We are seated in the air-conditioned conference room at the Consul General of Sweden in Mumbai office in BKC. Just as we peer through the glass window, wondering at the blazing summer, Ulrika Sundberg walks in. The normally vivacious Consul General, today, looks worn out. She blames the weather. "Mumbai is a big city offering a lot of challenges for its occupants," she says, laughing, giving us a preview of the effervescence that one usually spots at consulate events. "But it is quite similar to New York, considering the number of people that comes here to realise their dreams."

What also binds the two cosmopolitan cities is a pet project that Sundberg has been working on. A project that brings the creative industries from Sweden under one roof. Swedish Style Mumbai re-invents the spirit of much publicised predecessors such as Living in Sweden (Milan 1998), Swedish Style in Tokyo (Tokyo, repeated events, 1999–2016) and Stockholm New York (New York 2000). In fact, it was under Sundberg's supervision that the New York edition rose to fame. "In New York, we held the event in connection with the opening up of H&M on the Fifth Avenue. Now that IKEA is opening up in Navi Mumbai, it seemed the best time to offer a curated experience for networking and discussions on creativity," says Sundberg of the event that has been in the planning for five months now.