Finally, US decided that enough is enough and decided to go to War without UN resolution. Most likely, the next Euro Times might come as a War edition.

       Equal tragedy struck in my life last weekend. As everybody know about my hair-raising experience in Poland, I was equally apprehensive about Hair-cut in German Barber shops.

         Last November, I finally decided to risk my head to the local Saloon. Full of girls, the saloon was quite cheaper compared to other shops and still around 800 Rupees for a haircut. After waiting for an hour, finally when the Barber (or Barbie) asked what kinda haircut (or style) I would prefer, I suggested just to trim.

          Given another month,  I would have matched the Abdul Kalam in hairstyle. So, obviously she was stunned to see that she is trimming for so long that normally she would have completed three such german heads. (Germans come with already-bald head & still want a wash & haircut and pay finally 2000 bucks for that! Compare the two cases and you know how pity is her situtaion!)

           Finally, I told her that was enough, though I still had denser hair than her. She looked visibly grateful for such a let off.

            After a small break of 4 months, I again visited the saloon last weekend. That familiar lady was not seen. (She could have been hiding, seeing me!)

          So, another girl this time. She asked how much millimeters of hair should be left. Millimeters? May be language problems. I said 'medium' which I thought she understood. I was totally unware of what was going to be after a hour!! (Suspense!)

          And she started, initially I didn't find anything particular odd. Later, she was reducing my hairs one by one (literally) to 5 millimeters each. None of my suggestion were understood by her. It was like the other girl told her 'Oh! Phir yeh Aaa gayaa! I am not that stupid! Atleast this time..! See to that this guy will never come back again to our saloon! Grrrrr!"

         Things quickly went out of control! I was just staring at the mirror seeing my ambitions of becoming Dr.Abdul Kalam in tatters.

          If you had seen me and asked me for 'Laddu's, I wouldn't have been surprised, since I looked like someone who went to Tirupathi just two weeks back. :-)

         When I paid and came out of the Saloon, that girl smiled at me.. :-) Didn't I see sarcasm in her smile? No, No,not!.. May be Yes!!...

          Now I look forward for my next trip to Saloon,  possibly in 2004....

Super Swiss!!
 

 Switzerland - A dream destination for everyone around the world. Arguably, the most beautiful country in the world.

 Swiss invokes the images of irresistible Chocolates, precision Watches, gigantic Alps and boring Bankers. Every one of us has seen it in the movies, photos etc. So, it was expectation of high level to see it and feel it first hand.

 In Political dictionary, if you look for the meaning for Neutrality, you will find Switzerland against it. There were never involved in any of the major wars in modern times, not even in World War II. They are part of no organization like NATO, EU etc. However, Geneva & Zurich host a lot of UN offices like UNESCO, though they are part of UN just as Observer and not as Member.

 In fact, their neutrality is so true, that they have a army of just 5000 soldiers. Recently there was a referendum whether they need a army for their country. That’s amazing stuff. (The + (plus) sign in their flag is the only aberration!)

 German, French & Italian are the three national languages. Hmm... Learning German, however little, helps a great deal in Europe man!!

 It was just 3-Hr travel for us to reach Zurich from Stuttgart. My residence permit allows me to go without any VISA. However, I had to get the Visa for my parents.

 We planned to visit a view point of Alps called JUNGFRAU, second largest peak of Europe. We reached a place called INTERLAKEN, which is at the foot of the Alps and stayed in a youth hostel.

 Wherever you stand in Swiss, you can see Alps, this was my first impression. The picturesque hills & houses were gorgeous.

 Inter-laken : The name is due to the fact that this town lies between two big lakes THUN & BRIENZ. And the trains go to almost to the top of the Alps.  At the top of it, we have Observation station Sphinx, the panoramic view from there is truly amazing. (The trip to top is most expensive, i.e. around 100 Euros per person)

 Believe me, there is a restaurant at this peak called "Bollywood", as you know, an Indian Restaurant. Man, Indians are truly Global citizens!!

 We went up to the top where it was so cold and windy that we couldn't stay out in the snow for long. However, the view of snow till the end of the point your eyes can reach is stunning. 

 Watch out, Jungfrau features prominently in the upcoming movie THE HERO starring Sunny Deol. Hollywood wise, the James Bond movie "At her majesty's service" was shot here.
 

 Well, we have seen more Switzerland in our Hindi, Tamil movies than Mumbai or Chennai. Even if the Hero is not sure where his next meal will come from, he will still dance in Swiss with heroine in his dreams.

 All along, I was looking for the shooting of Hindi movie titled "Hum Tumpe Marthe Hain, Lekhin Voh Mere Dil Chahtha Hai, Pathaa Nahin, Yeh Dil Kya Kare?" (Shortly HTMHLVMDCHPNYDKK)  starring Shah Rukh, Kareena, Karishma etc.. J

 I have to warn you of one thing: Expense!. Swiss is very costly and everything you buy comes with extra price for the Swiss tag. Its also true that it is cheaper for Film makers to shoot in Swiss than in Shimla (mostly due to reason that you have longer day-time and crowd-free shootings!).

 Tourists could easliy outnumber the natives in Swiss, mainly Japanese with their miniscule cameras. Another fact that Swiss population is just 70 lakhs also doesn't help. (70 lakhs ? - that's less than the population of Chennai) 

 Do you know that Red Cross was found in Swiss? (you find a cross in Swiss flag too!)

 Swiss chocalates are unique though we can find it in Germany itself. We could find lotsa Cow-bells like the one that Kajol gives to Shah Rukh in DDLJ. 

 Swiss Banks - You know it. All the money that are unaccounted are in Swiss banks. Its a privilege to have an account in Swiss Banks. In fact, if you shout "Hello Banker" in the streets of Zurich, you will find atleast 50 people turning back and tell 'Yes please' :-)

 Currency of Swiss is not Euro but Swiss Franc and we had difficult time in converting our Euros to Francs as the Banks were closed on that day and the computer was down at the only ticket station available.

 As far as Personalities go, Martina Hingis (Swiss Miss!) and Roger Federer are the two famous tennis players. In winter sports, you might find more sports stars.

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Quote for the week 

"A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water"

 - Carl Reiner
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That's all folks!! ciao!

Your Friend,
Chandru
Editor, 
Euro Times
http://eurotimes.50megs.com