“Jaa Simran Jaa, Jee Le Apni Zindagi” the iconic dialogue from the movie ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’ was what was playing in my mind when I had told my boss that I wanted to take some time off work to go on a vacation with my family to France and Switzerland for a week and she had said yes. Initially I was shocked as I didn’t have to do a’ la ‘Simran’ to please the ‘Babuji’ that is my boss. No lengthy speeches or emotional dialogues and I got my leave approved, thanks to my sweetheart of a boss! This was almost two months ago. An unexpected transfer order received last month did quite rattle me in between and I was not sure if my vacation would happen as planned, but all things worked out in my favour and last week I set out on the journey to the beautiful countries of France and Switzerland along with my family.
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| Jungfrau |
It was my
first vacation in the last six years. For someone who was determined to take a
break every year to travel ever since post-graduation, the last few years had
been quite difficult, from the floods in Kerala and the cyclone ‘Gaja’ in Tamil
Nadu (where I was posted) in 2018 to the COVID pandemic in 2020 and the aftermath
of the same in the years that followed, travelling or the thought of taking a
break from work was not even an option. So, this vacation was a much awaited and
a much deserved one.
The journey
was a lot of “firsts” as far as I was concerned – it was my first trip outside
of the Asian continent, it was my first-time seeing one of the “Seven wonders
of the world” up close, my first-time travelling on a A-380 aircraft, my first-time
on a rotating cable car, my first-time tasting French wine (or for that matter
any wine!) and the best part of the whole trip was that it was my first-time experiencing
a snowfall. They say that the first time is always special and the experience
of seeing a snowfall and being in the snow in this journey is something that I will
cherish lifelong.
The one thing
that was common among the two countries that I visited was the beauty that both
the countries had been immensely blessed with. If Paris had beautiful man-made
structures in addition to the beautiful river Seine, Switzerland was nature at
its best. If Paris had the mighty Eiffel Tower, the beautiful Versailles
Gardens, Switzerland had the breathtakingly beautiful Alps Mountain ranges and the
picturesque lakes like Lake Geneva and Lake Lucerne.
The Eiffel
tower was my first tryst with a “Seven wonders of the world”. I had always
wanted the ‘Taj Mahal’ to be my first, however I have not had an opportunity to
see it till now. It remains on top of my bucket list till date and I am sure I
will strike that off sooner than later. Though seeing the Eiffel tower was not
a very challenging task; given its height, it was always there somewhere in the
vicinity at all times during our Paris city tour, but getting inside was quite
a task as we had to wait for almost two hours to get inside due to the huge rush
of visitors. However, it was an experience worth every minute of the wait as we
got to see Paris city in its full glory atop the Eiffel tower. Looking at the
Eiffel tower one can’t but wonder at the vision of its builder Gustave Eiffel and
the efforts that went into making it an architectural marvel that has stood the
test of time.
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| Versailles Palace Gardens |
There are
times in life that reassure you of the presence of the Almighty, the Creator of
this universe. Every moment in Switzerland was such, for the human mind cannot
conceive or even remotely try to create the kind of beauty that Switzerland’s
landscape has been naturally bestowed with. It is undoubtedly the work of the Master
Creator Himself. Be it the endless
arrays of snow-clad mountains or the pristine waters of the lakes, the green
meadows, every sight in Switzerland is a treat for one’s eyes. The ‘Golden Pass’
train ride is nothing short of a visual treat; one is left awe-struck at the
beauty of Switzerland all throughout the journey. Another thing worth learning
from the Swiss is the art of maintaining the natural beauty of one’s country
and it is not a simple task to maintain something so beautiful in all its glory
despite rapid modernization that most people around the world use as an excuse for
destroying nature and getting away with it.
Though all the sights and sounds of France and Switzerland were mesmerizing, the icing on the cake was ‘Ice’ – yes, I had not seen a snowfall in real life, nor had my parents. Though we had seen snow covered mountains from a distance in our journey to Jammu and Kashmir almost a decade ago, we couldn’t experience snow or snowfall at that time due to the floods in Srinagar that had jeopardized not just the trip but our lives as well. The highlight of our France-Switzerland journey had to be a visit to Jungfrau and Mt. Titlis. The one thing that I felt was common about the two locations was the fact that the journey to both the locations were as beautiful as the destinations themselves. Both the journeys were amazing but the journey to Mt. Titlis was all the more amazing as one of the stretches in the journey to it was on a rotating cable car called the “Mt. Titlis Rotair’, that offered a 360-degree view of the mountains from the cable car. There are moments in life that you wish you never forget until the day you die and my visit to Jungfrau was one that was filled with moments like that. The journey to Jungfrau also known as “The Top of Europe” made me feel like I was on top of the world and not just Europe. Seeing the beautiful snow-covered Alps so close, seeing a snowfall, walking on the ice, it was truly an “out of the world” experience. I wish I could find a better way to put that feeling in words, but I don’t think words can do complete justice to the experience that is Jungfrau. If Jungfrau was my first tryst with the snow and Alps, Mt. Titlis was my parents first experience with the snow as they had sat the tour to Jungfrau out. I always keep searching for ways to make my parents happy – do funny things to make them laugh, do most (not all!) of the things that they ask me to do, but I always felt like there was something lacking, I was not able to make them as happy as I wanted them to be. But this trip helped me in my efforts at making them happy – I cannot forget the child like joy on their faces when they stepped onto the snow-covered mountains for the first time, they played with the snow, they saw snowfall for the first time, thanks to this trip I was able to treasure one rare moment where they were truly happy, without any concerns of the world around them, when they experienced pure unadulterated joy! Some moments in life are just priceless and that moment for me was one such.
The journey
ended with a short trip to the waterfall Rheinfall, another beauty in
Switzerland. It was a perfect way to end a perfect trip – a calm, peaceful and
serene waterfall. On the way back to Zurich from Rheinfall, we had to pass through
Germany and that was also an experience worth remembering.
Whenever I travel
for reasons other than work, initially I am always left with a feeling of
guilt, I feel that maybe I am being selfish, I am neglecting my work, when infact
it is my work that actually provides me with the means to travel in the first
place. But all these thoughts end as I take the first step towards my destination,
as I surrender myself completely to the experience of travelling, open my mind
to the places that my journey is about to take me to, to the people I am about
to meet and to the learnings, the memories and the experiences that my journey is
about to present me with. When someone refers to one’s love for travelling as “Wanderlust”,
I feel that maybe it should not be termed as “lust” as travelling is a very
divine experience, travelling lets you connect to the world, the Creator of
this world, and most importantly to oneself. It helps you become a better
person – a person who is more receptive to people, a person who is more ready
to adapt, a person with a broader and more positive outlook towards life. Every
journey that I have undertaken in life has made me a better person. It has taught
me lessons, that I probably won’t be able to learn even if I read a thousand
books. It has given me experiences that made me feel alive. It has taught me to
live life to the fullest, to be happy no matter what, it has taught me to cherish
each and every moment of my life. So, the next time someone tells you that they
don’t have the time to travel, and that person could be you yourselves, reassure
them that travelling is one of the best things in the world and if it’s with
the people who mean the world to you, then you are likely to have your world
changed for the better when you travel, so don’t hesitate, just pack your bags
and go!
So, that was
my account of a short trip to France and Switzerland. John Keats once said “A
thing of beauty is a joy forever”. My journey was filled with all things beautiful,
so it will forever remain etched in my heart as a joyful memory. Thank you,
France and Switzerland, for everything, you were truly special!
