London - then and now

After leaving London in 1997, I got a chance to visit the city again this year. We stayed at London 1996-97 for a total of 14 months. We were newly married and have fond memories of the place. No wonder I was feeling nostalgic and was reminiscing. 

The London I had in my mind was always raining, with no sun in sight. It was highly professional and strict. Might be because I was working then. Though my employer didn't object to my wearing Salwars to work, they did teach me about acceptable or rather unacceptable dress colors or sober colors as my mother calls them. I learnt many things in that 14 months of our stay. I learnt how to use fork and knife, even for pizza. I learnt not to swing umbrella in a casino, not to click heals in empty corridors. Though talking to strangers was not common, but smiling at fellow passengers and greeting strangers was routine. Most of all, I learnt to be proud of who I am. Looking at my attire, the first reaction used to be hesitation and attempting to figure out how best to communicate with me. But once the realisation dawned on the fact that I knew English and fluently at that, the attitude used to take a 360 degree turn. The hesitation and cold shoulder used to replaced by warmth and enthusiasm. It was like opening a Pandora's box, the amount of questions that followed was amazing. And I realised that I knew a lot about our traditions and customs! That gave me confidence to converse with strangers, something I never did before in my life.

Coming to the London of now. How it changed!!!! The crowd, noise and the carefree attitude. I got a culture shock!!! What happened to London? The place is overcrowded, to state mildly. And Indians, so many of them!!! And the sun, it was blazing. We went around July end and were prepared with warm clothing, not woolen but warm. We were overdressed. It was hot. Tubes were the same, efficient and on time. People, I couldn't find any locals, all looked like tourists. Everyone with a map in one hand and camera in the other. Many in groups trying to keep pace with the tour coordinator.

We went to visit the place where we stayed.

 That hadn't changed a bit, but the walk from tube station to the house was all wrong. It was lined with shops, that too Indian shops. And the walk felt too long, couldn't imagine doing that walk on a regular basis, did I grow old? There were multiple options for eating out, that too Indian restaurants.


We visited the places that were revamped since our stay - the crown jewels exhibition at Tower Palace, yes we saw Kohinoor!!!! The new additions like the Emirates Airlines, Millennium Eye and the Shard, tallest building in London, the concept in itself was a bit strange since we don't see many skyscrapers in London. We also did the usual round of Tower Bridge, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, House of Parliaments, Buckingham Palace, Oxford Street and Greenwich. Everything was crowded and noisy. All in all it was a good experience and a proof that things change.......

Emirates Airlines

Tower Bridge

The Shard

Tower Palace

Millennium Eye

Greenwich

The Big Ben

My USA trip, 2014

I had been to USA to visit my brother's family this July. It was a short but sweet trip thanks to the hospitality of my brother and his wife. I was greeted every morning by a mango smoothie followed by a continental breakfast, courtesy my brother. Lunch and dinner were usually a multi cuisine affair, thanks to my sil, interspersed with delicious snacks of pies, muffins etc.. I surely put on a lot, was afraid of checking my weight. My only work there was to play with my nephew and nieces, which I readily accepted. Boy, was it fun with an almost four year old nephew and 14 months old twin nieces.

First, my nephew, he is adorable and a chatterbox. He has an answer for every question and a question for every answer. His English language is impeccable, inherited from his mother. He came to airport to pick me up along with his father. As soon as we reached home, he went straight to my mother and said "Nanamma, Manjuatta is not your daughter, she is my friend." I was elated by this acceptance. My euphoria lasted till I realised that this elite club already has close to 100 (or was it 1000) members, and it is a very dynamic list!!! He is very much into songs. His favorite was "jintata jita jita" from Ravi Teja movie, who happens to be his favorite actor! Even this list changes, while I was there the favorite song changed to "Rama kanavemira" from Swathi Muthyam. I bet it has changed by now.

And the twins. What do I say, such cutie pies. They were shy at first and by second day I got the sweetest smile from the elder one, but the second one reserved her opinion till the day I left. She decided I was ok provided neither her parents nor her nanny was not around. I found many ways to bribe them to play with me. My bangle for one, a promise to take them out. They both are intelligent and can identify quite a few things. The second one is a bit lazy. First one is on top of things. 

My prediction she will be the one with her hand in air in any class, eager to answer questions; the second one will get her work done by her sister or someone else! The first one has the sweetest smile, with her head cocked to one side, which will melt your heart. The second one has this hearty laugh which is reserved for her father and snacks/meals. One thing both like is dancing. Play some music, be it a nursery rhyme or just a few random notes, they start gyrating and swinging their arms and legs around. They especially like it when their brother sings for them. 

Overall it was a memorable trip and wish it lasted some more......