Mayarathika

The article was published in  - https://www.mangalorean.com/danish-diaries-boarding-sun-and-fun/ Being in Denmark is a revelation at many levels. Never had I imagined that I would enjoy and respect the aspect of family, friends and simply being together in general. I am lucky that I came during the spring semester when the weather is actually getting better. The extended sunshine or rather the daylight hours seems incredible in more ways than one. It feels like 5 pm when it is actually 9 pm and if you are up at 4.30 am, then the sky is lit up with the dawn. This much light was too much for me in the beginning, and that made me wonder if that is the reason behind the concept of daylight saving. Game on! We have to imagine the flip side of this – where you don’t get as much daylight. It was physically challenging and borderline depressing when I came to Denmark in January. The sun would rise but you would incredibly lucky if you saw the sunshine. Daylight would be from arou...

https://www.mangalorean.com/danish-diaries-vejle/ Travelling is constant learning and to know a country in its entirety is to go to smaller places. Like every enthusiastic traveler, travelling to bigger cities and known destinations was an obvious choice. I enjoyed going to unknown places back in India, so I thought why not do the same in Denmark? Digging around, I decided to hop on with my friends in Aarhus for a trip to Vejle (pronounced Vai-le). Just a forty-five-minute train ride into the city of Vejle from Aarhus is filled with riversides, towns, pastures and forests. Just the right amount of excitement and relaxation in the air. We were welcomed with a sprinkle of rain that did turn into incessant rain for a while. Geographically, Vejle is situated in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula. It is situated at the point where the Vejle and Grejs river converge. It is the ninth largest city in Denmark. The city is part of the Triangle Region, which includes the neighbo...

https://www.mangalorean.com/danish-diaries-slik-to-madhu/ It is a well-known saying that we become what we eat. The food that we consume becomes the building blocks of energy for what we do every day and that in turn shapes the way we are today. Food, on the other hand, is affected by various factors such as geography, climate, ability to cultivate, and so on with the ability to import in the more recent history. To simplify this complicated sentence, it means an Indian – loving dishes like coconut curry and fish fry and a Dane being in the comfort zone of rye bread and bacon has a lot to do with culture and lifestyle. In my journey of understanding links in food between the countries and Denmark and India, I originally was sceptic of finding a bridge when considering the factors that affect consumption, but to my surprise there was one that was easily identifiable. Given the intense love for the candies, chocolate, desserts and so on (broadly slik and kage) in Danish culture...

https://www.mangalorean.com/danish-diaries-the-world-of-biking/ Being in a corner of the world does not seem like a big thing. After all, it is just the corner of the world! The thing that we forget the most is the fact that there is so much that we do not know of the place we live. It is the little things that make all the difference. When thinking about Aarhus, a lot of small things come into mind which we see soon. Given that Aarhus is blessed with a stretch of beautiful shoreline, edges of forests and the natural topography of ups and downs, it is no surprise that people here love to keep fit with running and biking (cycling as we would call it). Individuals of all ages regardless of background don their running gear and are off to running. There are shops dedicated to just running here. It feels like it is not just an exercise but a way of living. The forests especially have trails and tracks where you can not only challenge yourself into a run but also pedal hard on your ow...

https://www.mangalorean.com/danish-diaries-from-the-sea-to-kapsejlads/ Denmark is a land of many facets. How do I know this? By the best way – personal experience! The city of Aarhus has a bite of almost everything for a person who wants to experience it. The classical concert expert, the modern art fan, the research scholar, and any avatar that you would want to explore. Given that Aarhus is a port city, it is naturally blessed with beautiful beaches. If you tried, you could hop, skip and bike down to the sea shore. Being from the coast myself, the sight of an unending sea with its gentle waves is a source of constant inspiration for me. Nothing can compare to the aroma of the salty air. The beach around Dokk1 to the beautiful beaches of Ballehage, Moesgaard, Aakrogen, Marselisborg and Risskov. What makes, even more better is that according to your taste, you can pick the beach which has a library or deer park or forest close by. Suits my choice of the hour and I always walk...

This article of mine was published in Mangalorean.com. The link to it - https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3439500904554289791#editor/target=post;postID=1227417652082140041 When I chose to study in Denmark, I only knew that it was one of the Scandinavian countries. Little did I know that my world of knowledge was going to blossom. Arriving at Aarhus was just the beginning! Arhus view Aarhus is the second largest city in Denmark with a population of around 6,00,000 people. To me, as an Indian, it always feels like a calm town rather than a city. The city Aarhus derives its name from the word ‘Aros’ which means the mouth of a river in old Danish. The city was established historically in one of the naturally formed fjords of the coastline and soon became an important trade hub of Scandinavia (Scandinavia consists majorly of the modern-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden). The history of this city is well represented in its people, buildings, and culture. Anyone with a lit...