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Monday, May 8, 2017

Friendly Stranger in Geneva

Jet d'eau fountain in Geneva
It was a cold morning as I stepped out onto the balcony of the 6th floor of the Hotel Central, located in the midst of the Old City of Geneva. The previous evening we had landed from Berne.The distant Alps with snow clad peaks looked beautiful. Our breakfast was delivered in the room sharp at 8.30 AM. Armed with all the information provided by the pretty girl at the reception we stepped out. The morning rush hour had begun as we arrived at the Bel Air  bus stop near the hotel. We waited for a tram to take us to Saleve in the direction of Vernier Covane. Mont Saleve is a tourist attraction in French territory from where one can have a panoramic view of France/ Switzerland and the return trip is about 70 km. I tried to take direction from a man who spoke only German.He told us to get on the tram which he also boarded. He got off after a while and told us to follow him. He then brought out a car after the bend and told us to hop in. We were a little concerned with this overtly kind gesture as I enquired if he was a taxi driver. He waved his hand saying no he was not as he started his car. He drove for about 10 minutes before stopping his car near a house. A lady appeared from the house along with this man and spoke in fluent English. She queried as to where we wanted to go and laughed when her husband explained that we mistook him to be a taxi driver. She then informed us that her husband would take us up to Saleve and will drop us back to the tram station. This was the best help we got!!

I was now convinced that there was some divine force at work in Geneva since I had recovered my lost mobile phone the previous day. We thanked them both profusely. The kind gentleman showed us around Saleve. The panoramic view of Geneva and Lake Geneva was unforgettable from Saleve.  After about an hour and a half, he dropped us at the tram station in the city. We could enjoy a nice trip which we had contemplated only previous night in the company of a total stranger was a sure sweet encounter!

23 comments:

  1. What a kind gentleman. Such memories remain etched forever.

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    1. It looked like a fairy tale coming true in a distant land,Alka!

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  2. Such encounters really make the trip so much more enriching and memorable... beautiful account, sir :)

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    1. Absolutely true, Arti to get such an experience one has to be really lucky:)

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  3. Wow! A true example of Atithi Devo Bhava!

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    1. Exactly Shaivi , except that it happened in Switzerland :)

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  4. Great experience! You will always remember that person. Some good people are still there...in this world!

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    1. Totally agree that there are still good people around. Thanks, Sandhya, for reading.

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  5. How heartening it is to meet such kind people,and that too in a foreign land.

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  6. Strangers who go out of their way to help you out restore your faith in humanity.

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  7. Such a rare and precious encounter, eh? :)

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  8. a kind soul. may their tribe increase :)

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  9. What a lovely gesture by that kind gentleman. These people do their country proud. May their tribe increase.

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    1. Yes Rachna, let's hope that the tribe of do ggders increses:)

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  10. You were really lucky to come across such a good person, in a foreign country. Yeah, such unexpected things do happen sometimes in life, and we have to cherish such experiences, and maybe we would also be inspired to help somebody, as the saying goes "Pay forward"

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    1. Cannot agree more Rama! Such incidents help in believing that there are good people every where and we too must keep doing good:)

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