Distances bridged Distances

Having cracked an online course on Minority Rights, hosted by Minority Rights Group International (MRGI) under the Global Advocacy Programme (GAP),  I got the opportunity to visit two countries, at a stretch of about two weeks, Bangkok (Thailand) and Geneva (Switzerland), from 17 November-1December 2011.

Everyone at my work place, close cousins, friends and family, all would enquire about my feelings and thoughts on the foreign trips I was soon to embark upon. I am sure I denied everyone any expected answers ;) which the normal Indian bourgeoisie would look for, i.e. those of over excitement and dream come true and etcetera. Not that I never had the aspiration to travel abroad, but now when I was getting the chance, I was torn between my mind and the heart. I did not know whether to rejoice in the Lord for this, or continue to feel sad about going miles away from my home and the beloved! While on the one hand I found everyone happy for me, I realised I wore a confused look on my face all the days till I finally left for Bangkok.

Four days in Bangkok went off fine for it was still like India in terms of the topography, precisely the surroundings, streets, some Indian people, some famous Indian restaurants, and some Indian TV channels which could be easily switched to. This was one culture that I was witnessing, and this gave me the warmth of being in my own country. Thankfully!

Being in Switzerland was another experience. It is needless to mention anything about the scenic beauty of this country. The land of snow and heights, the Alpes! My arrival alone in Geneva made me think why most Indian movies are increasingly shot in Switzerland. It was ‘cold’, like the chilly breeze of winters in mid December and January in India. It was calm, scarcely populated in the literal sense, lonely streets without the obsessed honking as in Delhi and no school going children to be sighted, traffic moving in the opposite direction (as opposed to the traffic movement in India), women running around with their offspring with most laid in the pram, and so on. The only assembly of people I witnessed used to be during the office hours in the morning, at the bus stops, and then for the rest of the day, everything was undying silence.

I witnessed there the autonomy each individual possessed at work place, dignity of labour, no unnecessary or profuse formalities for international guests (called for the UN Forum on Minority Issues), easy moving lives and the old couples enjoying life at their age. Everyday short journey in the public buses and morning view outside the window made me think of the different life styles and cultures I was witnessing. While in India people struggled from dawn to dusk to make ends meet; malnourished children beg on the streets; women carry their infants seeking alms on the signals; physically incapacitated human beings crawling on the streets and outside the religious institutions; scams becoming the daily bread; servitude and subservience and evils like caste and genocide in the name of religion were being practiced with pride, here in Geneva, I was in a new world, a world, where perhaps every individual ‘lived’ a life and not just endured it. Even though solitary for me, the stay in foreign made me see through the stark differences.

All said and done, I was still craving to be back to my country. More than my home, I was missing my country, my city, Delhi, when I was there, miles away. A virtual fight had again taken off in my mind. Why was I missing my country, when I was away from everything that troubled me, even if for few days? I don’t know if it was just because of my family or if the distances made me undergo the feeling of being in an unknown country. I think it was also because the people here are livelier, streets are buzzing and here we will find people to be by our side in our happiness and sorrow, even if not called for.  Despite all the goodness and mesmerising beauty, I wanted to come back, and had started counting the days backwards, from the end of day one. I had never thought I would miss India like this. Perhaps Geneva was really 'Cold' for me.

Sometimes, sporadic and strange thoughts just assault me, and make me fight them back. I am just happy to be back home, for my absence also brought my beloved close to my family and they got to know each other well. ;) Distances bridged distances that were hard to be imagined.