It’s not very long since I came to Switzerland. I was little confused about the country — not much is heard about it with reference to employment, though it is a popular tourist destination. I had visited Europe earlier, but that was with my PhD supervisor and we did not move much around. So, I was little skeptical about the working environment. I was indeed lucky that my to-be-colleague, Michael, had received me in the airport.

Although the Basel airport is located in France, it is shared by both France and Switzerland. It’s difficult to imagine, but there are certain train stations in Switzerland which are shared either with France or Germany. Basel is a small city; the second largest in the country (entire Switzerland being little more than half of Assam in its area, one can easily imagine what a ‘large’ city might mean!). It is located on the bank of the river Rhine; the south bank is the old city, and the north bank, the new part.

Michael had showed me the marketplaces, numerous open eateries, supermarkets, bus stops (and how to buy a ticket from the vending machine), the heritage structures and the beautiful river banks. I was astonished to see the extremely clean water; no city waste is allowed to be thrown into the river — they are collected separately as biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes; the biodegradable wastes are used to produce manures, while the non-biodegradable ones are recycled.

The river banks are concrete all along the city. The water level keeps more or less stable throughout the year, and there are small motorboats in many places along the river for tourists. The city has numerous water springs, some having potable water. The roads are flawless, traffic is smooth, and the entire city is very neat and clean. Citizens are law-abiding; I did not see a single manned traffic signal, but no one jumps a red light.

Most of the citizens are almost equally prosperous, there is probably very less or no unemployment. In fact, many are unemployed here by choice; the government too supports them with an unemployment stipend and they are entitled to get rebates and discounts in places like cinemas, public transports, restaurants, etc.

The main earning of Switzerland comes from the banks and tourism industry. Swiss banks are famous for the extreme secrecy they maintain about their clients. Therefore, millionaires and billionaires from all over the world keep their wealth deposited in the Swiss banks. Numerous banks are there in the country, few of them have their head offices in Basel too. Head offices of several scientific and pharmaceutical companies are also located in Basel. The government taxation system makes it attractive for the companies to do so. Two such renowned companies are Lonza and Roche. The office of Roche is one of the most famous buildings of Basel. Lonza also has a well-maintained campus.

Michael showed me the Spalentor; it’s basically a part of an old wall, built to protect the city from invaders like many other European cities. The wall got destroyed in an earthquake in early 15th century, but the watch towers along the walls were left. The Spalentor is one such tower, nicely maintained as a tourist attraction. The city also showcases four heritage walks, consisting of separate streets. The streets are marked differently according to the walk, showing the parts of city built in different time periods. The University of Basel is one of the oldest universities of the world, established in early 15th century.

The supermarket chains in Switzerland are of two main players: Migros and Coop. Migros is a private supermarket chain of France, while Coop is an indigenous cooperative. They deal in all groceries and day-to-day commodities including general clothing and electronics. Most of the commodities are generally costly. The reason is that the wages are quite good here and the living standard is very high. There is also stringent quality and hygiene control systems in place.

In Switzerland, people speak Swiss German, basically a dialect of the standard German and it’s quite different too. However, they use standard German only for writing. Anyway, as most of the Swiss people speak English, it’s manageable with English here.

Villages here have all the basic amenities, including shops and transport facilities. Only difference with the city is that there are farmlands and animal-sheds in the villages; and offices and big hospitals are not there. The healthcare system in the country is little different from that in India. For minor ailments, the patient goes to the private doctors — hospitals are mostly meant for treatment of emergencies and major ailments, needing surgery and other sophisticated procedures. All big hospitals are directly controlled by the government. The same is the case with the education system too. There are almost no private schools; the schools are managed by the government and multifaceted education is ensured to the students.

Any able male citizen is a potential soldier, in case of need in Switzerland. There are state police too, but unlike in India, they are rarely seen, only in emergencies. We have really a lot to learn about the punctuality, sincerity and politeness of the Swiss people.

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Basanta Kumar Bora