Feels like yesterday
when excitement was all it was,
when all I knew was, I gonna be away for a while,
Among new people, I landed with a smile.

Feels like yesterday
when paper replaced the auto wash hose,
When sniffing had to be changed to publicly blowing the nose,
When AC's were replaced by blowers,
Apprehensive of what would I eat in the land of potato growers.

Feels like yesterday
When planning the next trip became the most thrilling thing to do,
New cuisines, trillions of lovely experiences soon ensued.
when I realized how important the aquaintances-turned-awesome friends had become,
when the most common words I got to hear were meeple and cheeky bum.

Feels like yesterday
When clouds and rain were no more pleasing,
When sun was the best pal, whilst it was freezing.
When riding a bike was no more a status quo,
Rather my favorite means to travel more so.

Feels like yesterday
When trying variety cuisines became delighting for someone diffident,
When for punctuality I became more vigilant.
When a new craze for theme parties had begun,
When board games and poker nights were so much fun.

With such admirable memories of this beautiful world
Where I flew like a free bird
Such beautiful bunch of people that I met
Signing off would not be easy, I bet
A thread that has become the most memorable part of my life
Though its been 2 years
But, I'd still say
it still feels like yesterday..

Thrill on Road...

Its been a while that I wrote, although I had been meaning to do so since long now. There had been many trips in the meanwhile. The most recent and the most adventurous being "The ROAD TRIP". Sometimes, unplanned trips are the best ones and this one for me is the best example. We had been meaning to go to Amsterdam for quite sometime now. However, the lazy arses were always late in making the bookings and hence exorbitant travelling costs cancelled our trip.
Planning for this trip was a matter of hours and few hours before the travel, we did not even know if we were actually going somewhere or we would spend our long weekend eventless at Cramerstrasse.

Our LandRover

Roadies :P

I was hell bent on doing a road trip, did some googling for a couple of hours and then proposed a decent plan (not so decent for my firang friends though as it covered five places in three days, which for them is like a major project and not a vacation). After all the brainstorming and hours of conference call, where everyone sang his own tunes, we zeroed in on to a concrete plan. This was the first time when we just booked the car, packed our bags and headed for the trip without caring a damn about where to stay.

I love missing trains specially in Swiss, wondering if there is some Yash Chopra waiting for me to sign a deal. Yes I missed my train to Innsbruck, but, unfortunately, I couldn't be the Simran nor did I find my Raj. All I did was waited at the station for 2 hours and then took a train with 3 changes to Innsbruck. At first I thought, I shall hear eons from my friends who were supposed to meet me in Austria, but I forgot to take into account the fact that they are Indians and they would miss the planned timelines too. Hence we all reached Innsbruck almost at the same time.

The stopovers

Pretty excited we jumped into the car and there we headed towards our first stop Lienz. I would give all the credits of the scenic stopovers to Yadav family : one drove us to the places and the other chose the most beautiful spot to puke so that we could click a few shots. While we drove along the beautiful countryside, a picturesque view of alps, flowing water and lush green farms, something as beautiful as the sets of DDLJ, the back seaters played cards, the people who grabbed the center seat tried to acquaint themselves with our driver, Mr Yadav. In no time, the acquaintance turned into a bonding where we mocked at each other and cracked jokes endlessly.

View from our room

On the way we were told that Vinay is a jugnu and we might risk out our lives, if we let him drive after 8. Hence, we decided to rent a apartment on the way and not drive all the way up to Lienz. We got down to find a place to stay and finally got a cute, beautiful, haimish chalet. On asking the last time of order for dinner, the person replied, "Now". Hence in no time we took a a decision to stay and order food else we would have to survive on the cool air from alps and the fresh water from the glacier which anyway would have been better than what we actually ordered and what we were served. Craving stomachs should not care about the taste. So we hogged on what we were given.

Now came the most interesting part. All poker addicts bet their money and there we played for hours together. I have actually wondered what the autowalas play while they encircle on the roadside and shout on top of their voices. And this was the time when our hotel room turned into one roadside view. "Andar" "Bahar", "20 andar"," 40 bahar", this was what could be heard. Yes, Vinay taught us that crazy game that autowalas play. It indeed was insanely interesting. We laughed out butts off while some were in debts, some lent their money but were sternly refused to return and later the lenders begged. Amazing night it was.

The next day, we headed for Venice after the breakfast and a nice stroll near our chalet. And then came the most interesting part for me and the most risky part for the rest. YES. I DROVE!! It was not only the first time I sat in the VolksWagen but also the first time I was driving it. It took me time to get aqcuainated with the left hand driving. Every time I had to indicate left/right, the glass in front was cleant and the people sitting in the car prayed for their lives:P

We finally reached Venice and parked our car to board the ship to the Lido beach. Lido beach was calm, clean and beautiful. We spent sometime on the beach making psuedo Vinay with the sand.

Lido beach

Psuedo Vinay

Men @ work

Venice

Lake de Garda

The next half a day was wasted in deciding if we should go to Como as planned or we should extend our trip by 1 day and do a road trip in Swiss. But late planning is not always fruitful. Hence, our efforts of extending the car booking for a day were in vain and we could not even make it to Como. So it was time to go back. We routed via Lake de Garda and chillaxed there for sometime. On the way back, we were stopped by the Austrian police at the check post  and they consumed more than half an hour and there we missed our train by 10 mins again.The next train was at 3 in the morning but that was the best choice we had. We bid adios to our rich friends who still owned the VW and had to drive further to Munich. It got colder and we had no arrangements for the chill as we did not take into account this unpleasant surprise of sleeping at the station. We had almost layered ourselves with whatever we had and slept at the station. So this was the fantabulous trip that started with missing the train and ended with missing a train, yet no Raj or an offer from Yash Chopra. But I would still like to try next time ;) Maybe before my next entry, I am already a celebrity!!

A feeling!!

The arms so delicate yet so strong,
The hug was full of warmth.
The puffy eyes apiece cozy night,
Sacrificed to avert my fright.


With million dreams you held my hand,
Albeit i fell, you made me stand.
The grit was strong, the love immense,
Boundless caress, Comest thou whence?


I cried, I whinned,I defied you sometimes,
Yet thou were calm, for my lapse repeated hundred million times.
How could you be so affectionate and poised?
I annoyed others, they shouted back.
I rejected some and they never looked back.
But,you were always there,
Never changed,
Since the first glance we exchanged.


You overlooked your needs and spent on me,
The sacrifice that I could never see.
Today I feel I could get the best for you,
for no one in the world can be like you.


We smiled, we cried, we fought, we shared,
I got friends and our clashes squared.
I know I hurt you,
Yet thou are the best friend I have,
the feeling with time accrue.

I still say thou NO even though I need,
for I love the way you tenderly feed.
The countless childish acts are all worthwhile,
when I get in return thou single million dollar smile.

I love you mum for what you are
I realize this all the more sitting so far
I promise you all the comforts and smiles
that all through your life you sacrificed.

A weekend at Berlin

Time swept past fast and in 2 days I would be 4 months old in Swiss land. The experience here so far had been crazy and I am still trying to delve into the foreign culture and the lifestyle.

All this time I tried my hands at new cuisines and desserts. To name the successful ones were "Chocolate chips butter cookies" and "pista kulfi". My culinary experiments late in the night, when my dear roomie craved for a spongy rasgulla, resulted in a tiny white balls, which hardly justified the name "Spongy".

 The retreating summers were a treat and to make the most of Europe summers, we made sure that every weekend was planned and came by "The tennis evening",  Barbeque , Accenture party and the trip to Rhine falls.

Then came a weekend of the Philip military operation- "The Berlin Trip". Yes, Germany was the destination.
The journey started with the easy jet (the cheapest we could afford) flight and meeting a supercute and a notorious steward Mike. It was supposedy his second day as part of the crew.

Would you like to have something ma'am. While me and Jyoti tried to go through the menu and decide, "you are ignoring me" he said. After we decided to order a brownie and a coffee, came another question, Which sugar do you want. "Any", said Jyoti. He gave sachets of almost all kinds of sugar packets he had on the shelf.

We reached Philip's place in no time. That was the most beautiful house i had seen in my lifetime. No less than a palace. the doors opened to high stairs with a red carpet and paintings engraved on either sides. the house had high ceilings and was beautifully decorated with all antiques and cool stuff.

We had special welcome drinks from Peter, Philip's replica and his younger brother, and then we headed to the theme pub and later to the techno festival.

We were all hungry and pounced on the lip smacking "Doner Kebab" at the best Kebab place of Berlin. We relished it so much that for the next 10 days Jyoti was looking for a Doner kebab in Zurich.

Then came the most interesting part for the girls, the shopping spree. Spent hours to grabbed some Berlin souveniers. We then crossed the street with the famous "Buddy bears" and spent some time to spot one from India and Switzerland( associated with two countries now :) ).


Later in the evening, we were supposed to go on a pub crawl but could not join one because we were not on the German time and had missed it. So Philip decided to meet his best friend in one of the pubs of east berlin which took ages to reach and miles of walk. We enjoyed our time there as we found a good indian restaurant right opposite to the pub and had watered-mouth when we saw bhatura being served. At midnight we did some favour to our belly and had paneer pakoras and bhatura chola. Yuuummmm...

Following day was the day to add to my knowledge about Hitler and the Berlin wall explained by a gung-ho guide of New Europe tour. Each and every event and place was miticulously explained by him and the crowd hooked on to him from soup to nuts of the 3 hour tour albeit it rained hard. So it goes without mentioning that he was too good.

"Calcutta" was the venue for dinner where we satiated ourselves with the Indian delectables alongside throwing some light on the Indian mythology and Lord Krishna, later addressed as cool dude by one of my friends after having heard all his stories.

We had a wonderful weekend, evident from the sleepy faces in the office on the following day. Unpacking for me and Jyoti was not necessary as in three days we had to again leave for the financial capital of Germany, Munich.

July fiesta!! Philip's contribution continues...

The July was a month for great parties. It started with a great after work party organized by this

handsome guest contributor himself. Trying various cocktails (non-alcoholic of course) made our taste
buds develop to the next level. A good drink is like a good meal. A combination of the right components

to create flavor that could otherwise not be achieved. Synergy.

The following night our great employer hosted a whole day of “fun” presentations and hired a club for the later part of the day that finished by going to a great techno club. The Hive Club, full of ecstatic followers of electronic music was a great opportunity to dance (no, not naughty dancing) with our new colleagues who joined the project just a few days before.

The next day, Saturday, was the Caliente Fest. A annual, very vibrant festival of Latin

American culture with lots of dancing. Unfortunately, some of us did not attend because they could not

get their lazy bums up or use arguments with this handsome guest contributor as an excuse for being

lazy bums. At least at night they were able to come, albeit slowly due to Namitas ankle injury. Since we

arrived late as usual we all went straight to another amazing techno club, Alte Börse to see the German

DJ Duo Tiefschwarz.

Jyoti and Namita managed to book themselves a train journey through northern Italy –no accommodation booked yet To our all great joy they, after reminder, also managed to accept an invitation to a pre-booked trip to Berlin (readers, I hope you know where that is).

Now, to reach an end with this contribution, I also mention the great Indian night hosted by the two

characters we are reading about here. Maybe because of feeling so guilty of not managing anything by

themselves, or because of pure friendliness, they overloaded the organizers of those various events, trips

and cooking sessions by cookies and Indian snacks that smell a lot like egg. They invited us over, cooked

great, did the dish washing and even thought of some games to entertain us. What did we do on our,

non-Indian guests, part? We fulfilled the wishes of our hosts to dress as Indian as we could. So our Swiss and German guests did, finished by a turban, that made some of them look so cute that they would from now on be the most liked people in the office, but, speaking from experience, that can quickly change from not being the most liked one anymore.

PS: I remember speaking to Jyoti on the telephone when she was back in India and I am sure she said she would cook for me every night. Could that be possible?
Last but not least, lessons learned regarding emoticons used in Europe:
x = chumma

:x = chumma

:-x = chumma
:-* = choti chumma
:* = choti chumma

Charity !! Thank you philip for the blog contribution

June: Contributions by a handsome stranger (not Namitas writing):
This exciting month started by noticing that my colleague (Choti) Jyoti made some great friends in the
office. Those friends appreciate the Indian Dosa and, some really appreciate, even more than the Dosa,
Jyotis attention. Unfortunately, those mainly male, people don’t fit in the wedding profile parameters

(age wise).

The fun, this case for all of us, continued by being invited to a great cake making lessen by the very

handsome guest contributor of this blog. The lesson was to learn how to make a traditional English Lemon Meringue Pie. This session came with all kinds of interesting lesson, among them the learning the difference between lemons and limes and how to crack an egg. Some of us prefer to peel of the top and

pour it into the bowl while other crack it at the bowls rim and separate the egg yolk from the egg white by shifting the egg mass from one shelf half into the other until the egg yolk is separated. At the end the cake turned to be out very good and everyone was happy. This success means, that it is likely that Jyoti

and Namita are the first Indian girls in the Zurich district of Schwamendingen having baked a Lemon Meringue Pie http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_Meringue_Pie). What an achievement, truly ahead of the game we are.

One of the other highlights later that months was the Greek night. It involved delicious Greek non-veg.

and non-non veg. food, only. Followed by Greek dancing that was choreographed by the two Indian guest themselves. To recover from so much activity we decided to watch The Hangover 2 at the cinema.

A lot of nudity and strong language was quite a shock for our international friends. Somebody realized

that high heels are worn by man (transvestites) and woman to just look sexy rather than super smart

(what a anthropological revelation). Escaping this shock during the lunch break by using the emergency

exit did not help to disguise Jyoti & Namita’s confusion to everyone in the movie theatre.

The weekend came and after spending an exciting day in Berne the two (Choti Choti & Nakalachi Namita)

decided to visit the person who has written this brilliant blog contribution in the diplomatic capital of the

world, Geneva (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva).

Geneva, is in the French speaking part of Switzerland and hosts the United Nations

(http://www.unog.ch/), ISO, World Trade Organization, World Health Organization, International Red

Cross, International Telecommunications Union, the World Economic Forum and among others the

International Aviation Transportation Association. We settled for an early Saturday evening after being
picked up from the airport and getting a personal tour of the city, seeing the Red Cross (and Geneva
Convention (signed in 1949, after the 2nd World War), Geneva’s old town, Lake Geneva (largest
freshwater lake in Europe, anyone knows which is the largest (without looking it up)?). Sunday, a big
adventure day, finally Namita could become one with her true, wild, animalistic self. She turned into a
fine monkey. The rope/tree adventure (www.parc-aventure.ch) was a challenge for some who never

made it into the great forest height (having to be rescued while attempting it). Others tried their best

being monkeys with the occasional whimpering noise. A bit like “I can’t do this”, or “Stop it”, when

fellow monkeys were shaking the few ropes Namita held on to. At the end, Namita was feed some good

Moroccan food, self made pizza and fine French pastries to calm done and turn into a human again (not

to different a state as when in the forest).

The June finished with the attendance to the Albani Fest in Winterthur. Winterthur, being a
Canton/State itself required the purchased of an extra train ticket – easy to cover with our fantastic new
half price passes. Being naughty girls, both of them used every chance to tease our friends, resulting in a

damaged ankle for Namita, who, so far, has resistant to see an educated medical professional, believing,

based on Namita’s own extensive medical knowledge or superstitions rituals, that those cannot help her.

City of lights

My 3rd weekend in Swiss and its we did'nt play by ear. I was all bright eyed and bushy tailed for the trip. Booked tickets a week before and read every bit about the must visit places in the heart of Switzerland, "Lucerne: the city of lights".

We started at 8 in the morning and this time we packed up paranthas with us. Unexpectedly we were before time and popped into the train the moment it came. The train was no less than a cruise, a double decker one and we climbed up to the 1st floor and grabbed seats. Could'nt wait to have paranthas. Having paranthas in train is nostalgia. It was fun always to travel with family and packup a bag full of eatables, in no way can it ever replace even the "Rajdhani Express" food for which people are always crazy. I never liked it!!

It was a 40 min travel and there we land at the heart of Swiss, Lucerne. It was cold and as usual me and Jo were without jackets. Just next to the "Bahnof"  meaning station in german was the beautiful lake. Jyoti was hell bent on going for the boat ride and quickly we tried to enquire the cruise prices. And we could'nt afford it!! 94 Francs per person. That was too much. And then the ever exciting cruise ride seemed to be not so fun on the grounds that 3 hours would be boring. Mere consolation!!

We started for the Chapel bride. A beautiful wooden platform, the oldest in Europe well decorated with lovely flowers and mounted with the painting in the triangular frame in the ceiling. It was hardly a 10 min walk over the bridge and there we decide to ask people about other places to visit.

"Excuse me, what all places do u suggest us to see here in Lucerne", I asked a young couple. "Me for example" the gentlemen replied with his witty expressions. Well, go around the old town , go for cruise ride, don't miss that.... Cruise ride...ehhh he reminded us of the could be exciting ride. :(

We move further to explore the Lion's monument. It was incredible. Really beautiful indeed. We entered the natural monument museum which had some preserves of the rocks from the glaciers, various shell stones, deepest pothole from glaciers and the like. Had a short clipping on the Gothart rail tunnel, the wars in Zurich, panorama of various mountain ranges and glaciers. It took us a while to cover the museum. It was interesting!!

Then we hiked up to the tower to get a view of the city which was solala read ok ok in German, though the way onto our hike was amazing.

It was 2 and we were out of the museum. All the signals from the retina were converted into just 1 thing FOOD... Indian food. And my 6/6 vision proved helpful. "Kanchi- the taste of India" I could see from a distance and we were exhilarated.

Dal makhani and chapati, seems it was our staple diet. But nevertheless it was a good lunch followed by Swiss choco ice cream from our favourite MOVE n PICK.

We were already excited about our next stop. Mt Pilatus. Had been hearing about it from many people in office. We were just in time to get the tickets. It was the last train to Pilatus and the lady emphasized "Guys I guess its too late..you would get just half an hour at Pilatus as the last cable car is at 6." But we were firm. We'll go for it. Quickly moved towards the Glies meaning platform and there we took the  4 seater on first floor again. We needed to change at Alpanchstad for the cogwheel. Woaaaaaaa...cogwheel was thrilling. Everyone had chips, cookies and snacks. "Aunty abhi dedo wapisi mein apko dukaan se dila denge woh bhi do." my khurafaati mind thought of asking the lady sitting just in front of me with bag full of snacks. The cogwheel started and I could no more think of food as the view was bizarre. I was in the steepest cogwheel train of the world. And wondered how this train could even move. The view was ineffable!! Far stretched prodigious mountains with snow filled peaks, the rivers, the green carpet was all I could see.

We reached 2132m above the sea level, the top of Mt pilatus in 30 mins. Above the clouds, in the clouds, on top of the world were we. :) Clouds made funny unusual designs. Felt there was a volcano in the sky ;) it was the best view i had ever seen. I remember me writing this for Uetliberg too. But this was even more beautiful. Heavenly!! I felt so close to nature.

We had freezed almost without jackets. But it was time for us to be in the cable car. Ye-ye. I sat in cable car for the first time and  it was breathtaking, all the more because of the top view of the beautiful city. :)

Experience of lifetime it was!!