‘In IB, groups of personnel were formed according to affinities, French group, Swiss group, English group, Arab group; without a strict delimitation though. You could be a French and have inclination to a Swiss group, or so. Joshi was accepted by all groups.’ Talking of their family lives as we all sat down for lunch at a Bern restaurant, Tony remembered, ‘Therese and Leela became good friends. Leela was a very competent person in her own right. Unfortunately she did not have a job. She looked after their two growing daughters. The Swiss laws prevented her from taking up any job. British Postal Department was my earlier employer and I being from Armenia was considered as official refugee. We could get Swiss citizenship readily. Therese was a kindergarten teacher and she soon started her own school in Bern. She still owns it and it runs well. It is largely meant for the children of the diplomats in Bern. Of course the salaries paid by UPU were very good and it was not difficult to run the household in one person’s income. ‘In Neuenegg, we had organized a badminton play ground on top of our common car-park. Very often two or four of us played while the neighbours watched from their balconies. After sometime, the men and later their wives came down to participate in the games, for the pleasure of all. After the games we would all join in a barbecue and drinks were arranged in a corner especially arranged for that purpose. Often on Sunday we went for walks in the mountains. The famous Gantu Mountain started from a point very close to our home. For the Swiss, skiing and mountaineering are national sports. Sharad also enjoyed going out in the mountains except when it was very cold or raining. ‘Our children went to the same International School and we often took turns to drop our children there or pick them up. We also often went out together for walks or some events. Whenever 54
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Sharad Joshi : Leading Farmers to the Centre Stage
