When you visit places… I mean some foreign countries, far away from your homeland, you become curious. Their way of life, their language, their customs, their behavior; why, everything about them gives you a strange feeling, a thrill rather. Whether you are in Hong Kong or Vancouver, it is this aspect which you are curious about, even when you visit tourist spots.

The best way to know about the people in the cities of such countries is to have an eye on the natives who visit the shopping malls or a public library.

Vancouver is a cosmopolitan city where you come across people whose origins are from Europe or Africa or Asia [predominantly whites from Europe who speak English]. One thing which I admire is the fact that some of the local newspapers are free of cost and made available through boxes placed on sidewalks, though this free service is not availed by many! On top of this I could get an idea about people’s indifference to the local dailies when I saw “no newspapers please” boards in front of many houses, a la ‘beware of dogs’, ‘no parking in front of houses’ etc which are common in India. But can we imagine ‘no newspapers, please’ in India?