As my stay in Slovenia is coming to
a close, here are my impressions, which have also been expressed to a local
magazine, with translation to Slovene by Andrej.
Eastern Europe...just for the misguided? I
must say that's what I thought before this recent stay in Slovenia. To be
honest, I've never been too thrilled at the idea of going anywhere east of
Vienna. France...Italy...Switzerland...Europe has lots of lovely places, so why
was my company sending me off to some ex-commie hellhole for a one year MBA?
Leaving Delhi on an Austrian Airlines flight, I imagined the horrors that
awaited me: brutish architecture...boiled beetroot at every
mealtime...sour-faced locals waiting to rip-off the poor foolish foreigner at
any opportunity...
Who would want to visit a place
like Slovenia, let alone contemplate living there? Along with scenic
beauty, I like the good things in life: comfortable hotels, nice restaurants,
exotic drinks. But here I was, off on what I considered a hardship
assignment...and to make matters worse, I couldn't find anyone who had heard
about Slovenia or a book on Slovenia, for love nor money.
Well, I don't mind admitting that I couldn't
have been more wrong about a country. Slovenia is one of the most
gorgeous little places I've ever been lucky enough to visit or rather stay for
one year.
Surly natives? I feel ashamed that I thought
that way. The people were polite, helpful, friendly and full of
warmth. As for scenic splendors, well...I found it better than than
Switzerland. The country is tiny, but within its borders are all the things
that most visitors hope to experience on a whistle-stop tour of Europe: a
sunshine coastline studded with lively seaside resorts and ancient maritime harbor
towns...placid blue lakes, Heidi-like meadows, and alpine peaks where you can
ski in wintertime...plus quaint medieval towns where houses are decorated with
painted frescoes. And sitting queenly over everything is Ljubljana, as elegant
a capital city as you could wish for, a sleeping beauty of spires, bridges, and
sculpted dragons that seems lost in dreams of long ago.
Vineyards! Acre upon acre of them, all hanging
heavy with luscious-looking grapes waiting to be turned into my favorite
tipple. Yes, Slovenian wine is definitely great. The countryside of
the Primorska region was pure idyll...a land of hayricks, forests, and
white-spired churches...not an industrial blackspot in sight. Don't get me
wrong, though. While it's pleasingly rural and old-fashioned, this isn't a land
of bowed-back peasants living in bathroom-less shacks.
The infrastructure (roads, railways, and
public transport) is far better than back home in India. Communications are
excellent. Although Internet cafés aren't yet as widespread as in other parts
of Europe or India.
Just about everybody I met spoke a little
English. (And in rural cafés and bus offices where they didn't, body language,
got me what I wanted.) Language wouldn't be a problem if you were interested in
doing business here. Nearly all the professional people I encountered spoke
good English. And maybe you should be thinking of doing business
here. Slovenia is now in the EU, labor costs are far lower than in
the neighboring 'western' countries of Austria and Italy, and the government
has set up a special trade and investment department to facilitate foreign
investors.
-2-
Life though comfortable, there was lot of studying
to be done at ICPE. Ofcourse not as hectic as in India. There were about 25
students in the class from different countries - Germany, Italy, France,
Nepal, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey, Slovenia etc. The classes
were held by Professors from different Universities and different countries.
The classes were interactive and very interesting with lots of practical
situations and humour. They were conducted thru Powerpoint presentations, OHP
and flip charts. We had to also make presentations on current topics.
Diwali (An Indian
festival) was a very unusual experience here. We went for a prayer meeting
conducted by Slovenian followers (about 100 of them) of Guruji
from Pali (near Jaipur). They treated us with lot of honour making
frequent references to hon. guests from India. The prayer meeting was followed
by a potluck vegeterian dinner. They sing the bhajans and kirtans (devotional
songs so well), much better than we get to see in India. There was a fantastic
recital on Veena and Tanpura. I have never enjoyed classical music so much.
Everyone had a lit Diya (candle lamp) in hand for the Aarti (prayer). We were
given diyas (candle lamps) by the slovenians. The followers are all strictly
vegeterians with strong beliefs. The food was good - mix
of slovenian and Indian dishes.
Passing time here was
not a problem despite no Indian papers, no Indian TV and cold coditions outside
in winter. The difficulty was in finding time to study. To describe one
weekend, some group had a promotion campaign at ICPE for their product, guess
what, Slovenian WINE. It was a small gathering of
10 Sloveniancouples ( or would be couples), Big boys and Girls and
ofcourse, us (Residents of ICPE). It began with a power point presentation
about wine making, storing and drinking with question hour of doubts and
clarification. We were even taught the correct method of holding the glass. At
the end we were offered 13 different wines to sample(11 white and 2
red). By the sixth or seventh round we were all feeling quite high and the
others quite steamy. But they did'nt let us go until the 12th round of red
wine, by which time we were all drunk and could not distinguish one wine from
another. It was followed by dinner and then we straight crashed into our beds.
We had a three day weekend of full time studies in the rooms, preparing
for our exam on Monday. The exams were held every alternate Monday. Thank god
they are now over and gone quite well.
On the weekends, in pubs/ bars and on streets,
many of Ljubljana's young-upward-pretty things were there...traffic could
barely move...despite snow, heat or rain…...All the girls looking so
similar…...bare shouldered, tight pants or skirts, bobbed hair left lose (silky
and coloured, like some shampoo ad) .… and oh so fair...and all the guys
looking macho, clean shaven, t-shirts with arms extending to just below
the elbow, a chain around the neck...girls outnumbering guys....jeez, these
yuppies of Ljubljana are a treat to watch.
Overall its been a great experience and we have
loved every minute of it. Our Slovene classmates have made our stay memorable
and we shall go back home to India with many sweet memories
of Slovenia and its people.
Love you all
Harjeet. S. Kalsi
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