Similar yet so different!

London – capital city of the United Kingdom… brimming with people from all across the globe. A city of hope and aspirations, of dreams and expectations. It resonates with the pain of the despondent, dances with the smile of a new born, swings to the sound of church bells ringing in a distance. So many people, so much energy, so much life… and yet it is surrounded by an aura of lonesomeness, a sense of distance even in close proximity, a feeling of isolation amidst a horde of people!

New Delhi – capital city of India… a city which belongs to the millionaire driving the latest sports car in CP as much as it belongs to the person singing ‘Chuski le lo’ at the ‘Lovely’ chuski center opposite India Gate. Stark contrasts, blatant differences and yet a sense of belonging… of empathy… of togetherness.

Two cities – so similar yet so different! Fathom this – peak time – a crowded train – one with grim people avoiding even a slight glance at their fellow passengers… looking either at the ceiling or at each other’s feet with eyes which seem to be engulfed in an unspoken grief. Not a word… not even something which qualifies as a smile – as if fighting the human urge to acknowledge each other’s existence.

Peak time – five and a half hours later – half way across the globe. A similar train… filled with people… some who are busy gaping at a pretty lass who just entered… or two strangers discussing similarities between Hillary vs Obama and Mayawati vs Manmohan Singh… a group of friends abusing each other as though they’re ready to tear each other apart! An aged lady insisting that a young mother with two infants take her seat…

Disparate people from different walks of life… forced into each other’s company during that one hour commute. It is amazing to experience how people can warm up to each other and reach out… create that one inch of extra space to accommodate one more person… or give unsolicited advice to a complete stranger!

Life here is a spicy mix of abundance in scarcity, hope in despair. I am free to plant a kiss on the cheek of a tiny toddler… to take her in my arms and tell her the story of how a crow flew to heaven to have a chat with God! Yes… it feels great to be back… away from the orderly life, from the onset on rain sans the sweet smell of moist soil, from the pressure to look good no matter how hollow your life maybe! I love my world of chaos, of unruly drivers, of pushing and pulling, of haggling and abusing… but more than anything else… I love my freedom of a ‘kiss’!!! :) Muaaaah!!

Oxford!

Oxford

22^nd December 2007

A last minute decision… a flurry of activity… and we were off. Almost missed our 4:45am train from Paddington… whew! When we got on board we sighed in relief. We were on our way!! :-)

We reached Oxford in approximately 1 hour 40 minutes. The town was fast asleep… the scene was incredibly dreamy. Mist, trees, Victorian houses… ah! Exquisite… We took a hop on and off tourist bus. The tickets had 2 options – Child / Student / Adult… hehe! When Aditi asked for 2 tickets she said – 1 student and 1…. …. …. Non-student! LOL!!! :-)

There was a Malaysian girl in the bus. She was studying in Portsmouth. We got chatting and she joined us on our Oxford expedition. She was a cute girl called Angel… a 21 year old student. She was wearing stockings and shorts!!! Man… it was freezing cold… brrrrr… as we got down the bus and walked towards our first destination she started shivering… we had to buy her socks and leggings!! :-)

We saw many places of interest… but some of them had intriguing stories… like Queens College… centuries ago there was a student who was reading an Aristotle book in the woods. He was attacked by a wild boar… the student shoved the Aristotle book down the boar’s throat… Aristotle is difficult for the brightest people to swallow… and as expected the boar chocked! From that day every year a head of a boar with an Aristotle book in between his teeth is carried in a plate all through the college!

Then we saw Christ Church. A part of this college is used during the shooting of Harry Potter! It’s a beautiful place… sprawling lawns… hmmmmmmmm…. :-) Another piece of interesting trivia was Bodleian Library. It is the only library which is entitled to receive a copy of every book printed in UK. The library has 10,00,000 miles of rack space and the books are transported through an underground rail system!!! Wow… Radcliff camera (designed by Sir Christopher Wren who designed St. Paul’s Cathedral in London) is one of the reading rooms belonging to the library.

Yep… I know you’re tired of reading… but some more to come!! :-) The famous St. Martin’s church… it was brought down as it was not safe. The only part left behind was Carfax tower… Looking at it reminded me of Rapunzel!!! hehe… We climbed up the winding staircase… the view on top was amazing! Then we went to Alice’s Shop… this is where Alice Linddell (Alice in Wonderland fame) bought her barley sweets… It’s a quaint store with trivia and souvenirs. Numerous tales relating to Alice and her friends are displayed everywhere…

We planned to return by the 22:08 train. As we waited at the station, an alcoholic came and sat on the table next to ours. He looked up at me and said “Women love chocolates don’t they…” I said yes… he came up to me and gave me a big packet of dairy milk chocolates! He was drunk and started chatting… in the beginning I was weary of his questions… then I realized that he was a very lonely person who was thriving on security money… the Govt was actually paying him to drink! And he was fighting with himself to quit alcohol but was anxious because he would lose his only source of income! Well… he went on and on how he wanted to help poor children in India and Africa… I was like “Dude! Help yourself first… and why do you want to come to India… there’s lots to do here!!”

I went up to the café to pick up a hot chocolate… the guy asked me – “So you’re from Spain??” I just smiled and said “India”… he looked at me and then looked at his Indian colleague and said pointing to me “This is not India” Then he tugged at his colleague and said – “This is India!” :-)

Well… this is one trip which I will remember for all the interesting stories and the fascinating people I met… :-) Just the last story… hehe… cannot resist writing this – Our train left Oxford at 22:08pm. We were so tired that both of us slept… At 23:08 the train stopped at one of the stations… I looked out to see the name of the station but could not… I asked Aditi and she did not know… I thought it’s just 11:08 so slept again… a few girls entered the train. Luckily I happened to ask them the station name and they said “Paddington”!!! Both Aditi and I ran out… :-) We realized if we had continued to sleep we would back in Oxford!!! And here ends our excursion… we’re back home exhausted and sleepy but very content and extremely happy!

LSE!!

London School of Economics and Political Science… Well, what more can I say :-) Over 8000 students spread over 175 courses!

My class has 194 students

Average age: 24 yrs… Most students are freshers… I guess I am amongst the eldest (there are a few ppl who are 38 too!!!)

Countries represented: 40

Out of 194, 23 are Indians - the maximum representation from a single country! Next comes Greece with 21!

I am still in the process of getting to know people… So I just have acquaintances right now… no friends! (Yes… I am missing all my friends back home… sometimes it’s weird! I realize life has moved on for everyone else back home… but maybe I am just not willing to let go!)

I’ve had classes since I don’t know when! 7 days a week… 6 hours a day! It’s very taxing. But on the flip side – it’s challenging and the sky is the limit to what you can learn… it’s just upto you! Few of the students try and flaunt their limited knowledge but finally just land up becoming laughing stocks. Like this one guy who got up and said “Sir you have written 2x… shouldn’t the answer be 2x+0?” DUH!!!! I felt like getting up and banging his head against the wall… (well… don’t worry about the poor guy! I did not do anything…)

One thing I have noticed that people get very self centered… I feel like I’m alone amidst a horde of people! I am sure everyone will be diagnosed with multiple personality disorder! The infinite number of facades will put Ravan to shame J It’s a rat race – jobs, grades are the cheese. Watching everyone run helter-skelter, trampling over others in order to get ahead of the swarm… just to be trampled over by someone else, never fails to amuse me!

At one point of time I was frustrated… did not know how to react… was so bogged down by the milieu… But very soon I realized that my frustration was so futile… Suddenly I was at peace with myself and the world around me! Luckily I have a world outside the rut… every evening I come back to a place I call home… a small cosy place which envelops me with a lot of warmth and drives away all my anxiety!

Everyone asks me if I want to work here… Truly speaking, it’s a tussle! The head says to stay back, atleast to earn back the money dad has invested in me… the heart pulls me towards home… l have always believed that the heart never lies! But right now I really don’t know where life is headed! As always I am sure God will just point me in the right direction… just waiting for his sign :-)

I finally caught a cold! hehe… and I felt “Yeh to hona hi tha!!” Yes, I have picked up a trifling flavour of the local lingo… It’s just a lot of fun! Aditi and I break into peels of laughter as we speak to each other “Yes Darling”… or “No my love” or “No worries” or “lovvvvely”!

I read something during my 40 minute train journey… currently reading “Kite Runner”… amazing book (thanks for the gift Deepu!) I guess my facial expressions convey the story to my fellow travelers… I have caught many people giving me weird looks!! :-) Overall I have settled in as much as I ever can… studying hard, trying to gain as much as I can! Yes, I do feel lonely… but I guess it’s quite an expected sentiment… so as the Brits say “No worries!” :-)

29.09.07 –Saturday:

HOUSE HUNT

It’s been 4 grueling days… Aditi (my roomie) and I are exasperated! Our routine has been – an early morning, a quick shower, a heavy breakfast, walk to the tube station, travel the lengths and breadths of London, approach estate agents, watch them smirk at our budget, be shown the door, look out for the next agent… a vicious circle! A typical conversation goes like this –

Agent – “Hello there!”
JJ – “Good morning/evening” (depending on the time of-course!)
Agent – “How can I help you?”
JJ – “We want to rent a 2 bedroom apartment.”
Agent – “What’s your budget like?”
JJ – “250 pounds a week”
Agent – With a genuinely flabbergasted look - “Uuuuh.. Sorry ladies, I am afraid we don’t have any at the moment. I must say, it’ll be very difficult to find one in that sort of budget. Maybe you can leave your contact details and we will get back to you in case something comes up… What’s your name and telephone number?”
JJ – “Its J-Y-O-T-I, xxxxxxxxxx” (note that “zero” is called “O”)
Agent – “Ah! And how do you pronounce it?”
JJ – “Jyoti”
Agent – “Oh ok… So it’s jotiiiii… Great! Bye bye…”

It was the same script over and over again! (Of-course later both Aditi and I had a hullabaloo emulating the Brit accent, but at that moment it was frustrating!) We met over 40 agents in 4 days… one of the days we split to cover different areas simultaneously… walked more than 4 hours everyday… braved the cold and the rain… only to feel disheartened and disconcerted every time!

By Saturday we had identified 3 properties in 3 different parts of London! We had prepared a checklist of things to observe while viewing a property – one of them being that there should not be any council homes near by (council homes are Govt provided accommodation for the homeless)

We left home at 9 am on a rare sunny morning. We reached Surrey Quays (pronounced as Surrey keys) at 9:30. As we walked with our agent towards the apartment we inquired if there were any council homes nearby. He showed us a bright red building and identified it to be one. We were quite surprised as it looked neat and well maintained! And then as we turned into the building where we were supposed to stay, both Aditi and I were horror struck! It was a dilapidated building with paint peeling off everywhere, cigarette butts strewn all over the staircase, no hint of any kind of security system, creepy looking people walking here and there. The entire area reverberated with negative vibes and I just shuddered at the thought of living there! We knocked the door of a second floor apartment but no one opened the door. The agent called the landlady and asked her to get the keys. We waited long-sufferingly till she came and opened the door for us. The place was more of a mess than a house! As we climbed towards the bedrooms, it suddenly dawned upon me that the tenants were actually there inside! The landlady knocked at the door and one of the doors opened… I was too repulsed to even take a peep!! (Later Aditi told me that the guy inside was doped and had waist long hair with his entire body tattooed!) The agent asked us if we liked the place…. LIKED?????? For the love of God!!! I tried very hard to keep a straight face… but I am sure I had a look which said “Oh… I love the place as much as Bush loves Osama!!! Duh!” Anyways – bottom line is that both Aditi and I fled for our lives… literally… we RAN!!! (In case you have not figured yet… it was a council home waiting to be re-furbished!!! hehehe!!)

Luckily, by the end of the day we found our home! Ah… it was such a relief! We hugged and chortled and giggled and behaved like 2 preposterous asinine school girls… but who cared! We were just euphoric… to hell with what the world makes of us!

Looking back at entire ordeal, I can’t help but smile! Through all the thick and thin, it was a whole lot of fun… The whole pendulum of emotions… the peaks of anxiety tempered with our faith in God and the support of friends and family… It all seems worthwhile! We got to travel extensively all across London and see places which we would have never visited otherwise! Each area has a different feel… from Victorian houses to modern day blocks of concrete, small shops along the roadside to colossal shopping malls – we doused ourselves in the sights and sounds of London. And as we learnt from our bloopers and inanity, we landed up finding a home as well as finding each other!

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!