The Scotsman
The entire week was of mixed emotions.
On Tuesday, I had a Shakesperean experience with The Tempest. The play was enacted in the same archaic manner it used to be performed in the 16th Century. The actors were in their traditional costumes and the music was by a choir with weird make-up. All special effects were just like in the old days. The performances would put any professional film actor to utter shame. Thankfully, I had read the story before and hence I had minimal difficulty in understanding the context of the Old English used. And in the end, all actors broke out into a dance and all of them looked merry and gay. It was so wonderful to see people actually do what they love. I came back tired from this new pain that I have developed in my ankles. It is all the fault of all the walking that I do in this city. :-P
On Wednesday, I met up with the new people who have shifted into the hall. For the first time, I actually felt I had company. Guillem, Barbara, Megan and Hunter are really fun to hang around with and I feel sad that I met them up so late in my stay. Unfortunately, I can't go out with these guys as they have just arrived in the city and the next weekend will be my last in England. Today was actually the day when I thought I was with my IITian gang again. I laughed like the monster that I would do. I made them hear the audio that pc had recorded. We commented on the weirdest things possible, like washing machines and dryers, amount of fat in the biscuit, tv sitcoms etc.
On Thursday, Bombs were blasted literally, as London was rocked by small explosives on its transport system. Imagine what would happen if Mumbai's local trains were halted, all of them!! That is what precisely happened and the whole city was walking the streets. I was in my lab when Dr. Hill walked in with the bad news. In general, he is the most cheerful guy you will ever meet and we always have good conversations whenever we meet. He is the guy who wouldn't stop even if you said Bye!! However, on that particular day, He said, "If you happen to meet Yann, tell him he should call up his parents". But he didn't say anything to me. Now, I know, I should not read too much into this, but something irks me. I feel that there is something amiss in this whole scenario. Even Shweeeetu called up from DeutscheLand and it was such a wonderful feeling to hear a familiar voice on the other end.
On Friday, I left for Edinburgh, inspite of all my relatives asking me to stop moving around and concentrate on my work. The journey was all night long and I met this friendly Scotsman who was someone like what Morgan Freeman was in Bruce Almighty. Ok...So he was not GOD!! But the moment I started conversing with him, it all seemed so very familiar. It seemed like I had known this person for ages and he was like my GodFather. We discussed about Indian Food, Scottish feelings for England, the Scottish language, all the things to do in Edinburgh, Scottish souvenirs to take home. I had to bid adieu to this guy at the station where I had a familiar type of coffee...Filter Coffee!! It was 7 am and the sun was blaring hot. I walked around the city for a while taking some photos and waiting for the tourist information centre to open up.
The first stop was the Edinburgh Castle, majestic and beautiful in its own way. The Scottish Heritage Centre was a treat,although I couldn't buy the small bottles of whisky I had promised myself. Instead, I bought lots and lots of Scottish biscuits that I am yet to taste!! I also went to this weaving centre where they showed the art of making kilts (Scottish Man Skirts). The next stop was No-Man's Land, literally, as the Roslin Village was like a dot in the middle of nowhere. The bus stop is on an empty road. Feels like the cross-section that can be seen in the CastAway (when Tom Hanks delivers the packages). The Church was beautiful and is the same one that concludes the Da Vince Code...hehehehe....that was the reason I took the 1 hr. walk for. The Royal Yacht at the Ocean Terminal was a modest, large boat, although didn't do inside. A serious walk awaited me again as I walked the Royal Mile, saw some really beautiful sculptures and that is when I decided that Edinburgh is definitely the place I would like to settle into if I had the chance. The main Hill was in sight and as I had time to kill, I decided to trek the whole way up with my bhoja. I did that pain-stakingly simply because the paths were all mixed up and I finally made my way up after asking a couple who were making out really furiously to move out of the way.......hilarious....indeed.....hahahahaha!!!. The view from the top was like on the top of the world. I listened to a 25 minute Pink Floyd piece and the wilderness so was pleasant, so much far away from any bombs, so much far away from people.
The journey back home was rather tiring and I slept the whole way back even when the sun rose at 4:30 to wake up all the tired souls on the bus.
I have realized something.
I think I want to be a Scotsman.
I have absolutely no clue as to why?
On coming back home, I slept like a baby.
The 5 week-old pain in my ankles is mysteriously gone.
What should I know?
What should I know?
....I know...
- "Bedshaped" (Keane)
Wimbledon Weekend
The weekend for which I had waited impatiently finally arrived in the form of a late morning.Sita was in the kitchen having her last breakfast. I asked her about wimbledon and the first thing she said was that they had left at 6:30 in the morning and here I was at 8:30 merrily munching away at some toast and jam. My jaw fell open when she nonchalantly remarked that I would be inside only by 5 pm if I went today. I cursed myself at not having woken up early enough.
Grumbling to myself, I caught the bus and thought about what I should do.On reaching the location, there was this humongous line that appeared atleast thrice as long as the Siddhivinayak Temple Queue. Almost wailing, I joined the line where I met a banglorean and a French guy and we got started talking about general Tennis.I proudly mentioned about Sania and her beautiful shots and curves.
The crowd in the meantime had begun waking up from their slumber and a steady motion of legs was soon observed.Soon, the pace quickened and by almost a miracle we were there inside by 11:45 am just 15 minutes before the Leander Paes-Zimonjic match was to commence. My nerves had already reached a neurotic state on having come to know that their match had to be suspended the previous the day due to bad light. I was only a few yards away from the action. The match turned out to be awesome and the duo quickly converted into a good victory for themselves.
Then, accompanied by the bangalorean dude, I watched the Max Mirnyi singles match....tall lanky and a seemingly uninteresting match because we had to catch the Bhupathi-Pierce 2nd round encounter. The Match was a complete disaster for the opponents who were very much a mismatch in any case. Bhupathi-Pierce dispatched them with utter disdain and after the match it was time for some fun. Bhupathi was mobbed by the Indian junta and he waited patiently for atleast 30 minutes makin sure that his every fan was satisfied,including me. Happy with a wonderful picture and a weird autograph, I made my way to a phone booth, as I had promised my family that I would call them up from Wimbledon. All of them were busy watching the event at Neha's place. After the long call back home, I darted for the one thing I had especially come for...STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM!!
After a huge pizza chunk and the special dessert, the one match that I had to see was the Sania-Aspelin Mixed Doubles match. The Indian crowd was unfathomable and it would not be exxagerating if I said that we made more noise than the adjoining Centre Court where the Federer match was on and the Court No. 1 hosting the Murray-Nalbandian match. Sania was beautiful beyond words and I think I fell in love with her during the match.
After the match, she graciously accepted my small scrap of paper, held it on real tightly when it was about to fall down, smiled at me, and signed on it. I know I died at that very instant.
We then clambered upon Henman Hill to catch some action on the big screen. The Murray match soon became a dud as he almost came to a standstill in the 4th set. Both of us decided to call it quits for the day, took some photos at some prominent locations and left for our respective homes.
The next day, Akshay and me left for a London tour. The first stop was the Buckingham Palace where the Changing of the Guard takes place evey day. Real life Toy soldiers marched all around the palace accompanied by the band. It all seemed excessively weird. We had no idea how the guard actually changed and why these soldiers did random horizontal and vertical walks every 5 minutes.
Anyways, it was time to be kids again as we merrily bought 2 tickets for the London Aquarium and with wide grins came in through the card reader doors. The collection was quite good with the sharks being the centre of attraction. We also had this huge tanks wherein we could dip our hands in and touch the fishes and rays. It was a scary thought to touch the rays but then I gathered enuf courage to actually touch them and it felt so leathery and soft. Nemo was also busy in his own tank. The Clown fish were extremely cute with their tiny fins and striped bodies flapping themselves beyond their own pace.
In the evening, we made our way to some familiar London locations that Akshay wanted to see...The London Bridge, The Tower Bridge, ..... , The Tower Hill...and then, A rare sight was unfolded. The Tower Bridge actually opened and it was a treat to watch it. We had arrived at the precise moment when the ships were about to pass.
The day got over for us and Akshay made his way to his future jiju's place whereas I went to my Grand-Aunt's place who had flown in especially from California just to meet me. The place was beautiful with a line of houses on a small hill.
But then, what you see is not normally what happens, does it?I heard stories that got sadder by the minute. The food was typical Punjabi with alu-baingan, rotis and pakode. I had arrived at the place with some huge expectations but went back reminded of the fact that I have a home to get back to.
I came back to the room seeing that my new room mate had arrived. Guiguem Osca Gunther?...from Valencia, Spain...An innocent types guy who would be easily misled if he were in India. I also met 2 other americans involved in internships, living across the hall, Magen from Pennsylvania and Hunter from California.
Then I braced myself for the luckiest week of mine of the past 21 years.....The next weekend was the most unexpected thing that could happen to anyone....Believe me!
The Oval Weekend...
It was actually a not so exciting weekend...but had a variety of meat..to eat..
On the saturday morning, I realized after having a bath, that I actually looked good...
so decided that some pics should be taken...
Did so...but i hated all of them....
There was nothing planned for the day, all I could plan was for a trip to the Natural history musuem...
I went around in the hot afternoon..(It was the sunniest day of all)...
The trip was nice (actually boring)..who wants to know what happened to the earth and what will happen... when all u want to do is listen to some music..
So i bought a pizza and a sandwich..
headed for the college computer lab..
and coldplay was on full blast....
It was such an awesome moment to realize that u have their new album!!
Well.....then went home and worked on my report..
The next morning, I realized that the Thames is actually 2 minutes away from my place...
I went along the river until I bumped myself into a cannon belonging to the National Army Centre...
It was free entry..so I went in...
It was fun knowing comic details about the British Military...
Then took this must have pic at Sloane Square..
ANd my sunday afternoon was in Sigmund Freud's House..coz..i didnt have much to do..
and in any case i wanted to know more child sexual development.
but the audio was not working..so i missed out on the tapes...
It is weird to know what people can conjure up..
went around london looking to buy tickets to a Shakespearean drama "The Tempest" and The Musical hit "We Will Rock You!"...
got tickets for the first one..
the second one..
aah...i will just go along on the day of the show and buy them..
no worries...
And curse the bloody ice cream waala...
SO DAMN COSTLY!!
came back home sweaty for the first time..
and btw...there is no fan in my room
The next day was huge...
The 20-20 match at the Oval....
World vs. Asia..
Awesome line up..
fantastic stadium...
a couple of sri lankans with me...
and a srilankan flag i had to wave around..
and Drat!!..Sehwag got out quickly...
but the ambience was absolutely mind blowing...
The time I had was satisfying to the core...
But the next weekend turned out to be Fantabulous...!!!
