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INDIANS IN SWEDEN

Indians in Sweden: Durga Puja, work permits and where to watch the cricket

One of India's biggest festivals is growing in popularity in Sweden, we interview an Indian researcher in Luleå and explain what Sweden's new work permit rules mean for people living here, and more in The Local's newsletter for Indians in Sweden.

Published: 21 October 2023 08:11 CEST
Indians in Sweden: Durga Puja, work permits and where to watch the cricket
A woman participates in Durga Puja festival celebrations in Mumbai in 2022. Photo: AP Photo/Rajanish kakade

Hello,

My colleague Richard Orange has a theory: that foreign residents are more likely than Swedes to start up new and exciting events. We talk about that and much more on the latest episode of The Local’s podcast Sweden in Focus, which will be available on Saturday, October 21st. 

I’m not sure why that is. Perhaps it’s that newcomers are more likely to spot a gap in the market, perhaps its easier for foreigners to start something new than try to break into an already close-knit community, or perhaps it’s just that people want to bring a taste of their home country to Sweden. Or perhaps Richard’s theory isn’t even true at all. What do you think?

Durga Puja is in any case one such event. Did you know that (at least according to the Times of India), Sweden accounts for half of the Durga Pujas held in the Nordic region, with celebrations held every year from Helsingborg in the south to Luleå in the north?

As the size of Indian communities in Denmark, Sweden and Norway have grown, so has the scale of celebrations for festivals like Durga Puja and Diwali. We recently interviewed the organisers of some of Scandinavia’s biggest Durga Puja events in this article on The Local.

Here are some of the upcoming events readers have told us about:

Helsingborg:

The Bengali Cultural Society of South Sweden is organising Durga Puja on October 21st-23rd under the theme “Saat Kahon – Seven Stories from Seven States”. Sambandh Sweden is also organising festivities on October 21st and 22nd, with more than 600 attendees registered.

Gothenburg:

The Bengali Association of Gothenburg writes “let’s come together for a cultural fiesta, filled with adda, laughter, and memories that’ll last a lifetime” on October 20th and 21st. 

Stockholm:

In Stockholm, Durga Puja has been celebrated for over 30 years, but is now split into four or five separate events, with a three-day ritual and cultural event held at Järfälla Kulturscen and a five-day event held at Stockholm’s Hindu Temple in Helenelund, just north of the capital.

If your event is not mentioned in that list, please feel free to still send us pictures of your festivities and let us know how it went, and we’ll share some of them in the next newsletter. And if you’re planning any activities for Indians in Sweden, drop us an email to let us know.

How can I watch the 2023 Cricket World Cup in Sweden?

Excitingly, the Cricket World Cup is hosted in India this year, lasting over a month from October 5th to November 19th. Unfortunately, cricket is not yet a particularly popular sport in Sweden (although there is a national cricket union, Svenska Cricketförbundet), so that means that none of Sweden’s usual sport channels will be broadcasting the matches. Your best bet, therefore, is a VPN.

It is legal in Sweden to use a VPN to watch broadcasts abroad, but you should bear in mind that it might violate the terms of service of the streaming service you’re using. You should also be aware that some services will actively try to block any VPN users.

Some of The Local’s readers have recommended Indian streaming site YuppTV, which offers a Cricket World Cup package for €24.99. We haven’t tried this ourselves so we can’t vouch for it, and you should always be sure you do your research before handing over your card details, whether it’s for a VPN service or another sports streaming service. 

How this researcher in Luleå played a role in India’s moon landing

The Local recently interviewed Avijit Banerjee, an Indian researcher in Luleå who developed the landing algorithm that played a key role in India’s Chandrayaan-3 moon landing this summer.

He also told us what it’s like to work in space robotics at a university in the far north of Sweden, which he describes as the “best place for a scientist you can possibly imagine”.

Banerjee is currently working with ESA on a machine learning algorithm that can enable constellations of satellites to work together to optimise their positioning, avoid collisions and react if one of their number is destroyed, and with NASA on another landing algorithm. 

He is also working on a project that will enable an autonomous vehicle landed on the moon or another planet to seek out the source of any substance it detects, and also on robotics systems to enable autonomous vehicles to explore caves. 

‘Global shift’: India growing in popularity among Swedish businesses

International growth markets such as India and Indonesia are becoming more attractive to Swedish businesses, according to a survey by Business Sweden, which also indicates that traditional markets such as North America are stagnating in popularity.

“In the past two years, India as well as the United Arab Emirates have overtaken the US and China when it comes to favourite countries and business climate. I don’t want to use the word paradigm shift, but it does still mark a global shift which is rather hard to analyse,” Business Sweden CEO Jan Larsson told Swedish news agency TT.

“India has become an attractive production site for Swedish companies and has a growing middle class,” he explained. “India has been the favourite to become a future market for a long time but I think it’s finally going to happen now.”

What Sweden’s new work permit rules mean for you

On November 1st, Sweden will raise the salary requirement for work permit applicants to a minimum of 80 percent of the median salary. It means that although the country will still have one of the lowest salary requirements in western Europe, a lot of work permit holders currently living and working in Sweden will not be able to get their work permit renewed because their monthly earnings are just not high enough.

We’ve interviewed several readers about how it affects them, explained what the new rules actually mean for work permit holders, compared work permit salary levels across the European countries The Local covers, and we’ll keep answering readers’ questions about the changes.

If you have any questions, you’re always welcome to get in touch with our editorial team at [email protected]. 

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INDIANS IN SWEDEN

My Swedish Career: ‘People in Sweden are warm and welcoming’

IT consultant Debjyoti Paul tells The Local of the Indian society he co-founded in Helsingborg, and why local Swedes' reputation as closed off and reserved may not be true.

Published: 12 April 2024 06:49 CEST
My Swedish Career: 'People in Sweden are warm and welcoming'

Working as an IT consultant for Sogeti, Debjyoti was moved around to various countries as part of different projects throughout his career. In 2014, he finished a job in England, after which he was sent to Sweden to work with companies such as Ikea in designing new systems and upgrading their old systems.

However, once he arrived in Helsingborg he missed the Indian culture.

“Once you are away from home, you want your culture, your tradition, you want to remain in touch with your roots and you want your family, especially the younger generations, to also have some kind of attachment with the traditional stuff,” he tells The Local.

As a result, Debjyoti helped set up Sambandh, a society to connect the more than 2,000 Indians based in Helsingborg, many drawn there, as Debjyoti, by Ikea’s IT development hub in the city.

The society aims to help Indian newcomers have a smooth integration process in Sweden, by providing information and translation assistance.

“We also focus on helping them with basic stuff like how to open an account in the bank, guidance on getting a driving licence in Sweden, so that it is easier for them to seamlessly integrate locally. We also help with information about the school system and the healthcare system,” says Debjyoti.

“It is not easy for a new person coming in here and knowing all this, especially as most of the things are written in Swedish.”

More than 2,000 Indians live in Helsingborg. Photo: Sambandh

The society also regularly collaborates with the Indian embassy to organise an “Indian Embassy Consular Camp” which allows Indians in Helsingborg to use the embassy’s services without having to travel for five to six hours to Stockholm.

The name of the community comes from the Hindi word sambandh, meaning relationship, which is similar to samband, the Swedish word for connection. Sambandh has grown to over 400 members, welcoming everyone no matter their background.

“We only have one event which is specific to our members, that is our members’ picnic, which happens every summer. Other than that, all our events are open to all and we invite all other communities. We advertise locally and try to get people from different backgrounds into our events,” says Debjyoti.

“We even have certain religious events, but even those events are open to all, open to people from all religions. We love the attention that we get from different communities, from people from different backgrounds, different countries, different religions, speaking different languages,” he says. “So if you are at any of our events, you will see so many different kinds of people.”

Holi or Indisk Fiesta is another event that is celebrated by the society with the aim of welcoming springtime. Along with that they celebrate World Environment Day to inspire their younger members to care for their surroundings.

“We encourage our kids to participate in World Environment Day. They make small projects, they plant trees, they talk about and learn about recycling stuff. We make them aware of the environment and everything that day,” he says.

Sambandh organises, among other things, an event called Indisk Fiesta. Photo: Sambandh

Sambandh’s sports club also plays an important role, keeping the society’s members fit and healthy.

“There is a typical habit within the Indians. Once we have families, we get more focused on our kids and we spend all our energy on our kids’ education, kids’ sports activities, kids’ cultural activities. We forget about ourselves. So, we encourage our members to participate in sports. In India, sports like cricket and badminton are very popular, but with the help of local sports bodies, we encourage our members to participate in sports like padel, which is more popular in Sweden.”

When Debjyoti and his family moved to Sweden in 2014, their son was just one year old, and he got a place in a local preschool. Both Debjyoti and his wife thought it would be best to settle down since it would be difficult for their son to be moved around from country to country due to their work. He also says that Sweden is a great country to raise a child in.

“Gradually we liked Sweden because of the work-life balance, the equality, and several other good stuff. Especially when you are a family with a kid, Sweden is like a paradise. So then gradually we made Sweden our home and we continued staying here.”

When they bought their home in Helsingborg, they received a warm welcome from their neighbours, and he said that they continue to do so.

“I bought a house outside Helsingborg in a village, and a lot of people advised me not to, because they felt local Swedish people are not very open. They don’t become friends very easily. But I had a completely different experience and I was so well supported by my neighbours,” says Debjyoti.

“They even mowed my garden when I was away for a month to India. And I returned the favour. When they were on their way to the recycling centre, they used to knock on my door: ‘Do you have anything to throw away? Then I can help you,’ and I was like, OK, what I heard is probably not true. People are warm, they are welcoming. So I actually have a very, very positive view of Swedes.”

As president of Sambandh, Debjyoti is tasked with keeping the society’s aim in the forefront.

“My main objective is to keep our objective in mind and make sure the organisation is driven in a way so that we become a melting pot for all the different communities, the local Swedish community, the other immigrant communities. And of course, so that our kids, our future generations, remain rooted to their traditions,” he says.

He hopes to see the younger generations take over Sambandh so that it keeps going and growing.

“We would love to have our younger generation to manage and drive these events because they are more exposed to the local culture because they are in the local schools and all, which is of course good. It is easier for them to integrate completely.”

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