Hello Alfredo Irmao, Now that you have conveyed how Swedish diplomats comment on their India postings, we must now hear Rajaram Balanmanian on his two year stint at the Indian embassy in Stockholm.
Dear Undersecretary, These Swedes are awful people, saar. They drink too much and get too bawdy when they do. Their European neighbors know about this and bars in France are dotted with signs saying "Dogs and Swedes not allowed". They eat the grossest fish, mostly herrings and kippers. It is served cold and the stink that comes from one's breath makes my wife routinely put me in the doghouse. Not that I voluntarily eat the fish. It's just that Anna our commercial assistant who is such a hot item will insist we eat this when we dine on official business (wink, wink). Talking of Anna, che che che. The things she makes me do are best left unsaid. I like her charms maan, but the amount of hardware I have to negotiate to get to the best parts almost make me like to eat with spoon and fork. And that as you well know, to us Indians, is a sin. The thing that gets me without fail is that they do not use water like we do. It's dry tissue all the way and on their particularly difficult digestive days, one must never attempt to sit behind them. The smells will remind you of fish gone bad on Chennai streets during municipal strike days. So Sir, less pay or not, I would definitely opt for Ougagdougu if given the choice of my next posting. Sincerely, Rajaram. On Sun, May 18, 2008 at 6:12 PM, Alfred de Tavares <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > My dear boró dotor & guys, > Since you chaps are digressing far from the topic above, ie toilet > & associated attributes, I post bellow a 6-month old article that > will solidarise with 'stinky' Goa... > > SWEDISH DIPLOMATS IN DELHI FIND INDIANS DIRTY STOCKHOLM, WEDNESDAY, DEC 19 > (IANS) -- The Swedish Embassy in Delhi in their annual, albeit classified, > report to the Swedish foreign ministry has, unequivocally, stated that "the > Indians' personal hygiene is very much neglected," reports, in a scoop, the > Swedish government's official gazette, Riksdag & Departmentet, R&D > (Parliament & Government) in their latest issue, Dec 17, on the eve of Mr > Vayalar Ravi's, the Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, visit to Sweden. The nearest, in offalctory offensiveness, to India, lies Burkina Faso: There the poor Swedish envoys "are quatered next the nation's largest garbage dump! Alfred de Tavares
