as Beyograad') has quite some resemblance to any Indian metro -basically in terms of
the infrastructure. The roads are like we have in Chennai - mostly good, but occasionally
bumpy. Like the old housing board apartments you see in Chennai, there are similar old buildings in Belgrade too. The cars scene is also like in India - small hatches are favourites
here too.
But what really interested me was the similarity between the people. Ofcourse being
Caucasians, the skin tone is different from Indians, but there are quite some similarities
in the way they think and do things.
Maybe this could be because it is also a developing country like ours. Like us, they try
to reuse / recycle everything. For eg. I do not buy special "garbage-bags". Instead, I
use the thin polythene covers in which my groceries come in. In our client's office, I saw
the maid do the same thing - for the dustbins, they use the polythene covers in which
the staff buy & bring-in bakery products.
Also, like us (and unlike Americans), they do not believe in if-it-is-broken-throw-it
and buy-a-new-one. Like I would try to repair and use a product till there is no more
life in it, I see people here also do the same.
And just because some product is old / out-of-fashion, they don't just go ahead and
replace it. Everything is used till it is no more usable. So common a practice in India.
Check-out the hanging flush-lever in this Water Closet. The last time I saw such a
flushing system was in Assam in the early-eighties. But it works, so they use it.
And ofcourse the famous 'jugaad' (make-shift) quality of Indians is very much seen
in Serbia also. If a device doesn't work, we would do some make-shift to get it usable.
These guys are good at that too. Check out the lock on the restroom door at our client's
place.
It was nice to come across countries in Europe that believe in the 3 Rs (Reduce, Reuse & Recycle), which goes a long way in saving the environment.
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