‘Delhi has the best of both worlds — hyper-modern and the traditional’: Swedish Ambassador Jan Thesleff

He had diplomatic postings successful Brussels, Cairo, Tokyo and Damascus. He worked for the EU Council of Ministers successful 2003-2006.

Before joining the overseas service, helium was progressive successful the backstage concern assemblage with the Middle East and North Africa, the absorption being the people, their culture, prosperity and future.

Thesleff spoke to The Indian Express arsenic portion of a series of interviews with Ambassadors astir Delhi — their home.

Edited excerpts:

One spot successful the metropolis that you emotion visiting often?

… Delhi is precise bustling, it’s a immense and immense city, truthful 1 has to look for a small spot of calm sometimes. Lodhi Garden is precise peaceful, particularly successful the aboriginal mornings erstwhile radical instrumentality walks here. I truly consciousness that Lodhi Garden is the lungs of Delhi.

I deliberation it (the city) has astir 30 cardinal people, but successful galore parts of Delhi, adjacent though it’s huge, you don’t consciousness similar determination could beryllium 30 cardinal due to the fact that it’s truthful dispersed retired implicit an tremendous area… successful rather a fewer areas determination aren’t galore skyscrapers. Construction of the houses is simply a small low. So somehow, Delhi is the biggest tiny municipality successful the world. You know, determination is simply a benignant of small-town feeling. And of course, it’s the administrative superior with galore authorities buildings, immoderate of them very, precise beautiful… and aged also. Other administrative capitals successful the satellite are usually much calm, much quiet. Delhi is not quiet. It’s precise overmuch alive.

Three things that stood retired during your stay?

One happening is that it’s an intelligence city. You tin spell to the bookshops successful Delhi, and the aforesaid time arsenic the publication is published successful New York, London, oregon Stockholm, you find it astatine Bahrison’s oregon determination else. So I deliberation it’s a precise cosmopolitan and besides precise intelligence city. And radical are besides precise alert of what’s happening everyplace else.

The different happening that stands retired for maine is the premix of the hyper-modern and the traditional. For example, Chandni Chowk is bustling and you consciousness that you are truly astatine the bosom of the marketplace and you person to beryllium cautious not to beryllium tally implicit by a motorcycle portion navigating the precise tiny alleys. And past you spell to the modern areas and you consciousness that you are successful Los Angeles oregon Dubai. So you person successful 1 city, the champion of some worlds. And that’s a large quality from 30 years ago, you didn’t person these modern areas astatine all.

Another happening that stands retired is that you person preserved your… heritage. I don’t mean conscionable the monuments, but erstwhile you locomotion successful Delhi, you find preserved architecture, you find these beauteous spots. And I similar to spell with my camera… So you person not destroyed your practice from that constituent of view. In galore cities, erstwhile the system is developing, similar successful India, they teardrop down everything and physique thing wholly new. But present successful Delhi, you find this mix.

Favourite nutrient successful the city?

I deliberation that Indian dishes are champion erstwhile made astatine home. I effort to bash immoderate cooking myself… I effort to bash a fusion… When I premix possibly immoderate of the tastes from my state with, you know, with Indian spices. The different time I bought pani puri… and I filled it with Swedish ingredients. It was precise crunchy and bully to eat.

I emotion food chickenhearted and chickenhearted curries and each the dals… But I don’t navigator these myself due to the fact that I cognize it’s overmuch amended if you devour them astatine someone’s house.

There are besides immoderate precise bully restaurants. I similar Kwality astatine CP. They have, I think, precise high-quality food; it besides has a precise bully interior and atmosphere. And erstwhile I person guests, adjacent authoritative guests, and we person immoderate clip disconnected from authoritative meetings, I effort to instrumentality them determination for luncheon oregon dinner.

How would you picture Delhi to idiosyncratic who doesn’t cognize thing astir the city?

Delhi is successful a mode similar India, successful the consciousness that everything tin beryllium recovered successful Delhi depending connected wherever you look and wherever you go. You find each the religions, temples, churches, everything is there. Old styles, architecture, affluent and poor, modern and old. I deliberation that it’s someway a satellite oregon a state wrong a city, if I person to picture it successful conscionable 1 sentence.

It’s not arsenic casual to sojourn Delhi due to the fact that Delhi is huge. And if you conscionable person 1 day, I’m not definite you volition grasp it. You person to unrecorded present and you person to not lone spell once, but spell doubly to antithetic places and observe it successful a mode that possibly immoderate tourists volition miss if they are present for conscionable 1 day.

Does the postulation fuss you? How has it changed implicit the years?

There were a batch of cars… the postulation was rather dense backmost past also… Of course, determination are much cars present and Delhi is overmuch bigger. The infrastructure has improved a lot. So I would accidental determination were overmuch little cars, but determination was much unregulated traffic.

Cities similar Delhi and different large cities — each of them person a odor and a sound. Of course, if you are successful a precise noisy place, it’s precise troublesome. But generally, I similar the dependable of cities… There is simply a definite feeling to that.

I had a person who said if determination is nary noise, I cannot sleep. I’m utilized to being successful a large metropolis and I deliberation it’s true, actually… Let’s enactment it that way. I similar the sounds of the metropolis and I deliberation that is diagnostic of each city. They person their ain sound…

How is Delhi antithetic from different cities successful India?

I deliberation of immoderate of the cities wherever I’ve been — and I don’t privation to notation immoderate of them due to the fact that past radical volition not deliberation it’s bully that I accidental it — they person been rather tiny cities, and they person grown retired of their archetypal size. So sometimes to spell from 1 spot to the other, you walk two-three hours wrong a city. Even it takes a shorter clip to alert to that metropolis from Delhi than to spell wrong the city. These cities person truly grown retired of their ain costumes, truthful to say.

In Delhi, of course, determination is traffic… but still, I consciousness that Delhi was built to beryllium a large city. For instance, the streets of New Delhi are wide. I deliberation Delhi was made to beryllium big, prepared to beryllium big.

Is determination thing you would privation to suggest to the administrators of Delhi to marque it much livable?

No, I deliberation that Delhi has a precise bully operation oregon bully bones. I deliberation what we are each preoccupied with — if you are an Indian oregon a foreigner oregon wherever you travel from — is we would similar to spot improved aerial prime successful Delhi.

I would besides similar to spot municipality infrastructure successful immoderate areas. In galore places, you perceive of floods during the monsoon and things similar that. I inactive deliberation Delhi is amended disconnected successful a definite facet due to the fact that you person truthful overmuch greenery. We request to bring down the contamination level and possibly amended nationalist transportation. Electric buses, electrical vehicles and truthful on.

We, Sweden, are moving precise overmuch not lone with Delhi but with India erstwhile it comes to sustainable solutions — vigor saving, h2o saving, h2o purification, e-vehicles… each these things. With Sweden and India moving together, Delhi volition beryllium an adjacent much beauteous place.

Encounters successful the superior that volition enactment with you always?

You know, I’ve met your overseas minister, Dr S Jaishankar… I’ve met your erstwhile presidents. These were astonishing encounters but work-related. Leaving these aside, I retrieve 1 encounter. I was walking successful a thoroughfare successful Delhi and determination was an aged antheral dressed successful precise elemental clothes… helium was not a affluent antheral and had a occupation walking. There was a stray canine that had wounded its leg. The antheral was putting a bandage astir the limb of the dog. And the thoroughfare canine was precise quiet. And I thought that this was the look of humanity. I similar the mode radical dainty animals. I privation I had clicked a photograph to springiness to you with the antheral and the dog.

What would you miss the astir erstwhile you accidental goodbye to the city?

I’m not going to accidental goodbye. Not yet. Now, I deliberation that my acquisition from different places that I’ve lived successful and near yet has taught maine that you miss the radical that you met the most. The metropolis you tin ever travel backmost to, but it’s much hard to travel backmost to the radical due to the fact that radical are moving, radical are changing.

Something I admit precise overmuch successful Delhi is that contempt being truthful big, it’s precise green. In galore areas, contempt the aerial pollution, we person a batch of greenery, a batch of animals and birds… You perceive each the trees. I volition besides ever retrieve that. That’s besides thing that I deliberation I volition support with maine erstwhile I leave.