(click to open and zoom to see where I’m pointing)
- German cannot really be a hard language to learn. Even kids in Switzerland speak German fluently. (Yeah, I guess now you get the tone of this post)
- India and China seem to be the most prosperous countries and the ones least affected by the recession.
- More particularly Marwadis and Gujaratis seem to be the most prosperous communities. And everyone seems to live in Bombay.
- Switzerland as a honeymoon destination seems to have gone down well for second honeymoons rather than firsts.
- Playing in the snow isn’t that overrated after all. It is actually fun.
- Staying with the same, natural beauty isn’t that boring to look at. At times, watching out of the window can be more interesting than reading Angels & Demons.
- On books, in spite of being called the Rakhi Sawant of writers, Karan Bajaj’s ‘Johhny gone down’ was lapped up by me in 2 days straight; and considering that I was in Switzerland on vacation, where I didn’t really have a lot of time for reading a book, this just confirms that I love the Rakhi Sawant types.
- Indian food stalls are a hit wherever you go.
- And Indians remain their own selves while standing in a queue for a buffet lunch, wherever you go.
- And Indians remain their own smart selves buying their bottles of whiskey from the supermarket and carrying them in their pockets to restaurants, wherever you go.
- Despite being a supposedly Arabic originated snack, Chicken Shwarma is much yummier in Switzerland. It is called Doner.
- The bigger the group, the more the fun; NRIs are most welcome in Indian groups and Joint families. And small kids who blabber incessantly can be such ice-breakers.
- Dubai is still an enigma amongst westerners. For Indians, it is a colony somewhere in their neighborhood.
- If you think people in Switzerland don’t speak a lot of English, you should visit Turkey.
- When you’re drunk, you make a lot more and seemingly lot closer friendships.
- Turkish people are unbelievably sweet with kids. Unbelievably sweet.
- And finally, the officers and people at the Dubai Immigration have to be the best in the world. After a long trip and an exhausting night in the plane, it is good when they see you with a baby and make you jump the queue, the immigration officer greets you ‘Good morning Mr. Rakesh, You look sleepy’ with a smile, even do some small talk and also give your wife shopping ideas for your next vacation. This is the thing about Dubai that makes me feel like I’m back home even when I come back from a trip to India. Think about it, an Immigration officer is the first impression you have of any foreign country. Shouldn’t they all be like this?
Located in Dubai but Heart in India 