Composed Volcano

Recounted down below are my experiences & readings about my travel in Europe for the last 2 months.

People in Europe generally get excited the moment they get to know you are an Indian. The feeling is absolutely amazing. They have a volley of questions to throw at you about India, the culture, people, food, way of life and but of course the highly exposed “Slumdog Millionaire” and their general reaction towards the movie.

Believe it or not but Bollywood is a big thing in Europe. We met people in France who can actually sing few songs from Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge amongst others. One even knew how to play the song on her ukulele!! Few find the Hindi movies amusing and few are in complete awe of it. We even met a German who believes in spending “quality time” with his 15 year old watching Bollywood movies since they love it! And guess what, he knows all Bollywood actors including Johny Lever!! Now who would imagine that! I thought Shahrukh Khan or Hrithik Roshan who btw were his daughter’s favourite actors, were the stars to watch out for, but Johny Lever!! I was truly amazed.

Another thing that people love is the Indian cuisine. The most common question when we are sitting down for breakfast, which usually consists of a variety of breads, muesli, jams, spreads & cheeses with bacon, ham, eggs & some sweets, depending on which part of Europe you are, is what do you guys have for breakfast? And you have to look at their expression when you tell them all the options we have just for breakfast in our country. Food in India is way far from cereals and most of them were in awe.

I have been cooking for my friends during my travel across Europe, for I know how much they love Indian food. The tingling sensation of the spices on their tongues, the beads of perspiration which pop up when they taste a little spice, they love it all. Most of them told me that my cooking was far better than the food they normally have had in the local Indian restaurants. And why not, just like how a Chinese would run for his life if he tries to have the hot Chinese food in India, Indian restaurants in Europe are ideally designed to suit the local taste palette.

Since food constitutes majorly in our travel experience, I consciously stayed away from Indian restaurants and stuck to checking out the local cuisine; recipes of few I would be posting on my food blog for those who are interested! (www.akshayapatram.com) I didn’t check out any of the Indian restaurants, but what I did do was click pictures of them as I walked past them, for I was amused by their names. I even managed to get pictures of the menu in some cases. Following are few of those pictures…

I can go on! the pic gallery is exhaustive and I am yet to travel across Europe for another month or so!