Dozen Things I did not know about Canada

1. More probability of finding a Sardar than that of spotting the enduring symbol of Canada, the maple tree.

2. Topless women drivers tanning themselves, maybe getting the benefits of greenhouse effect in the car.

3. Canadian dollar is known as a "loonie" and two dollar is a "toonie", shows the seriousness with which they take their currency, and people prefer dealing in coins rather than notes, that makes one prone to the uneven butt syndrome.

4. Every second day I see atleast one banged up car on the roads (refer to point number 2)

5.A big fat tadka laden Punjabi wedding occuring on every weekend in the hotel, with gaudy dresses and even gaudier vehicles, which have personalized names like "Harkir 8", "Bund 007", "Sukhy 69" , "yuvraj 1" etc. Havent seen a "Flying 6" or a "5 pyaare" , or a Pammi 38-30-38

6. The Canadian english pronunciation is a mixture of the American twang and the British stiff upper lip.

7. Temperatures above 30 degrees is treated as a heat wave, and advisories are issued in the media, such a threshold in peninsular India would result thankfully in sparse traffic and schools never completing their syllabus.

8. Counting the number of world famous Canadians I now know requires help from my fingers rather than my ears and probably my nose.

9. Apparently Americans have had more success in Canada than in Iraq, they pervade every aspect of Canadian life, from media to corporate, almost all stores and brands are US based. Even the most famous Canadian product the Molson beer, has been taken over by US based Coors. It is almost like the 51st state of US. (Though it is bigger than the whole of USA). Even the distress call number is 911.

10. Most Canadians call electricity "Hydro", though most of the electricity is produced through coal and nuclear power plants.

11. License Raj in Canada, liqour is only sold in Govt shops called LCBO (Liqour Control Board Of Ontario), very surprising considering it is a neigbour of the free market champion of the world.

12. There is an Essex, Perth, Hamilton, Wellington, Birmingham, Kingston and London in Canada. Also a Holland, Finland and Khartoum! And believe it or not a reference to my Alma Mater, a town called Lucknow. Wow. In a few years hope to see a Ludhiana, Patiala and Bhatinda in Sada Kanada.