Achyut’s birthday celebrations – 26 Sep 09

RanjBharath had organized a small hall for Achyut’s birthday. They had invited some of their IBM colleagues, Bal Vikas children and their mothers (2 of them) and 2 of Achyut’s friends in the Play School with one South African mother and a Chinese mother.



It was a lovely celebration .I blew up all the balloons and hung hem around the hall using adhesive tape – took a good two and a half hours! Ranju had painstakingly baked a large cake, which incidentally was one of the best cakes I have ever had.



There was apple pie and sandwiches with Paneer spread and Pesto rolls made by Bharath and Idlis with coconut and dhaniya chutney .The starting drink was an orange juice /Fanta for all the guests. Everybody enjoyed the dishes. Especially the South African and the Chinese ladies – they had their fill absolutely especially the idlis.



The IBM (India) crowd from Bharath's office was totally at home – all from Kolkata - so there was a Bengali flavour to the party. All of them were so loving and affectionate. Chitra and her husband Kaushik from the IBM team ,even came and touched Latha and my feet for our blessings.

Bhajans in Geneva – 24 Sep 09

Attended study circle and bhajans at Geneva. Caught a train at Vevey. Had to change train at Lausanne .For the 7 pm bhajan I had to start at 4 pm. From Geneva railway station I had to catch a tram and then there was a walk. Latha did not come along with me. The Study circle was in French and a devotee called Arun Pabari (Gujarati settled in Geneva) did the English translation. There were French as well as Indian devotees. There was a French bhajan too which I liked. The Geneva Centre is quite active unlike the Vevey centre. They have a Youth Group, which has attended Youth meetings in Prasanthi Nilayam. Also they have Hospital /Old age home visits regularly. But the Centre is quite a distance away from home and the time taken is pretty long – I actually came back at 10.30pm, tracing my way back. Decided to concentrate in Vevey activities in the future.

Latha’s birthday – 23 Sep 09

Had a small cake cutting ceremony to celebrate Latha’s birthday. RanjBharath have offered us a trip to Paris and back as a birthday gift. We took them out for dinner to a Thai restaurant at Vevey for a birthday treat, where we had “vegetarian’ Thai red curry, noodles and rice stirred fried vegetables and soup followed by Fried ice cream and Thai home dessert.

Achyut Birthday – 22 Sep 09

We had a quiet celebration of Achyut’s 2nd birthday at home. Ranju baked a cake. Achyut blew his 2 candles to celebrate his birthday.

We also finalized the hall where his actual celebrations will be held – on 26 Sep 09 .The place is quite close to our home here, in very peaceful surroundings. There is a school nearby. Waiting for Ranju to get the keys of the hall, I sat and watched as the school got over and the mothers came to pick up their children from school. Could have easily been a scene from an Indian school. But the atmosphere was different – it was so quiet and virtually a meditative atmosphere. There was hardly any chit chatting and boisterous noises made by the children – something with which we are very familiar in India.

Visit to Grindelwald – 21 Sep 09

PVBK drove us down to Grindelwald via Montreaux – it was more than a 3-hour drive away. Montreaux is quite close to Latour de Peilz. I have gone walking up to this place during my morning walks.



It is a high profile town where the rich and famous, including many Arabs live. The shops, the displays were all exotic .We traveled along “Thun” Lake and reached Grindelwald.The drive was superb.



The more I want to describe the beauty of Switzerland the more difficult it becomes – it is so indescribable and beyond words. The beauty of Mother Nature – the wonderful creation of the Divine has to be seen and experienced with all the senses to drink in the “Ananda”. People back home say that Kashmir is “Zannath” – heaven on earth .I would unhesitatingly say that Switzerland is “Zannath” on Earth!



As we were approaching the Welterhorn peak the scenery became even more beautiful. We arrived at the base of the peak to start our trek upwards to the Glacier. Ranju had packed some “puliyothari “ which we all quickly had and than started moving up .To view the Glacier however we had to climb 900 steps.



To climb up the steps with Achyut would have become difficult so it was decided that RanjBharath would climb up first and then they would come down and then I would move up as Latha lacks stamina to climb up the mountain.



After moving up the mountain however RanjuBharath gave a feedback through mobile that my moving up would not be worth the effort as the Glacier was not visible form a close range as it was receding - melting away. Instead of the Glacier moving forward with formation of snow it was actually receding.



Once they came down and as we were moving away from the location the Glacier looked more charming from down below than what it looked like on top after all the climb!



Marveled at God’s creation all the same and His Omnipresence through his Beauty manifesting itself as Mother Nature. - the snow topped mountain ranges, the roaring flowing water melting from the Glacier in the midst of the reverberating Silence.



Also saw a model of the first cableway of the World, which was constructed with great difficulty and was ready for use by 04 July 1939 but discontinued within 5 years of its installation probably because it collapsed once after that,due to very bad weather thus endangering human lives.



Every trip outside in Switzerland is a revelation of His Majesty – His Beauty – His Grandeur. Latha and I are indeed privileged human beings to enjoy this phenomenal beautiful and elegant Creation. Another wonderful day spent in contemplation of God and his Omni presence.