The Picasso Exhibition in Zurich

Over the last 15 years, I have rarely had time to go to an exhibition of Western art.

A bit of a luxury, therefore, just before I retire, to visit the Picasso exhibition at the Zurich Kunsthaus a couple of days before it closes.

But very special to be able to see it, as the last exhibition of Picasso's work in Zurich was in 1932 (present at the exhibition this year in the form of black and white photos of the same works, though in a different order - which felt most strange).

My responses to the works themselves was very different from what I expected.

In no particular order, the works that struck me most were:

- Head of a Sleeping Woman (study of a nude with drapery) 1907 - which was captured more feeling than Woman's Head 1907 or Woman's Head 1908 (the latter might almost be regarded as studies for Head of a Sleeping Woman)

- Fountain by a Cloister (where the reflections on the water are radiantly rendered)

- Head of a Woman 1909 - this sculpture has the woman with a hairdo suggestive of a snake or dragon, though the fearful connotations were neutralised by the elegance of the face

- Suite des Saltimbanques - captures hopelessness and expectation equally

- Sketch for Salome 1908 - wonderfully radiates a dancer's energy

- Bathers with Beach Ball - one of the few "typical" Picassos that still impresses; actually, I found the whole of his Impressionist period uninteresting except historically; for example, the fragmented bodies felt curiously flat (though I suppose it better to dismember bodies on a canvas than in reality!)

- Abstraction (Head) 1930 - with its ambiguous shape that could be jaws, nose, mouth, head, ears...

- Jug and Bowl of Fruit 1931 for its formal and experimental dynamism

- The Drawing Lesson 1925

- Studio with Plaster Head. 1925 - a visual metaphor for worldly wisdom?

- The Bird Cage 1925 - the range of his experiments with tsimilar visual themes is fascinating

- Portrait of Paulo with a White Cap - which captures the child's innocence and diectness

Finally, seeing the originals versus the reproductions (for posters et al) is an interesting lesson in the exigencies of popular taste versus the sensitivity of an artist - the innocence and "littleness" of Paulo with a White Cap is lost and it communicates instead (because of being blown up in size) an abiguous surliness.

textile company William H Schwiacher

I can't find any information on this company on the internet via any search engine

This used to be a company with very wide international operations! My friend Om Prakash Kalia's grandfather used to be their Agent in pre-independence India....

It is astonishing that such a huge company should disappear without any trace on the Internet!

If any of my readers can supply any information, I will be pleased.

Vom Glück zu Arbeiten

Johannes Czwalina is one of the best-known top management consultants in Switzerland, and I received a copy of his latest book by this title (co-written with Clemens Brandstetter).

I find it well-researched, brilliantly put together, altogether excellent - and on a most important topic - specially so today. The book provides a historical perspective on the subject, looks critically at the factors militating against finding meaningful work (and meaning in work), and make recommendations regarding renewing a sense of meaning at work.

Warmly recommended!

Johannes Czwalina and Clemens Brandstetter, VOM GLÜCK ZU ARBEITEN, Frankfurter Allgemeine Buch, ISBN: 978-3-89981-235-0

Signs of the Times in Swiss Commercial Real Estate

Till a few years ago, it was extremely unusual to find a "To Let" or "For Sale" sign in Switzerland: demand outstripped supply.

Today, I have just come across a sign saying "To Let" on a huge building obviously built not long ago, optimistically (and now ironically) called "The Business Magnet".

Disadvantages of Zurich and Geneva NOT being hubs in their own right

I have been saying for several years that "green" taxes will come, and of course they have come in various slow stages in some countries already.

The new “Air Transport Tax” which Germany is applying to flights from 1 January 2011will straightaway mean an extra payment of between EUR 8 and 45 per person per flight.

We will need to find out how many people fly via German airports to and from Switzerland, to calculate the total loss to the Swiss economy, first of the money being paid by Swiss citizens to the German government, and then of the gain that could have resulted if the money, from all those who would have travelled through Swiss hubs instead of German hubs, had come to Swiss coffers as a "green" tax payable to the Swiss government instead of to the German government.

Naturally, this does not take into account the time lost by Swiss citizens, and by non-Swiss people based in Switzerland, because of having to fly via German hubs.

The shortsightedness of Swiss leaders and citizens, which led to the death of Swissair, will shortly become apparent to all.

Self-Governance: Swiss versus Indian

My article titled "Self-Governance: Swiss versus Indian" is the latest in my "Guptara Garamagaram" series in The International Indian magazine (published from Dubai)

If interested, please see pages 72 & 73 at http://www.theinternationalindian.com/current_issue_flash.html

The decline of Switzerland

At a recent conference, an American asked me if it is safe to drink water from the normal cold water water taps in homes and hotels in Switzerland.

I replied that the rule of thumb is that in every country which went through the Protestant Reformation, one can indeed drink water from the tap.

Not only that, in every country which went through the Protestant Reformation, politics are as clean as the streets, there is a reliable fire service and system of medical care, good schools and universities, scientific and technological progress, care for the poor and a relatively large and prosperous middle class.

With the decline of the influence of the Reformation, trains no longer always run on time in Switzerland, and the educational and medical systems are slowly declining. Fraud is on the increase in companies, and law and order are gradually breaking down in society. Once the rot sets in, it is difficult to reverse.

Even the time-table that one prints out from the internet site of the railway company (SBB) is no longer accurate - e.g. it claims that there is a bus number 113 that takes one from Interlaken West to Beatenberg. No such bus number exists, nor has any such number existed for some time. The right number for the bus is 1.

So even the information one gets from official sources is no longer reliable.

Switzerland will probably never become like China, but it seems to aspire to becoming like India or Africa - unless the moral, ethical and social influence of the Bible is brought back into Switzerland.

But the sad thing is that even most Christians here do not understand that. So it falls to Hindus such as myself to point out such elementary things.