The Modest Country

In my knowledge, I think Scandinavian countries are the only countries in the world which are most modest. I recently finished my trip to Denmark (my childhood dream of running between mountains of cheese finally fulfilled!). The city of Copenhagen is a typical old European city with old castles and courthouses mixed with latest sky scrapers. The socialist democratic dogma is still attached to the dealings of the people. The cycle riders are many and far more fearsome than New York taxi drivers. This is summer so everybody was riding cycles, to my untrained Indian eyes, an office worker wearing suit jacket and tie and riding on bicycle was a new sight.

However what gets you most in Denmark is the modesty. The most famous Danish beer, Carlsberg is advertised as "Probably the best beer in the world" - I kid not, one can observe this on their, appropriately titled, "Probably the best website in the world". People are by and large very modest, even with per capita GDP of $46K, they still describe prices of house in matter of fact tone. Several families adopt children from Africa and Asia. Charities have been a way of living for people and most of the times it is not considered as favor to poor countries. My mind was comparing this "give" attitude with "take" attitude in my country and the contrast hit me very hard. The owning of most expensive cars is still considered a social taboo, even if it is affordable - as in person showing off things - not really acceptable in this country. The rich people do not want to show off at all, the poor people don't want to describe the poverty (hey but there are no poor people!). The economic achievements are described in simple tones, as if it was the most natural thing for a small country with hostile weather in northern seas to be the most advanced economic power.

In Denmark, either as part of the culture or simply by habit, the achievements are down played. The historical achievements are rarely mentioned, not many people describe Niels Bohr as national hero (but physicists rarely get that honor, Nobel prize winner or not). You have to actually read the Wikipedia entry to know the top industries (I mean other than Lego) in Denmark. No lavish advertisements, no history in making arguments or we-made-the world go round arguments. Simple facts, stated in such an undertone, that make you think about veracity of the claims. But then it is all true, Danes, were the big viking navigators that actually established sea routes. One of the largest merchant shipping company in the world, Maersk is Danish. Danish hospitality and open arms when it comes to charities is well known. It was also the first country to legalize the pornography. Even the advances are stated in undertone. A casual listener might feel that this country needs lot of help. In fact it is almost reverse.

Scandinavian countries outdo each other in generosity and cultural achievements, but Denmark is probably the most advanced and possibly more modest.