The first thing i did in swiss was that i bought a swiss pass ...which allowed me to travel on the complete swiss transport system...land and water!!
next thing i did for ( next 3 days ) was to chussofy my swiss pass .
With a swiss pass in my pocket and a rough plan (thanx to axay and few others )...I travelled from Geneva(including a city boat tour) to Montreux(which for me is the best town in swiss) to Chillon(to the castle ) to Laussane (where I put up for the nite at axay's ex-apartment ) to Montreux( Where I took a golden passline train which takes you through some of the most beautifull landscapes ) to Zweisimann to Spiez to Berne to Spiez to InterLaken (where sunny doel shoots for all his films ...and so do others ) to luzern to Zurich ( where I met Mogu at his fundu apartment ...hes fine and playin' ) to Lugano to Luzern to Olten to Geneva airport ....where I slept for the nite to take flight back to paris next morning ....with a conviction that I'll return..there is a lot to be done next time
Chillon(Montreux) to Laussane was an hour and half boat ride in lake Geneva..and was the best part of the trip !!.Berne was by far the most impressive !!...and lungern is anybody's dreamland ...rest as they say was cute ...really cute.
You can guess ...that for three days i did nothing but traveled... That the beauty lies not in the civilization but in the nature that hails it..
And as it had to be ...I met shippu and gagan at Zurich station ...and realised that yeh duniya badi chotti hai yaar ...aur gol bhi !!
Saturday, July 20, 2002
Thursday, July 11, 2002
last week ....
Last day of the first week and first day of the last week.....they have quite similar feelings attached .
I have settled into my last week at work here ....certainly not my last week in europe.I have plans to go to switzerland atleast ...and will be able to return only on 22nd july .
Life is not the same here .....
Pathak is leaving today ....and it seems like beginning of a new chapter ....The penultimate perhaps.
Strangely ...my work here at Renault has litle importance .I have toiled hard to collect 170 pages of information and analysed it in another 200 pages ....and I'm expected to make an half an hour presentation on Friday .They say it should be enough . Well...they are all french ....what else to say ! !
Kim has set up a series of lunch meeting for us ( interns ) to interact with top executives here at technocentre . Had just one as yet ....with a nice german guy ..who kept talking about his kids .Have more to come .....wish me luck ! !
I forgot to continue the " efficiency " series .....its important!! ....will do it in some time.
Mail back guys ! !
I have settled into my last week at work here ....certainly not my last week in europe.I have plans to go to switzerland atleast ...and will be able to return only on 22nd july .
Life is not the same here .....
Pathak is leaving today ....and it seems like beginning of a new chapter ....The penultimate perhaps.
Strangely ...my work here at Renault has litle importance .I have toiled hard to collect 170 pages of information and analysed it in another 200 pages ....and I'm expected to make an half an hour presentation on Friday .They say it should be enough . Well...they are all french ....what else to say ! !
Kim has set up a series of lunch meeting for us ( interns ) to interact with top executives here at technocentre . Had just one as yet ....with a nice german guy ..who kept talking about his kids .Have more to come .....wish me luck ! !
I forgot to continue the " efficiency " series .....its important!! ....will do it in some time.
Mail back guys ! !
Thursday, July 04, 2002
truly global ....
i know i have become irregular ,but its not because I'm bored or nothing being happening here ...just that I've been a bit lazy these days .
Today , I had a truely marvellous lunch .And I Bet if anyone can repeat what I did ,I'll do whatever you say.
At lunch today , We had representation from ten different countries ( given the fact that there were only nine people )
There was A dutch , A Hungarian who also represented Romania ( Sandor is hungarian with Romanian passport ),A Russian girl ,A Brazilian , A spanish , A Sweedish girl ,A Mexican girl , A French aunty ,and An Indian .
we missed Kim who could have represented America ...and a turkish girl didnt keep her apponitment .
so !! ...can you do that ..a meal with 9 people from ten ( or nine ) countries .
Among us we could speak ...Italien , Spanish , Portugese, Hungarian , Romanian , Dutch , English , French , Hindi , & Sanskrit( i tried ..after three years !!) .To celebrate the occassion , we tried all the languages !!.
for some lighter moments ...maryna said to me , she is pregnant( she had eaten too much )..and i replied " who did it " ...poor she ...she never looked at me after that.
chow !!
keep enjoying ....last days of summer ..huh ...monsoon is coming
Today , I had a truely marvellous lunch .And I Bet if anyone can repeat what I did ,I'll do whatever you say.
At lunch today , We had representation from ten different countries ( given the fact that there were only nine people )
There was A dutch , A Hungarian who also represented Romania ( Sandor is hungarian with Romanian passport ),A Russian girl ,A Brazilian , A spanish , A Sweedish girl ,A Mexican girl , A French aunty ,and An Indian .
we missed Kim who could have represented America ...and a turkish girl didnt keep her apponitment .
so !! ...can you do that ..a meal with 9 people from ten ( or nine ) countries .
Among us we could speak ...Italien , Spanish , Portugese, Hungarian , Romanian , Dutch , English , French , Hindi , & Sanskrit( i tried ..after three years !!) .To celebrate the occassion , we tried all the languages !!.
for some lighter moments ...maryna said to me , she is pregnant( she had eaten too much )..and i replied " who did it " ...poor she ...she never looked at me after that.
chow !!
keep enjoying ....last days of summer ..huh ...monsoon is coming
Wednesday, July 03, 2002
efficiency ...
Since the day i have been here , i have tried to compare french to Indians and France to India .Why are french much more efficient than Indias despite the fact that they work exactly 35 hours a week .
Though i must state intially that i have had very little contact with french and MOST my knowledge about them is second hand , still i have interesting comments to make about Indians , and french . I plan to present it in form of a series of letters ( I have a lot to say )...Here is the first one !!
Few very interesting observation and facts about french ,and my extrapolations.
1. The sex ratio in France favour females
means gals r more frustu then guys .They can tear you down with their staring eyes .( good hunting ground for bugs and alike )Ladies are always well dressed and made up but the guys are always shabby …and i havent seen many guys wearing prssed clothes and suits.In France ( contrary to world average ) ladies spend more time in front of mirror then men .
2. There have been five republics declared in France
and there are talks about a sixth one .French are never sure of what they are doing or how things are going on .After every time power has changed hands , french have found themselves in similar hands. According to Kim , she met a history students who tried to prove that after every revolution and during it, it was peasants and clergies along with the rulers who were killed and eliminated but the upper class had remained same .Infact all the powerfull men in France even today , are direct decendants of the same upper class people who were influencial in 18th century .I cannot confirm on this but i have reasons to believe it .
3. Average french people are very simple and even fools
its true .you dont need to be a bihari to bend them. Playing games to them is very simple, given the fact that they cannot concieve and wdnt realise.But it also means that once they start following some rules , its inconcievable for them to find exceptions.These rules are made by same upper class guys who r in power .
4. The french have a complex education system
not many people persue quality education.Reasons are simple .They dont need to .The rules and provisions are framed in such a manner that you dont have to fight for a quality life as in India , and hence no desire or insentive to try to rise .BUT ? they have have a structure in education system seperating a few colleges from others and calling them supirior (something like IITs ) .A student from these grand college in 90% cases rises to top posts and power positions in France, and 90% of top post , bosses , bureaucrats and polititians are FILLED from these " grand ecoles " .( extrapolating on these two 90% scores means only people from these places reach the top and all of them reach the top )And add to it a fact that good families ( mostly upper class ) have a tradition to send their kids there .Means families in power remain in power .Also ,Your first salary and your growth has direct relationship to the college you come from .
5. French are very proud to be french
and for them its the only way to live , infact they cannot imagine or have never tried to think about anyother form of society and place.They dont travel outside France much , south of France is best possible holidays .They ask ... y do you want to go to switzerland ?...Y do you have to eat vegetables ?..... y do you eat food with hands ?.....y cant i sleep with my girlfriend in her fathers presence ? ?….now i can see that Marie Antennoaite was not a fool when she said : " y dont they eat cakes if they dont have breads "....she was simply bieng french ! !
6. French really care about humans
for example a bus is not a bus …its a vehicle which carrys 40 human lives and hence by all senses has greater priority then all other road vehicles .And that says it all .
And i still havent figured out , why do they marry ?? Joinning there assets ...and lowering their taxes?? ...doesnt seem to be good enough reasons to eat the most dangerous laddoo called marriage .
neways ....
wait for more ...
Though i must state intially that i have had very little contact with french and MOST my knowledge about them is second hand , still i have interesting comments to make about Indians , and french . I plan to present it in form of a series of letters ( I have a lot to say )...Here is the first one !!
Few very interesting observation and facts about french ,and my extrapolations.
1. The sex ratio in France favour females
means gals r more frustu then guys .They can tear you down with their staring eyes .( good hunting ground for bugs and alike )Ladies are always well dressed and made up but the guys are always shabby …and i havent seen many guys wearing prssed clothes and suits.In France ( contrary to world average ) ladies spend more time in front of mirror then men .
2. There have been five republics declared in France
and there are talks about a sixth one .French are never sure of what they are doing or how things are going on .After every time power has changed hands , french have found themselves in similar hands. According to Kim , she met a history students who tried to prove that after every revolution and during it, it was peasants and clergies along with the rulers who were killed and eliminated but the upper class had remained same .Infact all the powerfull men in France even today , are direct decendants of the same upper class people who were influencial in 18th century .I cannot confirm on this but i have reasons to believe it .
3. Average french people are very simple and even fools
its true .you dont need to be a bihari to bend them. Playing games to them is very simple, given the fact that they cannot concieve and wdnt realise.But it also means that once they start following some rules , its inconcievable for them to find exceptions.These rules are made by same upper class guys who r in power .
4. The french have a complex education system
not many people persue quality education.Reasons are simple .They dont need to .The rules and provisions are framed in such a manner that you dont have to fight for a quality life as in India , and hence no desire or insentive to try to rise .BUT ? they have have a structure in education system seperating a few colleges from others and calling them supirior (something like IITs ) .A student from these grand college in 90% cases rises to top posts and power positions in France, and 90% of top post , bosses , bureaucrats and polititians are FILLED from these " grand ecoles " .( extrapolating on these two 90% scores means only people from these places reach the top and all of them reach the top )And add to it a fact that good families ( mostly upper class ) have a tradition to send their kids there .Means families in power remain in power .Also ,Your first salary and your growth has direct relationship to the college you come from .
5. French are very proud to be french
and for them its the only way to live , infact they cannot imagine or have never tried to think about anyother form of society and place.They dont travel outside France much , south of France is best possible holidays .They ask ... y do you want to go to switzerland ?...Y do you have to eat vegetables ?..... y do you eat food with hands ?.....y cant i sleep with my girlfriend in her fathers presence ? ?….now i can see that Marie Antennoaite was not a fool when she said : " y dont they eat cakes if they dont have breads "....she was simply bieng french ! !
6. French really care about humans
for example a bus is not a bus …its a vehicle which carrys 40 human lives and hence by all senses has greater priority then all other road vehicles .And that says it all .
And i still havent figured out , why do they marry ?? Joinning there assets ...and lowering their taxes?? ...doesnt seem to be good enough reasons to eat the most dangerous laddoo called marriage .
neways ....
wait for more ...
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