25.09.07 – Tuesday – 3:00 pm:

LONDON

As soon as I landed in London, all I felt was homesick… wanted to go back home to my parents, my brother, my friends, my home, my city, my country, my people, my food!

As I walked on the streets experiencing the various sights and sounds… I felt alien. Like I did not belong there… well… I did not! It was my first day… One look around and I saw such vagaries! Sitting side by side are 2 Chinese, 1 Japanese, 1 Korean, 2 Blacks, 1 Indian, and a white… whew! Felt like the cosmos being reduced to 1 city – London!

Not that I was unaware that London is an expensive city… but man!!! Expensive is an under-statement… especially since I was not earning… I felt so so guilty for every pound I paid! My apartment was in the heart of London just behind London Bridge… the rent was 700 pounds a WEEK!! FREAK….

Did not experiment too much with food… was more comfortable cooking… It felt good… just like back home… making rotis and dal chawal… I guess cooking just soothed my nerves!

Londoners (that’s what I call em!) have a common sense of dressing – BORING! Black, white, blue, grey, cream… with maybe a red jacket thrown in… I felt great with my bright pink T-shirt! Women wear amazingly stylish clothes… but for me style without comfort is no style at all! High heels, boots, stilettos… and London is a walking city… don’t know how the knees and the backs survive! (Btw I wear socks and my reebok sandals – just to make things clear!)

Well… a walking city it is! I don’t think I’m gonna spend any time at the gym… I walk walk walk all day! That too with a back pack! Luckily I have someone to talk to otherwise people here are quite quiet walkers! They glance at you and then politely look away… they reply politely when asked a question but otherwise no one intrudes! So they are a bunch of polite people who don’t know how to smile! No wonder they say that the sun never comes out in London!!! Coz no one SMILES!