Serendipity

One of the most fantastic events in Stockholm’s cultural calendar is the annual Culture Night. A unique concept to ensure the greatest participation of enthusiasts across a myriad of events held all over the city on a spring day, usually in late April. It is a hugely popular event and caters to diverse interests and tastes, to young and old alike; the most important factor behind its immense popularity is the idea to do away with all the usual entrance fees that are normally associated with such events during any other period of the year. In a grand welcoming gesture, museums, opera houses, art exhibitions, music concerts, dance performances and even the royal palace open their doors to the public, who can enjoy it all without having to burn a hole in the pocket. However, since this event happens for only a short timeframe (6 in the evening until midnight) and there are usually close to a hundred events and attractions listed on the festival’s official page, it demands careful and...

A day out in Hellasgården was the Christmas 2012 plan. Just a half hour bus ride from central Stockholm, it is a very popular outdoor recreation area, both in summer and winter.  It had been snowing quite a bit for a couple of days leading up to Christmas and Hellasgården looked as pretty as a Christmas card. Snow on the trees, all over the ground,on the skiing slopes and the cottage roofs; walking trails almost submerged in ankle-deep snow, half frozen lakes – it was truly a White Christmas! We had a marvellous time frolicking in the snow. It was such a new experience for me and my two friends; coming from the eastern and southern parts of India as we were, our only chance of setting foot on snow was a vacation up in the mountains of the north, and that too, for only a small window during winter, and even then a snowy Christmas was not a certainty. So we just went berserk and for close to an hour, we behaved like a trio of h...

One of the greatest moments of happiness is to find a song which seems to be saying exactly what you have always wanted to say all along , out loud, without a care. It is such a precious feeling which warms the heart, a sense of elation , a lightness of being, a vindication of sorts. It was on a winter’s day in Stockholm, when relaxing at home and browsing through videos on You Tube, I was introduced to the magic of Steve Perry and his incredible ‘Journey’. As his voice soared, so did my spirits! When ‘The Voice’ urges you to ‘Don’t Stop Believing’, hope and faith are restored, a glimmer of light shines through. Steve Perry gave words to my dreams, words which I was always searching for, but somehow had never found till then. " Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world   She took the midnight train goin' anywhere " Thank you Steve Perry! Thank you for the music! I am forever a wanderer on an endless ‘Journey’ aboard the ‘midnight t...