Nostradamus meets Joan of Arc in Switzerland

Nostradamus meets Joan of Arc in Switzerland

I suspect that this post may make me look “superior” or holier-than thou, but the intention is not to look down on anyone. This is something really funny that happened and I am compelled to recall the anecdote.

I had just changed trains at some small place in Switzerland. It was a weekday and afternoon and the train was nearly khali (completely un-occupied). In the cubicle next to me were 3 Indians: a couple and one man, all in late 20’s or early 30’s. It seemed that they were not traveling together. They seemed to be techies from the south, but not from the same state as they were conversing in English and not Tamil or Telugu or Malayalam or Kannada.

Since I was sitting quite close to them and was not otherwise busy with anything other than the Swiss scenery, I could not avoid hearing them talk. It looked like both the couple and the single man ha been to Paris separately and were comparing notes. One of them mentioned the beautiful church they ha seen and was trying to recall the name of the place. After a few seconds he said Nostradamus, when he obviously meant the cathedral of Notre Dame. I had some trouble stopping my laughter, but I managed.

Their conversation then moved on to some other tourist spot. Now someone mentioned the beautiful and grand arch which looks like India Gate in Delhi. The same guy who had resurrected Nostradamus, now Said Joan of Arc, when he obviously meant Arc de Triomphe !! Now this double-promotion converted the simple event to an anecdote…and here it is.

The (very) positive side of this is, as India integrates with the global economy, and especially in the IT sector, more and more Indians get a chance to travel and see the world and gain a wider perspective. So the people who mix Notre Dame with Nostradamus might well (and in all likelihood will) BE the parents of future global Indians.

Incidentally Nostradamus is not all that far from Notre Dame. He was French and in French the name is spelt as Nostredame (Michel de Nostredame).