats. There were some pictures also, where many cats were put in small cages and it was reported that many of the cats died while in transit. I was wondering whether this article was not an example of hypocrisy!! A person, who can have cattle, and other animals, for breakfast, protesting against cats as a food delicacy!!

No, The article falied to move me., despite the fact that I used to have cat as my pet from the School days itself Where as most of the children used to get a solid “No” for the request for a cat or a dog as a pet, We (myself & my brother) were fortunate, that our parents though objecting initially will give way to our choice. Cat used to be my favourite pet, and Dog, my brothers. Our first Cat was named “Thendi”(somewhat translates to beggar in malayalam),. a name given by our sister, since it used to be not at home during daytime and will roam at others houses for food. When I got up in the morning, it used to be at my bed curled up and asleep near me. The first dog we had was christened “Holding” after the Westindies fast bowler, who was my brothers favourite West Indies bowler.

Two incidents come to memory, when its about pets. After Holding went missing..(Everyday night he was let free in the compound, and he will come back to the cage after the usual night duty in the morning.), we had another pup, after a short gap, which was named “Chunnu”. We used to play with out dog after school, and amma will bring him food. One day accidently he bit amma, and poor amma had to take 14 injections.. Well Chunnu too was sad, as he knewsomething was wrong., but my amma’s caring brought his cheer back.. Chunnu died, after some years, when Myself and my brother had moved to Bombay.

The other incident is ofcourse related to cat. This happened one rainy day, when myself and Manikandan(my school chum) were walking back from school(School was around 1 km away, and we saved the bus fare for the ice-cream stick during the lunch interval). I found a small kitten wet in middle of road, and since I felt really bad(knowing how cats love water), I took the cat into my arms and walked home. It didnt take much convincing for my parents to accept the cat. I arranged some gunny sacks for warmth, and mom provided the warm milk for the poor creature. I would visit the cat everyday morning and evening and arrange for its comforts. One day the cat was not to be seen and I had searched everywhere for it unsuccessfully(I had kept it in an attic room by the side of our house, where many old furnitures, trunk boxes were also kept). I gave up searching the next day when I couldnt find it anymore. I got the news, the following day, when I cameback from school, that it was dead, floating in our well. I had a last look at it, as it had been fished out from the well, before myself and my brother buried it. Interestingly no one shouted at me for this.. but got some comforting words from all, and grandma stated “You cannot change the destiny!! whatever you may do” and later told us a story from mythology to illustrate..

The well was chemically purified the same day..

Nice morning, yet foggy, misty.,
made my way through to the Karnan tower,
holding its head high over Helsingborg,
thought the nature greeted with a small shower.
am I trying to rhyme?

A long walk, the board roared,
by the nature and the hills.,
Alas the directions were not correct..
soon I found myself on someones backyard..

Traced back my steps and decided to go to beach,
had a long walk to beach by a sea wall.,
soon I reached the beach and it was empty.,
The gulls were there to greet me.

Stood looking at the sea for a long time,
wrote on the sand, watch the sea take my secret,
smiled to myself and walked by the beach.,
the kreeching gulls again drew my attention.

Soon had to pack and leave, got to hotel,
packed my bag and decided to walk to Helipad.
Ferries were going from the harbour created,
Cars queued up to get into ferries.

Got into the copter, flew over sea,
ferryboats cutting through water below,
seagulls were just whitespots now..
on the deep green sea lying beneath.

Reached copenhagen, waited for the connection,
want to reach home soon, for I felt lonely.,
and when you feel the lonliness, the hard thing,
is to lift your face and flash a smile.

Reached home by night,
only to find that my car battery has gone flat.,
“jump Leaded” it and started it.,
and to charge the battery went of a 20 mile drive.

Back at home, didnt want to unpack.,
everything lying hapzard in my room,
I too joined the list,
and soon was on my way to slumberland..

Got up late today and went to the tourist office to get some information regarding the nearest places. The weather was as usual dull. Seems like these places are not to be visited till spring-summer. But this weather had its own advantages, as I enjoyed the walk by the beach, writing on the beach and just looking at he sea.. .

Hmm.. as per tourist office, I can go to Malmo, which is apparently the second or the third biggest city in Sweden, and roam around there, or else go to Lund, housing one of the oldest cathedrals and a university. Europes longest bridge is bulit from Malmo to Copenhagen, but taking into account the “excellent” visibility I will be having, I decided to restrict my visit to Lund.

The journey was by train, and had to wait for around half an hour for the train. The train went through some interior sweden and no wonder the farms and the villages seemed like the those in India, the only apparent difference being that of temperature.
During the journey I saw a couple of windmills and a modern windmill(seems like used to generate electricity), and soon thoughts wandered again to science of motion and converting natural forces for human needs. Within 40 minutes reached Lund, only to be greeted by a security guard.. well nothing serious, a shooting(movie) was going on on the platform. The onlookers were there and I had to sneak through the small crowd to find my way to Lund Tourist information office. Walking through the small roads, finally I got to The tourist information office, which is just opposite the Lund Cathedral, and found it closed. The map which I had was in swedish and I had to figure out the places by myself.

note: Tourist office should be open on Holidays including Saturdays and Sundays

The cathedral stood magnanimously outside the tourist office, and I went inside the cathedral. A huge cathedral indeed, and there was a tourist guide lecturing to a group regarding some astronomical clock on the wall. Well whatever she said, it was not english.. and if it was english, sorry, I dont know English. In the Cathedral I saw the image of my favourite jew, on the cross. I still am to figure out why I fell suffocated inside cathedrals.. Maybe during one of my last births, I was punished by the Church and that let me to this feeling..(oh yes.. I havemy theory on rebirths.. but about that I will write later.. its a big “scientific??!!” theory.) Soon I was on my way to Lund University. I noticed that most of the people were on cycles and I wanted to cycle my way through Lund, but I couldnt get any information as to where I can rent a cycle out and go for a ride. Even in Helsingborg, when I inquired, the tourist office said, they have that facility in summer only… So I had to take the tour by walk.

Soon I was on my way to Lund University, and on my way back, got into the public library(was trying to get more attractions and the way to them in English.., which I failed), surprised to find India today on the magazine shelf. Soon I was reading about the plummetting agricultural Industry of India. Soon I was on my way back to Helsingborg, and was out to have a nice walk soon., discovered an Indian Restaurant run by a Bangaldeshi, had Indian food(no prizes for guessing where I had my food that night) and then was back at hotel for a good sleep…

Got up at 5.00 today morning and got ready by 5.30.. Taxi at door.. checked in a Airport and was up in air by 7.00am. Though it was cloudy while take off, since the flight was above the clouds, the sun was smiling. I buried myself in a newspaper, till reaching Copenhagen.

In Copenhagen, I discovered that onward journey is by “Helicopter”.. yes.. the one flying thing with ceiling fan on top and a pedestal fan on the rear. The weather was still dull and it was really foggy. A bus took us from Copenhagen airport to the Helipad, where the “HeliKopter Service” of SAS was waiting. In the eagerness, I forgot to take the earplugs.. but was soon comforted by the fact that the other three co-passengers had also forgotten the same. Got in the helicopter, put on the seatbelts.. and the chopper was running on the runway?!! It seemed curious for me, since helicopters just take off from the place they have landed. But anyway, this one was on a short runway and soon it pulled us up into the fog.. no I couldnt see anything except fog for next twenty minutes. I saw a bit of sea when we landed at Helsingborg.. The landing was straight.. no runways. Well there wasnt space for a runway either. The client was waiting..

11.30 to 5.30- work!!

After finishing the work, Roland Abels., IT manager, took me out on a drive.. We first went to Råå a small fishing village near Helsingborg. We did all the sightseeing from the car only. I wanted to take some photographs, but I was sure it wont come nice due to the thick fog. So I spared the effort. Then Roland took me to the center of the village, and we saw a bust and Ronald told me it was the bust of the founder of Tetrapack, Hans Rauzing. We drove back to Helsingborg and past it and went to the north end of helsingborg, where there was a castle, which belonged to King of Sweden., from there we went to the beach, which was clean and clear, before he dropped me to check in at the SAS Radisson Grand hotel. Soon Roland was back and we went out for a drink, and were chattering away till he took leave at around 7.30. I decided to do a good walk and just did that, though the weather was not that appealing. Back in hotel soon, I was asleep, impervious to the occasional hoots of the ferry service to Denmark.

Helsingborg is a small town on the banks of Blacksea, and is the closest point between Sweden and Denmark. On a sunny day, standing on the beach of Helsingborg, you can see Helsingnor(pronounced Elsinor), on the other banks. Helsingborg used to be a terittory of Denmark, till Sweden won it in a battle. The Town has a history of around 1000 years, as it was mentioned in a Kings letter round 11th Centruy AD. A clean and nice city, it extends from the Swedish Kings Summer house(the castle) at the north(now under trusteeship of Helsingborg council) and the Råå on the south. This town is a bit industrialised also, as the industrial construction abound in the south.

Got my Business visa to Sweden.. Hmph.. a really hectic day today. Has to go early tomorrow to catch flight. I have to leave home by around 5.30 in the morning, and I am Ironing my clothes around 1.00 am in the morning.. so much for “well preparedness”.

I have to go to Sweden during this weekend for some work. Well, a part of me says.. not interested.. another says.. go ahead. Anyway, dont have a choicemaking in this. So I was off today to Swedish Embassy in London, to get my Visa. Sweden is joining European Union on 25th of March. After that The Schengan visa will be valid to travel to Sweden also.

I was wondering, what would it be like, if countries at our part of the world viz. Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan, Srilanka, Maldives all come together and form a wonderful economic alliance.. One common currency, free travel and trade.. A distant dream it seems, after all the internal sqabbles going on. SAARC never achieved its goal and is now in tatters. If this is achievable, we can become a good economic power in the world. The current civilisation seems to be economy oriented.

Anyway, The Swedish embassy was in Central London, near Baker Street Station.. so I decided to drive.. It was a driving through the traffic which took most of the time. Once I reached there, I realized that I havent taken my passport size photographs.. The last one which I took was ones without my “Mucchi” on. Now I have got them back. Here started the trouble.. One machine swallowed my 3 pounds, and no movement.. A complaint on the telephone number written there brought a sweet voice on the other end of the phone, which assured that a refund will be sent to my address. Had to walk to next tube station to get a photo taken. Finally applied for the visa, has to come back tomorrow to get the passport back.

After a hectic day behind the mask.. I had a glimpse at the night sky.. the stars were at their best.. and the moon was yet again shining.. The glimpse helped me a lot. Starry sky has been a tonic for me. always! Though I can identify only one constellation on the sky, Orion, Visible during winter in the Northern Hemisphere., yet I have always stood gaping at the wonder of the nature.

When I was in Badlapur, I used to go to the temple on top of the hill., adjacent to that was another hill which had a big water tank, and big tubes(around one meter diameter) came out of that tank. I used to climb on top of one of those tubes almost everyday, and look. If it was night, I lied down there and I had nature’s beautiful life painting in front of me.. I used to admire the stars and the moon and whatever put those in the sky. If it was day, I had a beautiful view of the farms and the villages and the horizon, where the sky met the land. The vast amout of space that I viewed, and the night sky, used to stir something inside me. I always walked back from that place with a smile on my lips and wonder that nature gave to my eyes.

I still feel the same, when I look up the night sky.
silence
calm

Joker ?!

Where do I fit in the pack??