The big London Dream!

A big city..new girl..

Yeah, this is my story of being in London
Yeah!! The big London dream!
The dream which probably haunted my great grandfathers
The pre-independence dream of many Indians..many of whose got realized here..

It's been 9 months since my first ever step in this country.
As I am set to leave this country in a few days time, it's fitting for this post to be published now :)

And if I say that I have grown and changed in this country would be an understatement.

I arrived here on eve of 2012 new year.
I was a jittery, nervous girl when i first arrived.
Today i feel I am at home. The city has grown on me..

I dont know what contributed to this feeling..to this confidence in the city..
It's probably my roommates, my friends, the unknown strangers or just me myself.

When I first arrived, I hardly felt I was in a strange land.
Looks like, I saw the mould from which India was shaped. We have so many similarities.
We are 2 countries with rich culture and heritage.
Something which amazes me is, the pride they take in their history. Maybe a lesson we Indians need a lot.
They preserve every piece of their history. Every small monument.
There is so much to see here, I could never get enough of it.

There is a London beyond the Big Ben. The royal culture really does penetrate into the city.
It's so subtle you would hardly notice it.
I am so awe struck by it, maybe coz this is my first encounter with something close to royalty.
It's one of the few cultures with the monarchy still in power. That's something to respect too.
I wish we could have some of our rulers in power too! :P Amusing thought :)

When I hear the various stories of all the Indian origin-British citizens, it's sometimes heart rendering and sometimes inspiring.
The stories of their great grandfathers running away from India and landing in Africa.
Their stories of struggle and their own victory of finally living in the queen's land.

London is almost half encroached by Indians. So if you are from India, you wouldnt feel out of place :)
There are some Indian restaurants from as long as 1905!!
These are the standing proof of a long past that ties these 2 countries.

And you will find many inhabitants from Pakistan too. Probably a rare case where Indians and Pakistanis can be friends, which can happen only here.
They have very similar stories of their ancestors fleeing from Pakistan or then India (before Partition)...
In a subtle way, we are all so similar with such similar backgrounds. Maybe the same reason for our hatred? I wonder..


Though there's a certain bitterness about us being taken over by the British for more than 2 centuries.
I feel times and equations have changed in today's times.

For me, personally it's been a wonderful experience being here. I would affirmatively say I will definitely want to revisit this place again.
Though I will miss all my dear friends here. I do hope I will get another chance for another encounter with all of them.
I will leave with a heavy heart, but also with hopeful and joyous eyes for a better future and a new journey.
Loads of love to the paradise of liveliness!

--Shreya

*THE* Lion King Musical

The Lion King!!

I saw *the* Lion King Musical on a Sunday matinee of 16th Sep.
The lion roared and did it do well? You bet!
I was so awe inspired, I finally had to get out of my writer's block :)
I have never been a great fan of plays for all my life, maybe I attribute to lack of exposure.
Living in such a rich culture of England, forced me to start liking it's most innate part - theatre.
My first experience of it was Henry V of Shakespeare in the mecca of theatre.
This was my 2nd encounter of London theatre. There is something about theatre which tickles my mind.
It's so hard to explain such an experience.
The colours, costume and the acting which strike a cord somewhere deep in your heart.
It makes me wonder, how much I have missed all my life without all this.

The effortless acting and the actors are in a state where you start to wonder if you are seeing humans or the real lion king.
The majestic walk of Shaun Escoffery and the African music, just did wonders to my soul.

The music and dance and the rhythm of the entire was so superb, I just couldn't take my eyes off the stage.

When Mufasa's character died, I couldnt hold back my tears. I wonder now why.
After watching so many Bollywood movies, I shouldn't be crying over such scenes :)
But I really couldn't help myself. I had fallen in love with the characters and the play.

But the highlight of the show, which literally took my breath away was the scene where Simba sees his dad in his reflection.
The backdrop of the stage was converted into a wooden life size face of a lion.
No words can explain the effect it created.

A part of the poem He lives in you -

Night and the spirit of life calling mamela
And a voice just the fear of a child answers mamela

Ubu khosi bo khokho        [This is the throne of our ancestors]

We ndodana ye sizwe sonke    [Oh, son of the nation)]

Wait, there's no mountain too great
Hear the words and have faith
Have faith

He lives in you
He lives in me

He watches over
Everything we see
Into the water
Into the truth
In your reflection
He lives in you

[Courtesy: http://www.lionking.org/lyrics/OBCR/HeLivesInYou.html]

What Simba sees in himself, maybe we should look for ourselves.
What is your true self? Are you the one you were really destined to become? The true king?
Or are we leading a sub standard life?
Are we really taking our place in the circle of life?!?!
Wondering...

So, I sign off now with some food for thought for myself too :)
A must watch for all of you, if you get a chance.

--Shreya

Ethereal Scotland

Day 1: Friday - 6th April

5:15 am:
Woke up hurriedly and was getting ready..Our cab was due in 15 mins!
Damn it, hadnt even packed..rushed through all my stuff...took everything i could think of would be useful,ran down to the kitchen, took all our snacks. My roomie was all set and waiting for me..
She had just 1 bag and i had 3...pls dont ask me why!!

i have no idea somehow whenever i travel, i always seem to have more bags than others. And mind you this is inversely proportional to my ability to carry bags :D :D

Anyway, with help from everybody, loaded all my bags, and we started at 5:45 am,
It took us close to 45 mns -1 hr to reach London Kings Cross station.
We hurriedly paid up and me dragging all my bags, ran to the counter to collect our tickets..

6:50am:

Platform 7: We are searching which coach to board. Sigh!
We just got into one of them, and in those cramped coaches, we were searching where should we sit,
There was no seat number on our tickets, and no TT to help us.
Somehow we travelled from coach to coach in search of our destined seats. Well, we didnt find any.

7 am:

Train starts with a sligh jerk and then in full speed we head to Edinburgh. And we are still
standing in the aisle waiting for our rescue angel. :)
We waited, waited and more waiting...

7:45 am:

My roomie is giving me stern looks, what on earth are we doing here! I wanted to give the same looks to someone else. But when you organize you can curse no-one but yourself :P
Sigh!

8am:

The coach adjacent to where we were standing, a tour guide was explaining things to his people. He was heading towards us.So finally assuming he is our rescue angel, we pounce on him and ask where are our seats. He was flustered, wondering if we were part of his tour. And then after seeing our tickets, he tells us our 1st breaking news!
We have basically booked a ticket for which there are no seats... Aila!! what a revelation...and where are we supposed to sit..
he says...anywhere where it's nt reserved. And in the easter weekend..which seat would that be...well it happens to be on the floor next to the toilets... :'( :'(
So now, my roommate and me are shocked for our lives!!
After 10 mins, my roomie asks me, "Do you mind sitting down on the floor". As a proud peacock i said, "Yes i mind"..
lol
Little did i know, in 1/2 hr time, i was the first among us to sit down :D :D
we literally looked like beggars, eating bun and stretching ourselves on the floor. lol...
but in retrospect now, my roomie and me had ultimate fun coz of this :) :) if not we would
have probably just dozed off in our seats :)

10am:

We start hunting for seats as a lot of people board off the train in Newcastle.
Then finally we got a couple of decent seats and an awesome view from the train. Nature is at its best in Scotland. It's like God started painting and he just couldnt stop and kept creating wonders and wonders all around.
On one side, the lush green lawns stretched until your eye can see and on the other side, the
rock and sea culminate in a view your mind can never forget. It was just mindblowing to say the least.

We just enjoyed the view and the serenity of the place. It was interesting to see the number of sheep and cattle they bred in this region. Every land was filled with cattle and sheep.
And each looked well fed and bulging :)
Each landscape looked just out of a screensaver or a movie clip.

At 11:30 the train finally reaches Edinburgh Waverley station.
Woah! Did they say it would be cold...It was freezing! :)
Then we scramble our way through the station and through the city. A typical UK weather, it started drizzling. I was searching through my map printout which way to head for our lodge. And finally after much exploration we discovered it. Was a good 10-15 mins walk. Our first glimpse of the city, felt historic for starters. We could see the castle in a distance.

Dragging our bags in the midday mist and historic city set the tone for our trip.
We then relaxed a bit in the room, got ready and set out the world called Scotland!
The only rescue to us was the mini map of Edinburgh :)

As we started walking around, we saw the city buzzing to life...there were shops for one and all selling from silver jewelery to kilts to pubs, coffee bars et al..
As we strolled along the Royal Mile (sounds familiar to those who have read Da Vinci code??)

we saw varied people and even varied events happening around us. Looks like, Edinburgh is famous for a history of dungeons and ghosts and their mystic stories. All around us we could find people marketing their show, potraying to be the best in Edinburgh.. Interesting is the least i could say.

En route we also saw the St.Mary's cathedral, an extremely old piece of historical monument, which is considered sacred. 2 days before Easter, i would assume, it would be a pretty big deal at the church. Though we didnt venture in, coz we just wanted to get a feel of the city first.
Around 4pm, we had roamed quite enough to know where is what :)
We then headed to the National Museum of Scotland.
A wonder in itself. I have never been a big fan of museums, but this was something else. Each floor had a story to tell. A civilization unfolding in front of us.. Nature mimiced at its best. It will remain in memory as something wonderful for a long time to come.

We then had dinner at Subway which happened to be our staple food for the next 3 days to come :) And then headed back to our room for a sound and peaceful sleep. A good rest for our tired legs :)

End of day 1 :)