Zurich, Quality of Life, et alProcyon Mukherjee

Thirty years back I had for the first time looked at the over-abundance of wealth as Istood atop the Empire State overlooking the Fifth Avenue. It was a glimpse into anunknown world that the Wall Street partially facilitated to create, later I knew that suchopulence was a world wide phenomenon, not entirely to be assigned to any speculativevehicle; risk and appetite for risk did play a role however in shaping this grand city.As a student of history I was curious to understand how wealth could be made toconcentrate into the royal coffers through absolute subjugation and was more than sorryto witness the wasteful display in the likes of the Versailles Palace or the Concorde,which later on symbolized the restoration of equity through violence. But wealth didassume permanence in these structures of destructive creation in and around Paris, tocreate a remembrance that wealth could really be everlasting, whether or not it createdvalue in the long term is another question. Paris vibrates with passion, but it still failed tocreate an image so full of peaceful coexistence that I was seeking.My Zurich experience is somewhat different with no Royal display of onerouspossessions or creation of an aura of shameless audacity to mark a difference. Institutionshave been created here, both for business and for Education and Arts, humanity has beenserved, rightfully; the rich poor divide albeit existing, is in moderation. Humility asopposed to exhibitionism is lauded here.

Zurich tops every survey as the world’s most admired city in terms of the quality of life.

Wealth unfortunately cannot create the quality that we seek so much in life andundeniably Zurich proves this point in a subtle way. Remember Marx saying, ‘Humanwealth resides in the relationships of human beings’, in a world torn apart in theaberrations of the human mind to concentrate more wealth in the hands of a few, no smallrealization, this. The speculative world of business as it has now assumed its new form,perhaps we are reminded of a common human wish, ‘Can it be a little more peaceful, thisexistence?’The conflicts of the world keeps moving around scarcity of oil, food and water, butperhaps the underlying propensity of the human industry to arrogate more than what isprompted by fair play, assumes far greater importance. While solution to this cannot besought through retribution, endeavors to create a social symmetry are exemplified in theSwiss traditions, so much in evidence in Zurich.I couldn’t help notice the manner in which the city embraces its inhabitants and how itsinhabitants cope to create a difference, which makes Zurich what it is. If for a moment wediscount the price to be paid (there is a price for everything, at the end) for a life in thiscity, the life is undeniably the most peaceful. But the question is what makes this, the city

or the people of the city? After careful thought I chose the latter, because in the finalanalysis the people have something intrinsic within them that distinguish them from therest.If there was one seat left for two, the Swiss would prefer to stand, almost voluntarilyregardless of age. If there was anything close to fair play, it is here that one can witnessit. Responsibilities, not rights are what are taught from an early age; no wonder therehadn’t been any strikes or work stoppages in many decades.Care for the community and the environment, (which can however only come when onereaches that point on the hierarchy of self-fulfillment processes) is very high on the city’smind. I have some extreme examples in the nature of caring for the birds that live and theswans that swim on the lake. Caring for them as if they were like children of the citydwellers takes me to some incidents with dogs, where they actually behaved like humanbeings in front of traffic lights without any instruction or aids. I do not want to delve intothe habitat of animals that the Swiss manage differently, may be with a little morecompassion than what I have known.Quality of life is a reflection of one’s own desire to embrace an existence that createsbenefits for the others around us. When this desire multiplies, the denouement is a stateof peaceful co-existence. The children are taught to be self sufficient from an early age,they are told that they must earn their right to better education; it does not come fromnatural birth. The children learn the need for conservation far too early in their lives andthe need to sacrifice for the society. I think these simple words of wisdom bestowed veryearly into the minds of children create a framework that cannot be withered away byother influences stemming from the materialistic traditions that the rest of the Westernworld chooses to attract; my fifth grader daughter was just taught Fair Play, somethingthat even management schools will falter to teach. The School sports event is a groupevent, every race won add to points for the group; there are no prizes for individualexcellence.The church in every neighborhood and the Bishop, who assumes the role of a listener andadvisor, is a little different from many other communities that I know. Perhaps the Bishopis handsomely paid for what he does to create, bedrock of human camaraderie, which isfast receding from many other social gatherings. The teacher in school is also paidhandsomely, because these professions need the right knowledge, skills and aptitude, thecombination of which is almost entirely missing in other societies and are cared for lessperhaps.What is quality in life without the right yearning for knowledge and application of thatknowledge? The Swiss know this a shade better, because they fortunately have inheritedthe best of many worlds; Zurich does this even better because of its long list of distinguished residents, the number in any category or field would surpass any other city,from Wagner to Einstein and Lenin; the world’s highest number of Nobel Prize winnerslived in this city at some point in their lives.