God gave us a unique opportunity to spend three weeks in October with our daughter’s family in Europe. The primary reason for our visit was to attend our grandson’s graduation in his Master’s in Business Entrepreneurship. Watching him walk up the stage at Erasmus University in Rotterdam and receive his degree was a solemn moment for the graduates and a joyful moment for us as grandparents.
During our stay, our daughter contacted my first boss, Dr. C. P. Jaggi, from the hospital in Nepal where I had worked for a year. Now retired in Switzerland, he insisted that we spend five days with him. He planned a full and memorable itinerary.
He took us to the Rheine Falls, almost as spectacular as Niagara. We walked across the border to a corner of Germany. Later, we visited one of the smallest countries in the world—Liechtenstein. At my request, we visited a cowshed, where I observed how they managed dung with biogas production possibilities in mind. Dr. Jaggi took us to two significant sites in Christian history, and later to both a cheese factory and a chocolate factory, where he gifted us generous boxes of chocolates. Five days were not enough to take in the beauty and hospitality of Switzerland.
Our time in the Netherlands was equally enjoyable. Amsterdam, a city of canals, offered us a lovely canal cruise. Cycling seemed to be the primary way people travelled—for work, shopping, and leisure. Every Metro station had ample parking space for bicycles. Many riders would cycle to the station, take their bicycles on the train, and continue riding at the other end. This model, I knew, was not directly practical for India, but some ideas were worth noting—especially the widespread adoption of rooftop solar electricity.
We also visited two museums connected with the Holocaust. Anne Frank’s house narrates the story of a family hiding from the Nazis. Corrie Ten Boom’s house told a different story—how a family risked their lives to help many Jews escape. Both were deeply moving.
A day trip to Cologne (Köln) in Germany brought us to the magnificent cathedral built in the 1600s, which survived the Second World War. We crossed the Rheine River in a cable car, a memorable experience.
We encountered the Rheine River at many points—first at the Rheine Falls, then in a quiet riverside village, again viewed from the hilltop of Dr. Jaggi’s home, later at Cologne, and finally as it flowed toward the sea at Rotterdam. Each encounter gave us a different perspective of this great European river.
I had always wanted to see the dykes of Holland. When I finally did, they were quite different from what I had imagined. What we saw was a long earthen embankment stretching for many miles. A Dutch passerby corrected a childhood story I shared—that a boy once saved a city by plugging a leaking dyke with his finger. He clarified that while the coastline is below sea level, the dykes were gradually built by manually dumping earth to keep the seawater out. Over time, the protected land became fertile farmland.
Our daughter and son-in-law had organised a trip that was both enriching and unforgettable in many ways.
Rajaratnam Abel 