It’s that time of year again, time to bundle up and warm up to the Swiss winter. We’re approaching the end of a roller coaster ride of a year with mixed emotions. At the beginning of this year, we geared up for a steadier life in the ‘new normal’, only to encounter peaks and troughs, and to realize that ‘normalcy’ was getting redefined time and again. We’ve encountered another tough year, yet, we’ve been resilient and we’ve made it through!

We encourage you – our readers and our Namaste Switzerland community – to wind up the year on a positive note, and look forward to the year to come.

This month, we have for you:

Chetana Parameswar shares with us a German cookie recipe, just in time for the festive season! Bake along with her, as she shared detailed images and steps to make this unique recipe.

Noopur Shrivastav gives us tips and ideas for creative play and activities that can keep our kids engaged while in quarantine. She shares her picks for indoor games and suggestions to make quarantine less stressful and more fun!

A musical concert in Zurich, reviewed by Samvidha Srinath. The concert was in two parts – the first part was dedicated to Carnatic music and the second part to Hindustani music. She tells our readers more.

Keerthana Nagarajan shares a collection of our Christmas Stories – a roundup of festive must-do’s , travel ideas, Swiss customs and more.

In our monthly column, Qwizzeria runs an interactive quiz that tests our knowledge of facts. How many can you get right?

News! News!

It’s been a wonderfully creative one year of our monthly kids’ section ‘Young Voices’. Kids from around Switzerland have shared stories, poems, travel features, their artwork and a lot more.

On the first anniversary of ‘Young Voices’ – We are excited to bring to you our brand new site for all our Young readers!!!

Our Young Voices editor, Nayana Chakrabarti brings her pedagogic interests and knowledge to Young Voices where young people are encouraged to create their own identity texts through spoken, written and visual media.

This month in Young Voices this month, we have:

  • A spectacularly spooky tale from Ioli Chakraborty
  • A continuation of Grimcodile’s misadventures by Ishaan Parameshwar.
  • Our travelogue, this month, is by Avik Shrivastav who takes you into a quintessential Zurich Christmas through his eyes.
  • Ishaan also guides you through the process of decorating Advent windows.
  • And, while we look back a little – only to look forwards- Adrita Sanyal has written about her memories of Durga Puja, during the ongoing pandemic.
  • Dhriti Muralikrishnan returns us to the topic at hand with her tutorial about how to make festive bookmarks.
  • Speaking of books, Itee and Shivee Balajee have created word searches and quizzes on Dr Seuss’ famous story, ‘The Grinch Who Stole Christmas’.
  • Our art gallery is well-stocked this issue with entries from children of all ages.

Nayana really enjoys curating Young Voices each month and is always on the lookout for potential contributors. Would you like to write or create for Young Voices? Each month, we accept three articles (non-fiction, fiction, reviews, travel writing, recipes etc) and artwork. If so, please do write to us at team@namasteswitzerland.ch.

Click on the logo to read the articles on our brand new Young Voices website!

Logo of Young Voices

If you would like to join our growing community by contributing as a writer, you could write to us at team@namasteswitzerland.ch. Follow us for updates and news on our social media handles:

Illustration by Sharanya Mageshwaran

Disclaimer: Namaste Switzerland does not undertake any financial, reputational, legal, misrepresentational or other obligation or liability which may arise from the content of this article.