As an Indian born and raised in Switzerland, I am fortunate to experience ties to my culture without the corruption of my parents’ country of origin. According to the 2018 fact sheet for the Indian embassy in the Swiss capital Bern, the Indian community in Switzerland includes approximately 24,567 Indians, roughly 7164 of which are people of Indian origin. The Indian population in Switzerland has the highest concentration in the cities of Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Baden, Bern and Lausanne, in that order. Many expats favoured Switzerland’s international schools, unlike my family who decided to integrate with a German-speaking education. That way we grew up able to communicate with other Swiss kids, as well as other Indians in our area.

My parents moved to Switzerland in the mid-eighties because of a job transfer the pharmaceuticals company Novartis (then Sandoz) gave my Dad. They had no idea then that Switzerland would still be home over 30 years later. Growing up, I was so lucky to be able to afford a visit to my grandparents and other family in India every single summer holiday during the school year. I grew up never taking the time with my grandparents for granted, because it was so limited every year.

It wasn’t until 2013, the year I turned 22, that I spent more than six weeks at a stretch in India for the first time since before I started school as a toddler. Helping out at the school my family founded in the eighties in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh, I experienced for the first time key differences between the Swiss and Indian lifestyles. The Indian community in Switzerland has had to carve out a place for their rituals and beliefs among the very different Swiss culture. I have experienced the complete opposite in India. Shivpuri is a relatively small place as Indian cities go. Yet I have seen how even there, the mind-set of the locals prioritizes religious dates in the community. The school celebrates a number of religious festivals, over and above a commendably solid education.

Considering the number of deities there are in Hinduism alone, one can imagine how much harder the massive population works on the days they do have school or work. The goal for any kid is to be able to support their parents financially someday, it’s only natural. In that little town, you have to strive to be the best to have any hope of success.

Witnessing that atmosphere first-hand taught me why my parents, who spent a big part of their formative years in boarding schools in India, always called my sister and I lazy students. Even Switzerland has had to become more competitive nowadays, but growing up it was easier to just appreciate the joys of everything the Swiss are famous for: impeccable punctuality (they are big watch manufacturers) cheese and chocolate production. I literally had to use my time in India to be able to stick to a strict weight loss diet once because the Swiss are best known for specific cheese (raclette and fondue) and potato (rösti) dishes.

Travel by train in Switzerland is a popular tourist goal because everything runs with clockwork precision and the views are often scenic and spectacular. The Swiss see cows as mere farm animals, whereas Indians let them wander free on the streets as they perceive them to be holy incarnations, to be worshipped. Train travel in India meanwhile (this is unfortunately first-hand experience) is so unreliable that the platform loudspeaker could literally announce a train is running days, not hours, late because of foggy conditions. I sometimes wish it were possible to throw the best aspects of my dual worlds in a blender but sadly pros and cons are a way of life.

When I was eleven, I first learned to appreciate Bollywood films. Shahrukh Khan was my first celebrity crush as a pre-teen connecting with her roots. With Bollywood films in the nineties often shooting musical numbers at Swiss locations like the beautiful Alps and more, I had found a passion that tied my two worlds together. Before I started school, I spoke Hindi a lot more freely at home. The decision to integrate in a German-speaking environment made it less of a priority growing up. I became fluent in German to make friends in Switzerland and it was English-subtitled DVD’s that re-ignited my love for Hindi cinema many years later. Now, much like my school-level French, it is shyness that holds me back from speaking Hindi but I understand quite a lot and can communicate easily with the servants at my grandparents’ homes in India.

While most of my year is spent wishing I were closer to all my loved ones in India, I am thankful to have grown up with the opportunities that Switzerland provides. I was born with mild cerebral palsy and I’m not entirely sure I would have fared well in an Indian school from what I’ve seen. But my ties to both India and Switzerland have given me a greater appreciation of two cultures, two countries, two worlds and the one heart that makes us all human no matter where we come from.