Letters from London - Zeroth

I reached London on the 9th of September, on a day when the climate was ready with a warm welcome. Now, almost half way through my stay, it has not given me any reason to complain. Though I can make this a long post by mentioning all the details of my travel, there is something more than the characteristics of my travel, which I would like to share; things which are so much different than in India.

One thing which I had heard from almost everybody who had been to a place outside India is the degree of cleanliness they experienced in the foreign land. Though I always believe that we ourselves are responsible for the untidiness we observe in India, but I leave that topic for a different post. What I will say though is that the information was indeed right. The scene on the roads was pretty different. The buildings, the shops, the roads, the traffic, everything was different. Yet, there was kind of a lack of awe which I had somewhere subconsciously expected. May be it was because it was me and any other person would not be writing this.

The amount of Asians you encounter is quite remarkable. For that matter the number of people who are not speaking English is also remarkable, atleast for a city like London, the capital of England. This only reiterates the cosmopolitan demographics of the city and that it can be said to be a land of the inhabitants. Even in my office, I encounter people of many many different nationalities. The Asians however are one class I can easily identify and hence admire their volume. This weekend I went to a place near West Ham, which is such that you definitely cannot distinguish from a place in Asia, if you just look around at the people and the shops. There were shops selling sarees, sweets (which is rare in this part of the world) and even freshly prepared sugar cane juice; shops playing Bollywood music (and for that matter, Himesh Reshammiya); gurudwara; temple and most importantly not a single non-Asian. It was kind of a small Indian subcontinent within London.

Some things, which I encountered in the city, I found remarkable. One is the amount of information provided; you normally do not have to ask anyone for directions. There are signs and directions everywhere and even a first time visitor can easily come to terms with the city, in that aspect. The railway, or the underground/tube, system and network is incredible. There are various lines or routes that are available. You can reach from any end of the city to another using these; though you might have to change trains/lines. Add to that a reasonably good bus transport which hardly leaves any place you will have to walk.

And finally a well integrated system of public transport with a single card (known as Oyster) which could be used for both buses any kind of line you want to travel. There are regular announcements in the trains as well as on platforms giving relevant up to date information about the services. Entire city is divided into zones and the tickets are based on zones rather than particular places. For a traveler like me, a good option is to buy a travelcard (available on the Oyster) for a week (or whatever time you plan to stay) of the zones you would be traveling the most and then travel as many times as you like. A top-up on the card would be helpful if you want to travel in other zones.

The people in general are nice. Though there is an initial reluctance to talk to them, yet whenever you come in contact with someone, the reluctance is rendered without any basis. In general, what I found myself doing was to put every person I saw (non-Asians) into categories or characters. These categories and characters were those which I had encountered earlier with my virtual interaction through Hollywood films, watching television etc. And some of the people fitted in the categories very well due to different reasons ranging from their attire to their looks.

Also, though I had seen the fairer sex to be obsessed with makeup, I found it to a larger extent here with females carrying all their tools in their handbags and using these whenever they had times available to themselves, like while sitting in the train. One widespread thing that people do in the train is reading. If its morning, we have people with their newspapers (many of which are available for free). Otherwise they do not forget to carry a book to utilize their time.

Vegetarians can come across some problems with the food, but I found these much below what I had expected. In general, almost everything is available in a form which is ready to be eaten (no surprises there!). And a feeling of independence (I do not want to comment, if this is good or bad) already creeps in when you are buying things alone from a superstore; things which you had never purchased earlier yourself.

I met some of my mates from my alma mater here on the weekend. They had been staying in London for the past month. They have started handling their daily homely chores rather well, and I sometimes feel if I would have been able to do so myself.

One thing that this trip has reiterated within me is my desire to stay in my own country. I just cannot find the incentive which would compel me to setup a base outside India.