The first day of my internship, I woke up
quite early (not because it was my first day, but because of the time
difference), got ready and left for office. There I had my first embarrassing
moment: I fell down in the tram, not being used to the turns and breaks of the
tram. Finally, I got down at the right stop but still I was lost! Then came my
first shot at conversing with foreign strangers for asking the route. After
first few attempts I realized I was in a majorly French speaking country where
people write R but pronounce it as ‘Kh’, meaning they write something and speak
something else. I managed to learn the odd pronunciation and finally reached my
destination that was my second home for the next two months – International
Trade Centre (Joint agency of WTO and UN, Geneva).
As a part of my internship at Intracen, I
attended a training at the WTO and hence got a chance to listen to and interact with some of the eminent personalities and
speakers at the organization. They had the knack of making people develop
interest in the subject even if someone didn’t have it in the first place! And
one thing worth mentioning is that the interiors at WTO are just mind blowing!
I remember one of my friends quoting that it might have been an art gallery
before because of the huge murals and paintings inside in addition to the great
architecture. But later on, I realized that these paintings and sculptures are
gifts from governments of different nations, and they were a common fixture in
almost every UN organization I visited during my stay, including the Palais des
Nations (United Nations). A very famous gift by the Indian Government was the
statue of Mahatma Gandhi, standing outside the Palais building.
Among the learnings from this internship,
one thing stands out: relationship building. My whole internship experience is
memorable not because of the place or organization but only because of the friends
I made! Each day I used to meet someone new - from a different culture, a
different place. And everyone had a unique story to tell, a unique aim, a
unique perspective towards life and unique tastes. Trying to converse with them
through actions, learning few greetings in their language, and then telling
them about our Indian culture, our strengths was altogether a very interesting
experience that I would never forget! If not anything else but one thing most
of them knew about India was the ‘Taj Mahal’!
The most challenging and fun part of my
stay was to remember the names of all the people I met (I am sure I still can’t
pronounce few) in their own languages and pronunciations. I stayed in an
international hostel with 80 other students belonging to 54 different
nationalities. It’s an amazing feeling to have friends from so many different
countries and be in constant touch with them. I hope I get a chance to visit
all of them in Egypt, Sweden, Dominican Republic, Canada, China, Sri Lanka,
Pakistan, Spain, Germany, and the list goes on. Also I will love to be a host
to them in my country. We had fun on various events that were conducted by the
hostel. At one of the events, we had to prepare a dish from our own country,
and we got a chance to taste other countries’ delicacies!!
Time just flew by without me realizing the
pace of it; sometimes so engrossed in office work that I wouldn’t realize it
was late evening. Amidst all of this we used to visit different places in
Switzerland and nearby countries. Lausanne was the first city in Switzerland I
visited and I instantly fell in love with it. The beautiful blue lake in front
of the snow clad mountains in the misty and slightly chilled air - the image is
still inked in my mind! We visited Bruges, Belgium where we went on a bike
(bicycle) ride to a beach for a total of 50 km. Traveling to Europe and not
taking a bike ride is like visiting Mumbai and not experiencing the local
trains, for bike ride is the most common form of travelling in Europe. Visiting
Amsterdam which is known as the ‘city of bikes’ was also a great experience!
Here, pedestrians cannot walk in the bike lane or else bikers will just take
you down!
Sometimes, travelling alone is a bliss,
remembering one such day when I explored the beautiful city of Geneva alone. I
had the famous Swiss ice-creams and chocolates all day long, sat beside the
famous landmark of Geneva, Jet d’Eau and felt the fresh air around. It was a
calm and serene ambience where people did not bother each other; they were
free, independent and happy! And walking at night on streets couldn’t have been
more fun and safer! From mountains to lakes, rivers to valleys, courtyards to
vineyards, I saw a lot in those two months but still a lot remains to be seen!
By Nitika Gupta
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