Alpage, cowshit and bullshit
Summer time is phasing out warmly. For cows it’s the end of grazing in the high succulent alpine pastures. Farmers have adorned them with colorful bouquets. It is Saturday 28 September the day fixed for bringing them down to the plains ceremoniously with much folkloric fanfare. I joined a huge crowd in St-Cergue, a picturesque…
Bert walks faster than I run!
Geneva Half Marathon 12 May 2019 Eleven years ago I encountered Bert competing in the night-time half Marathon of Jussy (Geneva, Switzerland). I do not know him nor his age; and he isn’t young. But he amazed me because he did not run; he just walked, very fast, looking comfortable while I had to run …
BIRTHDAY AGAIN!
BIRTHDAY AGAIN! “Finally we are free from end-of-the year guests and festivities. Come home on Wednesday. From there will go to lunch in the village,” Richard phoned a week ago. Heidi and Richard are our friends for over 45 years. No one can beat their German “Bauhaus” precision in everything they do, including planning social…
SANTA CLAUS HELPED ME TO RUN
SANTA CLAUS HELPED ME TO RUN “To run or not to run”, was my dilemma as debilitating as that of Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “to be or not to be”. Dare I break my twenty-three year series of running Geneva’s annual Escalade race scheduled on Saturday 1 December 2018? My brain refused to recall three previous disastrous…
RETURN TO DUBLIN
RETURN TO DUBLIN, THE FAIR CITY – APRIL 18 2018 I entered the “front door”, that is how it has been called for centuries and it is still the same a tall wooden door. I felt as if I have never left that place although I was returning to my old university after fifty-five years.…
HYDROLOGY OF DISASTROUS FLOODS IN ASIA
The Hydrology of Disastrous Floods in Asia – An Overview __ NAGINDER S. SEHMI Hydrology and Water Resources Department, World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland Introduction THE HYDROLOGY of disastrous floods in the tropical cyclone and monsoon countries of Asia is changing rapidly, mainly as a consequence of the high rate of economic development accompanied by…
Wheat and Bread Festival
OMM Bulletin de l’Amicale No. 29 – Décembre 2018 Fête of Wheat and Bread 2018 by Naginder Sehmi After hiking round the idyllic Lac Noir/Schwarzsee in central Switzerland, about 2.30-hour drive from Geneva, it took another two-hour drive to a small country town of Echallens located in the rich farmland midway between Lausanne and Yverdon…
Celebrating 25 Years of WHYCOS
Celebrating 25 Years of WHYCOS Jointly with three other scientists, I had conceived the World Hydrological Cycle Observing System in 1993. (Rodda, J.C., S.A. Pieyns, N.S. Sehmi and G. Matthews, 1993: Towards a world hydrological cycle observing system. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 38(5):373–378). WHYCOS is one of the main programmes of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).…
Celebrating 25 Years of WHYCOS
Celebrating 25 Years of WHYCOS By Michel Jarraud, WMO Secretary-General Emeritus, Former Chairperson UN-Water Contact: SPECIAL ISSUE ON WATER – WMO Water Bulletin nº : Vol 67 (1) – 2018 Anniversaries are a good opportunity to reflect upon the past, look at successes and failures, and project into the future. 2018 will mark the 25th…
INDIANS CAN RUN ALSO!
Indians can run also! Sunday, 11.45 am, 6 May 2018 :“You must be British Indians,” I approached a group of a dozen men and women with the Union Jack stickers on their bibs taking a group photo, thumbs raised and broad blissful smiles. “Yes we are. Bravo! Where are you from?” “I’m also an Indian.…
