PUNJABI Raman Gupta, who is from the north of India, has travelled widely in search of entrepreneurial opportunities, which he was happy to find in Bulgaria only six months after his arrival in the country.

However, this was not his only motivation to decide to stay and open a business dealing in tourism and the export of wines.

Within days of his arrival in Sofia he met Borislava, with whom he madly fell in love spiritually and mentally, as he puts it.

"Although she does not respond to me in the same way, I would like to be close to her and I am ready to sacrifice everything," Gupta said, adding that the moment he saw her he was deeply in love with her.

Although he came in search of business opportunities, his whole life and future now depend on Borislava, whose wish he would regard as his command.

This will not be hard because Gupta likes Bulgaria, and he is positive his future will be somehow connected to the country, even if he one day decides to go back to India.

He happily concludes that after all Bulgaria and India are so much alike, he almost has a feeling of being in the same country.

"High corruption at home and out here is just the same," he said.

"Corruption makes the country stronger," Gupta said and explained, however, that this should not be on every level as it is in India.

"I know there is corruption in Bulgaria in high places," he said.

After getting a bachelor of commerce degree and a diploma in management in India, Gupta got an MBA in the Netherlands, where he lived for a year, and today happily admits the observation he made.

"I think that people in the West are colder (in the emotional sense) than the people here".

His observation goes further, that the closeness, and the sense of a bond, that people have in the countryside is similar to Indian culture.

"People in the countryside have such a wonderful attitude and warm feeling towards guests, and treat you as a god. India is the same," he said.

Bulgaria, for him, is a small place with a bright and great future because of its forthcoming accession to the EU and the fact that it has joined NATO.

He holds that a lot of industry will come, and says that Indian industry in particular is very interested in Bulgaria.

Gupta sees Bulgaria as a gateway to Europe, which he describes as a particularly favourable factor.

However, access to Europe is somehow harder for people from India, because Indians tend to encounter problems getting visas, he says.

According to Gupta, Bulgaria lacks nothing, possesses beautiful mountains, and hardworking and affectionate people.

He shows satisfaction and pride in the level of Bulgarian-Indian relations.

From the other side, people most often ask him about the Taj Mahal, and want to know more about his culture once people hear of his origin.

Of the few Indians who know about Bulgaria, their first thought, when its name is mentioned, is of a poor country.

However, Bulgaria has so much more to offer, such as lakes, mountains and hunting, Gupta says.

"The only thing that Bulgaria needs to do is to portray itself and promote what it has," Gupta said, adding that he would be glad to assist the government in this respect.

The ancestors of Bulgarians came from Central Asia and he sees evidence of these deep roots.

He sees, too, that Bulgaria offers opportunities also for Indian restaurants in Sofia, and will consider this once he returns from his forthcoming visit to India.

Bulgaria is not as expensive, and people love the Indian food and culture, Gupta said adding that the food is "malko luyta" (little spicy).

Initially, Gupta was prepared before arrival in Bulgaria with the sole knowledge that the country is in the Eastern part of Europe.

"India has always been on very friendly terms with the Eastern block especially with Russia, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia," he said, and added that India was never as close to the Western bloc.

Bulgaria is in a period of transition, just like India.

"You are transforming just as we are," Gupta said, illustrating his point with an example of the cosmopolitan and modern look of people in a metropolitan city like New Delhi.