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Photo:Vipinchandran

Fun in learning A group of students from Oslo University, Norway in Kochi

Why did they choose India? “We heard so much about India, about its culture, its traditions and we wanted to see the country,” says Anneli Roues. They are surprised when they hear that women are pretty much empowered in Kerala, whether economically or socially, compared to the rest of the country. Thirty of these Oslo University students are now in Kerala, spread over Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and other smaller towns, studying the developmental patterns and more about Panchayati Raj, the Kudumbasree units and what people feel about the 33 per cent reservation policy that has held prime place on paper for a while.

It’s their first visit to India, to Kerala. What was their first impression? “We flew to Kochi in the night about a week ago, and reached the city at about 11 pm. We were very surprised to find the roads rather deserted and that few eateries were open. Back home, it’s a busy time when everyone is out,” says Anette Lindskog.

Food is a very very different experience here, they have realised. But they simply love the spices. “Our food is pretty boring,” they say and laugh at themselves. It’s bland and variety is limited compared to the rich fare available in India. “Breakfast is bread. Lunch is also bread, with ham, fish,” they say, hesitantly. “When we come back from school at 4 or 5 pm, we have dinner, which is steak, ham, cabbage, cucumber, onions, broccoli, peas or something like that. We also have rice, meat balls, and lots of potatoes, with brown sauce.” What’s for supper? “For supper, at 8 pm, we have bread again,” they say and the five-some break into raucous laughter again, seeing the surprise on other faces. But the bread they eat is wholemeal brown bread, not the white bread ‘you eat here’, they say.

The special dishes are apple pie, cakes, and porridge with red wine, chocolates. “But the porridge we make is with rice, butter, milk and we put salt into it, not sugar like you do. Everything is very sweet here,” comments Hanna Storeuyr. They love the naans here and they drink lots and lots of milk, ‘back home’. They like the climate here though it’s hot as their country is cold most of the year. “The people are very friendly and we feel very safe here,” say the girls.

What they don’t like here are the traffic jams. The sheer number of people on the roads shocks them. The pollution also came in for criticism. And ‘of course the mosquitoes’, not common in their country, says Eli Egelauo.

Unlike many other Western countries, education is heavily State assisted in Norway so that even to go to University, they don’t have any financial difficulty. Norway is among the wealthiest countries, thanks to its rich natural resources like petroleum, hydropower, fish, forests, and minerals. And it has a well defined welfare system. Unemployment is almost unheard of and the standard of living, very high. Norway was rated the most peaceful country in the world in a 2007 survey by Global Peace Index.

The cultural aspects of the Nordic folks does not seem as diverse as Indians. “Playing the fiddle is considered to be classical music, but youngsters prefer rock. Traditional folk music is the most popular kind of music,” says Camilla.

They would love to come back here for a holiday, later, they chorus, as they begin the next leg of their quest for women’s development stories.

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