Zurich journal

This week we were in Zurich to attend A R Rahman’s concert as part of his world tour “Jai Ho”. Unfortunately, the concert got cancelled after an accident in Detroit damaged their stage and instruments. But we had planned to see some of Switzerland’s beautiful places that we had not seen earlier, so our trip to Zurich was still worth the time.

But what follows is not a journal of our sightseeing tours: it’s rather a scrapbook-style collection of some thoughts during this week. I read somewhere that “on an average day an average person runs about 60,000 thoughts through his mind” (it must be higher for women who are above average and more creative ;-)). I guess most of our thoughts are reactive and only some spontaneous. Thanks to the iPhone, I jutted these thoughts as they came…

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“Take good memories of Switzerland with you; nobody can steal them,” suggested the fatherly wise Rolf, our guide on the trip to Rhine Falls. I could not resist adding: “But you can lose them!” I am particularly poor in remembering details and would have done well to maintain a diary of my life. But writing diaries is the habit of to-be-writers, which I was not ordained to be… My short memory means I forget the bad experiences easily and am happier that way, but I am poorer too without all the details of my happy experiences. What is life but a collection of experiences and memories?

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My camera did not have a lens wide enough to capture the panoramic beauty of the Alps mountains. Nor did my mind feel broad enough to capture the vastness of nature, or my language rich enough to express its beauty. How mighty are those minds that dare to conquer nature with their bodies? Or do they dare to dream so because they can truly appreciate nature’s might?

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This Kid will go a long way. Kid was our guide on the trip to Jungfrauoch, and I have not seen a guide ever so enthusiastic about his job and also enjoying it fully. He took care of each and every group member like his own family and then found enough time and energy to share every bit of information you need and some more that you may want. He sat all members of every family/group together in the trains, helped elderly people walk and reach the right place and took photos for the couples and families. Wow! I wish he was my life guide: would love to learn from this young man from Thailand how to love one’s job and excel in it even if it earns you nothing extra or extravagant.

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What comes first? Money or happiness? I think it’s a chicken-and-egg problem: no money, no time to be happy or to make others happy. Earn money and spend it to be happy and make others happy. You can choose to make it money- and- unhappiness problem too, which is what most people with money do.

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What makes us the best creatures on earth? Imagination. What makes us the worst creatures on earth? Money. Imagine this world without money. That would be heavenly.

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Our egalitarian approach to evolution has resulted in a society that is not egalitarian. Survival of the fittest was supposed to keep the natural balance.