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| Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo |
Another year and another birthday to remember and celebrate
when life around me was falling apart! I shall spare any details and continue
to write about my next escape form life itself. I choose a little hideaway near
Oslo called Nesoddtangen where one of my friends
(white Norwegian) I met in
Bangladesh
lived with her two boys and a cat who preferred to have her siesta in my bed! The
cats of the world, I met many (and could start another blog on my life and cats)
seem to love me more then I have any time for them. I often tell my cat lovers
of the world, give me a human baby any time, I know what to do with a human baby but have
no experience in handling a cat. Anyway, back to my idyllic hideaway (minus the
cat) was far removed from the big city, the capital of
Norway,
Oslo.
However Oslo was within reach by a bus and a boat where I went in the mornings and
returned back to my base and hung around the house (avoiding the cat), until my
host came home after work. The beautiful house overlooked a lake (Norwegians
prefer it to be called fjord) and was
surrounded by forest for walks and reindeers,
I managed to bump into one reindeer, much better company then the cat, as it did not
follow me around.
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Oslo
is a beautiful city with beautiful looking people and in the heart of the city
is Nobel Peace Centre. Its exhibition on all the Peace Prizes reminded me of
the contradiction the mad man Anders Behring Breivik had created for the
country when he planted a bomb in the city and shot 77 young people on 22nd
July 2011. From what I experienced during my short stay in Oslo, there certainly was a huge gap between
rich whites and poor immigrants. When I crossed an invisible line near the
railway station with my friend, I knew I was entering the poor district mostly inhabited
by immigrants and refugees from underdeveloped countries. Norway is in the top of the league table in
the Western Europe for providing safe haven for the refugees from war torn
countries on this planet (not UK!).
There is new and old railway station side by side and is becoming a hub for
lots of unsavoury dealings. The toilets at the station are equipped with
special dark blue lights so that the drug addicts find it impossible to inject
needles into their arms! A bit scary to be alone in the loo in Oslo. I was, especially
when I paid princely sum of 2 euro to go the loo and could not even see what I
was up to!
What did I do on my big day; I went with my friend to see Edvard
Munch (the artist who made “scream” popular) Museum and cooked a curry for my
host and her family, without mentioning a word! I am getting better at planning and receiving a special treat for my big day!
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