Planning a trip to Sweden subsequent year and asking yourself exactly where to get began? For Indians who may well be curious to know what it would really feel like to reside in Sweden, it may well come as a reality verify that life in Sweden and India can be pretty the total opposite of each and every other in a lot of techniques. Ruth Dolla, Official Spokesperson, Visit Sweden has candid insights to share about life in Sweden and what you can anticipate as Indian travellers.
With more than 16+ years of experienced knowledge as a marketer and brand ambassador, Ruth Dolla has worked with a diverse spectrum of brands such as India’s very first wine organization – Sula Vineyards. Afterwards, she moved to the fascinating planet of Formula One racing at Kingfisher Force India F1 and international promoting for Bollywood music at Hungama Digital. In 2014, thereafter, Dolla moved to Sweden in 2014 and presently functions to market Sweden in India and vice versa.
What’s life like in Sweden from an Indian viewpoint?
Ruth Dolla points out that individual space is a welcome luxury in Sweden, with its population of 10 million persons only, and social distancing was currently a norm there way ahead of Coronavirus created it mandatory for the rest of the planet!
According to Ruth Dolla, “If you stood at the bus stop you’d stand 2 metres distance from the next person and if there’s space on the bus you would never sit next to someone else. The crisp and clean air is something that doesn’t fail to amaze me, you take a deep breath and it feels like fresh mountain air. Stockholm being the most crowded city in Sweden has an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 30 whereas Mumbai has an AQI of 165.”
Wearing two hats – Half Swede, half Indian
“I was born and brought up in Mumbai and now after moving to Sweden in 2014, I feel like I’m already half Swede and half Indian. What I do miss is spontaneity in Sweden. In India you could call a close friend for a cup of chai at 2 am and you know that it would be ok. In Sweden everything is organized in advance including catch ups with friends leaving little room for spontaneity,” Ruth Dolla candidly tells TheSpuzz Online.
In this exclusive interaction with Swapna Raghu Sanand, Ruth Dolla shares what it feels like to don two hats simultaneously – yes, the Indian hat and the Swedish hat, “One’s way of thinking and viewing things changes, and one realizes that what is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ is subjective depending on which cultural filter I am using. When I talk to external parties in India I have the Indian hat and remind myself that it is completely normal for someone to send me an email and then send me a message via whatsapp after 15 mins informing me that they have sent an email. If I had my Swedish hat on I’d only get irked.”
She adds, “On the other hand, having a ‘jugaad’ solution that goes around ‘set rules’ is not commonly accepted in Sweden and then I may have to put on my Swedish hat and just accept that. Straddling both worlds has been a challenge albeit a fun one and it keeps me on my toes and makes my job at Visit Sweden very interesting.”
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How crucial is India to Sweden in terms of tourism, cultural ties and so on?
Regarding the expanding hyperlink and expanding site visitors among India and Sweden,Air India launched a direct flight among Delhi and Stockholm in August 2017. There was a MOU signed in 2018 among each the nations by each the Prime Ministers for collaborating inside healthcare, technologies, green power and more. The hyperlink among India and Sweden has been expanding stronger and stronger and the crescendo was at its peak when the Swedish royal family members visited India in Dec 2019. This assists us indirectly with tourism. The more Indians know and hear about Sweden, the more it is on their travel radar as effectively.
The cultural bridge and the trade hyperlink among India and Sweden are two of the most crucial hyperlinks in advertising tourism. The history among the two nations goes back to 1731 when the Swedish East India Company was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden for trading and importing many goods specially tea, silk, arrack and porcelain from China and India. The imported arrack (alcoholic drink) considering the fact that then became a well-liked drink amongst the wealthy in Sweden.
The Swedish alcoholic drink ‘punsch’ or punch originated then when 5 diverse components had been blended. Five is ‘paanch’ in Hindi which then became punsch in Swedish. Traditionally the 5 components had been – arrack, lemon juice, water, sugar and tea.
Today there are 200 Swedish corporations in India today from H&M to IKEA, Spotify, Truecaller, Ericsson, Electrolux, Tetrapak, Volvo, Oriflame, SKF and more. These corporations straight or indirectly employ thousands of persons and introduce them unknowingly to Swedish culture.
Are there any precise case research/examples/individual observations that you would like to share in this regard?
These are my individual observations. There are pretty a handful of similarities and variations among India and Sweden, as with any other European nation.
What struck me was that we had a handful of related words in widespread. ‘samband’ suggests connection in the Swedish language and ‘sambandh’ suggests relation or connection in Hindi as well. This cool coincidence has now been a component of a lot of organization and cultural events among the two nations exactly where the ‘India Sweden samband’ has been emphasized.
On the other hand, Sweden and India can be pretty the total opposite of each and every other as well in a lot of techniques.
What, in your opinion, can excite Indians when they look at a trip to Sweden? Also, what are the cultural elements that can entice them even more?
Three points that could excite Indians when they look at a trip to Sweden: The Northern Lights, hip city of Stockholm and the Midsummer festival.
The cultural elements that could entice the Indian traveller would be the openness in society. For instance, if you are a individual from the LGBTQ neighborhood you would really feel quite accepted and nearly loved. Same sex marriage is legal and it can be so inspiring to basically see exact same sex couples on the street holding hands, kissing or even with a child in their family members.
Another sign of openness is that you could put on actually something and no one would bat an eyelid.
‘Naken dopp’ or taking a dip naked in Sweden has definitely practically nothing to do with something erotic but more to do with enjoying nature and feeling comfy in one’s personal body. Sweden has more than 97 500 lakes and taking a dip with out garments either ahead of or right after a standard sauna knowledge is an ingrained component of the Swedish life style.
Easy access to nature and sustainability are also some of the points that could entice the Indian traveller.
If you had to clarify why Sweden to an Indian traveller, what would you say?
If I had to say one particular point, I’d say come to Sweden for it is stunning nature.