Frolicking near the UNO!

From Marseilles we went to Geneva. We came across a well maintained garden, pond and the Swiss wheel. I really enjoyed dipping my legs in the clean water and then basked in the sunlight enjoying the beautiful view. But the biggest eye catcher was Jat’ d Eau fountain. I was ecstatic to see such a big fountain.

On my way to Geneva, the child in me became very active as I did everything as a small child would do. We stopped at a place to enjoy the view and I tried touching the soap bubbles.

We reached the UNO building and took shots of the building by placing cameras inside the closed gate. Admiring the beautiful flag of so many different nations, a thought just popped my mind whether the organization has been successful in resolving world disputes.

In front of the building is a big broken chair and close to the chair are the fountains. The iconic image is a reminder to the nations to remember the condition of landmine victims and to commit themselves to eradicate cluster munitions. This memorial to the people who lost their body parts in landmine is 39 feet high and made of wood.

I got completely drenched trying to touch all the fountains on the left side of the UNO. The mild noise emanating from the fountains had a very soothing effect on me.

It was worth taking a risk at the cost of getting ones clothes drenched by touching all the fountains. Seeing my discomfort in wet clothes, the suggestion came from my tour director that I could remove my shirt and let it dry and the people would not mind.

But I refrained from doing so and decided to stay in the wet clothes. Fortunately, my bus driver, Sam came to my rescue. He allowed me to take out my fresh clothes from my suitcase stacked inside the bus with other luggage.

To me, it seemed like an uphill task finding my luggage amidst other luggage but his willingness to go the extra mile in tracing my luggage stole my heart. To allow me to take out my clothes from the parking area could have been frustrating and irritating for other drivers but Sam showed no displeasure. In fact throughout the trip he bore a beautiful smile.

His magnanimity in allowing me to take out my clothes one more time from the bus stacked with luggage without any fuss touched my heart deeply. He made every effort to make people comfortable. I cannot end the article without sharing picture of the driver Sam.

To me, he became an epitome of kindness as he was not only kind to me but to other passengers as well. Because of his lovable demeanor he was endearingly named Shyam (another name for Lord Krishna) by other tourists from our group.

I would like to conclude my article by sharing a photo of Meher Baba, an Indian spiritual master who visited Switzerland many times. Our trip to Europe was primarily undertaken to visit places visited by Meher Baba and Switzerland was one of them.