Today is 9 August 2011. I turned 32 years just 3 days ago. In the last 3 decades in this world, I had always considered the land of the Queen to be somewhat of a ethereal land, compounded by my upbringing in a Christian missionary school which upheld everything British and my love for history, where I read and re-read all about the British Raj and India and last but not the least, my obsession with Elizabethan and Victorian romance novels and films.
So when I visited London in June 2011 to meet my fiance in his adopted land for the first time, my expectation levels were at its peak. My enthusiasm was contagious; I couldn’t stop gabbling about the London Eye, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and the whole hog.
My first destination outside India was the city of Munich. And after having lived in Munich for 6 months, London was a rude shock. Munich is a doll house, pristine, disciplined, freakingly clean, orderly and with a almost zero crime rate and London was crowded, loud, noisy, gloomy and with construction ongoing in almost every major area in the city! My first impression of London were the incredible number of Asians that I saw. Indians and more Indians everywhere! Heathrow airport seemed like Indira Gandhi International airport. The British Raj era seemed to have created a reverse migration to the very land whose rulers had occupied us. I felt like home. And that is the very essence of London which charmed me.
I am usually a very tidy and disciplined person. Hence the first glimpses of London, the utter disregard for traffic lights (which is NEVER disregarded in Munich), the not to healthy Londoners (Muncheners are always jogging), the oldness of the buildings (Munich was completely rebuilt after WWII) and so many more such minute stuff totally flummoxed me. It just wasn’t what I had expected. Having lived in Munich for 6 months, my expectation was a carbon copy of the Western life that I had glimpsed here.
It took 48 hours for London to seep into my being. With Spikey in office, I started venturing out by myself. I have a travel card, and made solitary journeys across Ealing and neighboring areas. I even ventured out shopping to Oxford Street by myself. And whenever I could steal Spikey away, I saw the beautiful city and its landmarks.
And yes, London is breathtakingly beautiful. The city and its fantastic landscape from the London Eye, the huge crowds outside Madame Tussad’s, the lush green parks in Ealing and neighboring boroughs, the vibrancy of Oxford Street, the awesome crowds on Friday evening at Leiscester Square, the awe-inspiring Wimbledon courts, the London Tube, the world’s oldest underground network, Westminster at night, Bath by day, the list is endless. And the one USP when compared to Munich – the English language. I was so ecstatic to be able to read the signs on the roads and the understand the announcements on the PA system on the underground! It was heaven.
There is one thing I have to mention here. The people of London. It was so amazing to have absolute strangers talking to me at tube stations, bus stops, Marks & Spencers, Debenhams, at Oxford Street. Nothing special, just a comments here and there about the weather, the cricket score, asking the directions to Primark; it was so like the feeling back home in India. Having spent a lifetime reading up on the atrocities of the British Raj, and having heard stories of apparent racism, I was so amazed to discover the love and friendliness of the Bristish people that today, I cannot imagine the atrocities that are happening across the UK today.
I have spent an entire day in front of the BBC, tracking the events in London, Birmingham, Nottingham, and the other cities. Spikey is in Notthingham, returning home to London tonight. He lives in Ealing, an upmarket West London leafy neighborhood. A neighborhood, where I have strolled down the sidewalks several times, had an English breakfast at a joint which was attacked last night, bought several cups of Cafe Latter at a Starbucks nearby, waited for the bus in from of the garden where the cars were torched, a neighborhood where I have so many many cherished memories. A place where Spikey has called home for more than 5 years. Today that and many others, are up in flames.
Especially having seen the friendliness of the people on London, it makes me wonder why these young men are resorting to mindless violence. All people in the world have their share of issues and troubles. Violence never solves anything. Gandhi proved the way to the British where he was instrumental in getting us our freedom and human rights through non-violence and dialogue. The young Britishers need to go and learn the power of dialogue and give back the city I love, to its people, minus the looting, arson and mugging.
