Canada da Khabrein

I hope that is good Punjabi! Over the last eight days, I have seen more turbans than I have ever in my entire life. And I also had to bear the awkward looks given to me by some Sardarni ladies who looked at my follically challenged arms and made a 'jyaada doodh peena, beta' expression. Anyways, coming back to the topic, here are some things I observed and learned during my stay in Canada.

- Canada is the largest consumer of tissue paper.

- On most highways, the extreme left hand side lane is the HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lane. You can use this lane if you have more than 2 people in your car. I hardly saw any cars on this lane though.

- On days when it snows, the temperature is comparatively higher than on those days when there is bright sunshine!

- Majority of the people live in houses or bungalows as we call them here. Apartments, also known as condos or flats, are few and far in between. Houses look really beautiful but are very hard to maintain. You need to shovel snow from the front porch and many other such things.

- If the temperature is between 15-21 C, you are not allowed to leave the ignition on, when the car is at a standstill. The logic behind this is that when the temperature is below 15C, you need the heater and above 21C, you need the air conditioner. But in this particular range you need neither. So the engine has to be turned off if the car isn't moving.

- Some trees are covered during the winter to protect them from the snow.

- If you are caught driving drunk, you along with the person who served you alcohol are punished.

- Canada is 3 times larger than India, but has a population comparable to that of Mumbai.

- Most prices on goods and eatables are exclusive of taxes.