A Swiss tryst

Photographer Avinash Gowariker visited Switzerland on an assignment and has come back with rich memories. He says,

“Switzerland has raw richness in every aspect. It is one of the rare places on Earth which has character. The temperature was quite warm at this time of the year, about 22 degrees celsius.”

Avinash calls Switzerland an India-friendly country. “The people of the country are very courteous. They get so fascinated whenever they see a shooting crew from India and they are always ready to help,” he says.

Avinash stayed in a town called Engelberg where he encountered some really scrumptious foods — pizza and pasta. “For dinner, every night I used to go to this hotel called Mira-monte. And I think they make the best pizza in the world I have ever had,” he says.

With snow capped mountains and a very competent infrastructure, Avinash believes the place is as good as heaven. “Switzerland is full of abundance, whether it’s nature or man made civilisation. Even Dubai can be called rich infrastructure wise, but it certainly lacks the natural treasures. In Mumbai we have to tackle with things such as water-cuts and traffic jams but in Switzerland
people are totally unaware of such problems. Look at the beaches in Mumbai, they are as dirty as the drains. And the rivers in Switzerland just keep flowing round the year with the purest form of
water. Also, the trains here are entirely empty because there are hardly any people, but they still keep running 24 hours. It’s so efficient,” he says.

The people of Switzerland have also devised ways to use cleaner sources of energy such as solar power and Avinash seems quite impressed with that. “The cable car I took which goes up the mountain runs entirely on solar power, which is great. I think we can learn a lot from the Swiss,” ends Gowariker.