Switzerland for the uninitiated - Part II

The Swiss are neutral. Period. Neutrality has always been synonymous with Switzerland and vice-versa. The Swiss have famously proclaimed to be neutral, right since the conception of the federation. Remember, that the country itself was founded on basis for being a 'buffer' zone between powerful nations. And Switzerland has easily used the notion of neutrality to its  complete advantage.  This gives a lot of strength to the Swiss trade relations with Nazis (which was under fire during and after the WWs) and Swiss banking secrecy (which is under fire now). They never have been sucked easily into European politics (have not joined E.U.), neither did they take sides during the World Wars. India on the other hand, has tried to be neutral since independance. It started the Non-Aligned Movement during the cold war (which Switzerland, surprisingly did not join). Even today, India is trying hard to maintain good relations with both Russia and other communist countries, while following the capitalist policies of the West.

Switzerland being a landlocked country, and being in the centre of Europe, makes it difficult to remain isolated when it comes to foreign policy. But the Swiss have always thought about joining the E.U. as an infringement upon their sovereignty: something that they take too much pride in. You see, Switzerland follows the famous concept of direct democracy. Even in this concept of democracy, they elect leaders and send them to the parliament. But laws passed by them, can easily be challenged by anyone in Switzerland. All he/she has to do is get signatures of 10,000 people who oppose the bill, and this calls for a referendum. Referendum is a direct vote by common public on these laws, where the common man gets to decide on rather important policies. It is very common to have 7-8 referendums each year. Some of the famous referendums include the recent successful ban of construction of minarets and opposition to join the EU. Apparently it is compulsory for the parliament to call for referendums when it takes decisions on foreign policies. The process of counting votes in referendums is done on two levels. One on the total majority and another on cantonal level. If more than 1/3 rd of all cantons have majority of people opposing the bill, then it cannot be passed. This gives a lot of power to the small cantons and causes unimaginable delays in framing policies. And many Swiss are realising and opposing this increasing bureaucracy. They can probably take some tips from Indians : the crib gawds, who crib and crib but never do anything to change it!

I guess we Indians think that referendums defeat the notion of democracy, where you put all your faith/vote idiotically on one elected leader. But the Swiss were sensible enough not to allow politicians to fool them. The politicians in Switzerland do not get paid by the government. They all work part-time in companies for their livelihood. Doing government work is like a hobby for them. Imagine what our politicians will do if we ask them to follow this. Frankly, I cannot imagine anyone in the Indian politics today, who might work for free:  except Dr. Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram. Tharoor might say yes to the same, on the condition that we have to pay him for reading his tweets !

All jokes apart, I guess there still are lessons that we can learn about democracy. Moving on, one of the most striking features of the Swiss, is their etiquette. I have been told from "highly placed sources'', that the Swiss are the sweetest of all the europeans. Every day, you are always greeted with a ''Bonjour!" by  total strangers on the street, in your building, or anywhere else. They stop their huge Mercedes and BMW's for every kutty pedestrian trying to cross the road. Not to mention the constant ''Merci" they always receive back. They even go to the extent of waiting and keeping the swinging doors open when they see someone coming, from far. To say the least, I am totally flattered :)

Switzerland for the uninitiated - Part I

Indians as such, are never exposed a lot to Europe, when they are in school. I guess this has to do with most of them ruling over us for 200 years.  But still ! Little had I ever heard about this small country called Switzerland, tucked in between 'great' powers like France and Germany. All that most in India know about this kutty country, is its beauty (courtesy: Bollywood movies). And bollywood cinema might be the reason why it is a popular honeymoon destination for newly beloved and rich Indians. Lately, it has been popular among rich Indians for hoarding their black money in the banks here. Trust me, when I say I am not here for the same reasons. I write this post, not only to bring out a lot of amazing facts, but also to show how Switzerland can really connect with modern India.

The diversity present inside such a small country is absolutely amazing. For starters, Switzerland does not have a single language. Same as India. It has four official languages, namely Swiss-German, French, Italian and Romansh. With Romansh being the only language, completely native to Switzerland. But mind you, they do not have a national language. They never forced any language upon  each other after becoming a nation. Even today, they do not have any common language to speak to all the Swiss. Compare this to India, where we thankfully had English to avert a national disaster. This diversity has its roots in the Swiss history and how Switzerland came into existence, which in itself is very interesting and complex tale.

To cut a long story short, Switzerland was initially only a bunch of princely states that was left intentionally ''unconquered'' to create a buffer zone between great powers of France and Habzburgs (Germany & Austria). Then Napoleon got pissed for some reason, invaded and put all these states together into one country called ''Helvetic Republic''. They didn't stay together though, after the French left. Too many differences on religion ! (some cantons were catholic, some protestant). Finally a war happened, as expected, and the radical protestants won. They then established the country and made it a federal republic called, "Confoederatio Helvetica". This is why Switzerland is often denoted with the letters - CH. But mind you, the federal system established was only to be sovereign nation. The cantons retained all the power and they do so till date !

This small piece of a country is further divided into 26 cantons  !  India, which is  80 times bigger in size and 150 times larger in population, has only 29 states.  And each canton is powerfully autonomous and each canton has its own official language, religion and way of doing things. These cantons are further divided into small communes. So every person here has three citizenships. He is first a citizen of the commune, then comes the canton and then only comes the  nation. Phew! Imagine something like that in India. Oh wait a sec! Isn't something like that happening already ?

(To be continued...)

Change

Been long. Said little. Thought its time I did...

A huge number of people, myself included, ushered in the new year 2010 last month. Yes. I survived the year 2009. But I can't say I came out of it unscathed. Too many uncomfortable things had happened. I passed out of the institute and found myself entering another one. Survived the worsht feeling of losing all things near and dear. Yeah and all that nostalgia crap. Entered a new country. Made new friends. Life had started moving. But the worsht feeling sunk hard, when I did lose a good friend forever. Apparently to God. I don't buy that though. Tears flowed. Lot of introspection happened. Something called faith had lost its grip. Lots of sins had been sinned. Only more to follow. Alas! everything had changed. But life moved on.

The new semester at the new institute had just started. More courses. More work. Some travel too. First snowy winter. First true christmas. The most gruesome of all, ''the french language'' had happened. Basically, too many kutty kutty things also happened.

But I digress... Yes. The new year 2010, that I was mentioning earlier, was finally ushered. I had never taken any resolutions on a new year's day ever. Nor was I going to be foolish enough to do so again. I told myself I will try out something new. Maybe a different approach. Let's see what this year holds for us. Hope to post more regularly. Hope I find stuff to blog about regularly. Anyways, C'est la vie ! Ciao !

Beat around the Bush ?

Ever thought if you've become the worst version of yourself ? Everytime you pass by people on the road, do you feel ashamed to look into their eyes, for the fear of contempt? Humans as we are called, are best thing to happen to earth !

We took every step possible to see to it that not even a single organism on earth is left unaffected by the atrocities of man-kind. No stone unturned to make earth weep for salvation from us ! We've lost those determined leaders who used to risk their lives for every tree that fell in the woods , making way for our gleaming enterprises. We've just lost them. We are ashamed of taking the blame on ourselves. We are ashamed of our very own self. We want to be what others are. We want to follow other's footsteps in order to redeem ourselves in the society. We are not humans anymore ! We are worse than monkeys ! We live in a world led by kingmakers and clergies. Humans as we are called are quite vague. I've seen people who read only the Sports section of the newspaper. And I've seen people who read only the first three pages. And ofcourse then there are people who read only the editorials. These are the people who are more concerned about other's views on what is going on in the world, rather than even bothering to find out what actually is going on in the world. We bask in the glory of our accomplishments so far, that fiction is not fiction anymore. We see our future selves as saviours of the world ! "Save the cheerleader,Save the world" ! Sounds great doesn't it ! Ah! But it's all fiction my dear ! But do not worry my dear reader, there is still hope. There are these freedom fighters who will save the day at the end of the world.

Temples, Mosques, churches will no longer exist. The whole world will unite to salute the spirit of the almighty tree ( If you want, you can also call it a "Bush") . They have already started working in this direction. The earth will no longer need oxygen, for they will invent a way to live in the carbondioxide atmosphere. They will teach the world, a way to live without trees . All the water on earth will be exported to the moon or the Mars even, to save the land from being submerged. But, Alas ! There has been a lot of criticism about these freedom fighters. People do not want any help from them. People do not want the terrorists either. Oh! What a shame ! People do not want to see water on Mars and want to see it in their houses as potable water instead ! They want us to feed their hungry children and not save the world ! What's great about having water and food in your houses ? It's so boring! What? They don't want a change ? Bah ! They will never change. All they want, is to live their miserable little lives, praying in their houses of worship and then die in them. But is that too much to ask ? Yes ! Ofcourse it is.

If not the common man, who will think about the greenhouse effect? Who will stop the global warming ? Who will cure cancer? Bah ! Who gives a shit about them anyways ! Do not worry people ! The freedom fighters here are at the verge of finding a new earth for us ! They have already despatched satellites to probe this new planet. As soon as they confirm that it is habitable, we move in there ! What? You ask what will happen if that new earth also ends up like the present one? Oh don't you worry so much ! We will find a new earth again by then !

Ok now ! Everybody come on ! It's time to honor the freedom fighters ! Let's sing it together!

"Yankee doodle went to town, riding on a pony !
Stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni ! "

I YEARN ...

Why don't we ever think , if we ever deserve the life which we are now enjoying ? Has this thought ever come to your brain? If no, well you are one like me who has wasted his life craving for some attention. And i'd suggest buddy that you'd better start thinking too...

A lot of times in your life , you feel like just pick that big boulder resting beyond that window of your room and smash your impervious brain for all the blunders that it has commited. Well, even I'm passing through that stage of life ,when the word "Introspection" makes sense to the mind. And, that should explain why this blog starts with a sad (rather stupid) question.

I don't know why, but it's become a routine for me to keep changing my behaviour ever since i've entered the portals of this "prestigious" institution. It seems it's been years since i ever stopped by to smell a fragrant flower or the freshness of the cold breeze. My heart yearns for the warmth of Mother Nature. There were those good'ol days when i used to get up early in the morning, go for a walk in the park near my home . But, now it is a distant dream! All this may seem to get a bit "crazy" to read, but only those who've been out of their urban conglomerations and spent some time in a serene and beautiful place, can make sense of this.

I must admit admit that I was lucky to do my schooling in that magnificient and tranquil environment of a township on the outskirts of Jhansi town, a place which I don't know if i can call home(And don't dare ask, why?). I couldn't even think of leaving that place. I loved everything about that place, whatever it may be. I yearn for the taste of the water and the evocative smell of the sand ,transported everywhere by the breeze. I yearn for the football match,which i used to play with my friends in the rain and the indolent amble on the banks of the river. I yearn for the secret mountain trek ,due to a lost bet with a friend and the hide and seek , played at the old and dilapidated remains of a historic building. I only yearn...