Fever and Happy

Had to finish my drink quickly and I did... the ice cold drink immediately tore the throat apart and I knew it was not a good idea... However managed for another day and a half before fever took over and I was completely out of energy, with a bad throat and red eyes... Good, I carried a few tablets with me and that I managed some brandy to help myself... slept and sweat well in the overnight bus journey... and managed to reach Horley with a not that bad a throat, and some fever...

Crashed and got up now...

So that was THE only not so good part about the road trip... I am yet to mention about
~ Spending Christmas eve with Scottish family and staying overnight in their house.
~ Having the best Christmas ever.
~ The VW Polo that I drove for about 300 miles in two days and the amazing music system that car had.
~ The views that I got throughout the drive
~ All weather conditions from sunny to rains to bad rains to winds that will take you with them to frosty... almost everything.. did manage to spot some snow up on the mountains too.
~ and a lot more...

I should be fitter in a day or two, and thats when I would write in great detail about my best christmas EVER... till then here is a Photographic preview into the trip...

Loch ( pronounced Lokh) Lomond Shores

Loch ( pronounced Lokh) Lomond Shores

Loch ( pronounced Lokh) Lomond Shores

Somewhere in the Country...

A lounge in the Hotel

Fort William

Somewhere on the Scottish Highlands

This was just a trailer if I can put it that way... Will write more later... God bless...

Walking Around Shooting Things...

I have been walking around photographing the Brit Capital these days...

Must have walked atleast 30 odd kms in the last two weekends... I end up very tired when I call it a day, however there are some reasons to smile about everytime...

I should mention that I have been going to the British Museum every weekend for the last three of them, and I think will go there again atleast 2 more times...I am in love with what all that place has to offer, its like the entire world under one roof...

As of now enjoy the pictures below, I shall have a dedicated picture post about the British Museum sometime later....

And this is Abhishek... Thanks Bro... London is no less than home because of you !!!

And whoever thought of having the TAJ with the Bombay Mix ...

Hope you enjoyed watching the pictures as much as I enjoyed clicking them...

God Bless...

Parental Guidance Advised 'even' for Adults

I reached home pretty late last night almost around midnight...

It was a li'il strange sitting in the train coach all alone... no one in the entire coach that I was sitting in... but was kinda happy to see a lot of people get down at Horley, the town where I am staying these days...

A good 10 minute walk under the stars to home, and a warm room... nice...

Switched on the television, got the juice from the fridge.. and saw something on TV that almost shocked me...

A Girl's guide to 21st Century Sex..

Yes that was the name of the program on Channel 4, one of the 4 channels that i get on the TV in my room... and this program was about the to dos and the don'ts... i guess i joined the program in the last 20 minutes of the last episode of the season 1... hence a quick recap of what was there in the entire series was being shown, which included

~Discusions with sex experts about how to get the most out of your encounters
~People having sex on camera, with cameras stuck all over their bodies... and inside too ( if you know what I mean), so basically leaving nothing to imagination...
~Alternative Sex.. Gays, Lesbians, Groupies, Tantric Sex and all that...and
~Some utterly grose Surgeries...

And nothing about this program was even remotely erotic... While I had to appreciate the intention behind it, I still found myself asking if TV shows need to be this explicit about SEX... I am not sure...

and why is this program titled a Girl's Guide to...

Correct English...

Its strange how people have speak about the correct way of speaking english...

I do not agree to a way of pronounciation being correct or incorrect, just because the people in a country speak it in a specific way...

I might have to adapt because the people here do not understand it, but to label a certain way of talking as incorrect is bullshit...

Atleast I do not know of anyone in India telling someone what is correct english and what is wrong...

I almost got into an argument with a friend, who insisted on using the words right english and wrong english... but stopped myself because she seemed to be completely convinced that the way people in London speak is the right english...

Anyway... let the computerrrrss be computerrrrrs....

The city of mis-pro-noun-ciations...

So Edinburgh... which used to sound like how its spelt is now Edin-bura or Edin-bora...

And Greenwich... which also used to sound like how its spelt.. is now Grenich... phew...

and Gloucester.. which again i would pronounce as Glo-Shes-Terr... is to be pronounced as Glo-S-Ter...

I spend every day about 2 hours in the amazingly complicated but simplifying life, tubes... with men wearing nice suits.. and women in all sorts of formal and informal dresses... with that whistling sound that a tube makes when it moves fast... real fast...

There are loads of free papers in the city as well like the Metro and thelondonpaper...and most of the people would pick them up from the stations and read them through and through before leaving it in the tube for someone else to read... interesting... and what makes it more interesting is that such papers are built out of 80% recycled paper and only 20% fresh fibre... and the cycle goes on...

the administration here advertises use of cycles for smaller distances... and anything that emits less CO2 into the environment... good... and the focus stays...

People say sorry and thank you as if its hard coded in their breathing cycle and live as mutually exclusive humans with no or li'il concern about what the other person is doing... strange how everyone can manage this slightly difficult balance of being polite and courteous while not caring about the rest of the world at all....

The buses run all night... and you are sure to reach home, mostly safe, at any hour of the day...

Places like Piccadilly circus stay open till wee hours in the morning... and there are a whole lot of 24 hour food shops around...

its really a life of convenience here...

and it has its flip sides too... which i shall talk about later...

As of now the strangest thing is to sit in London and saying Happy Independence Day to fellow Indians... seems like a joke or a pun and definitely intended...

Anyway... hope you be free too !!! shed your slavery to the thoughts of boredom and sadness... and be free to see a new light of energy and happiness...

Amen !!!

2 Years of Travel...

Being in a different country is different for sure :) I have been in England for about a week now and it for sure has been an experience…

Right from the longest flight I sat in, to the amazing view of the mountains in Afghanistan, to the plain deserts of some part of the world, to a collection of 53 movies to watch from, to my first stamp on the VISA, to a complete day of not speaking Hindi, to not being able to call anyone I really really wanted to… its been quiet an experience…

I should also be congratulating myself for something that I do not think many people have been able to do... and that is for the last 24 months, i.e., starting from July’05 I have been traveling outside Delhi every month !!! Is that a record of sorts or something? And I complete 2 years of this every month trip with my first International trip!!! God has been kind to me… very kind…

London is good… and I am at just the right time here, bright at sunny with no rains so far… amazing skies… and the so called summers in the country… in the last one week, I have seen more legs and umm… cleavages then the rest of my life.. Phew… it gets too hard to handle at times when women actually move around in the bare minimum they can wear for work…. But then why should I be complaining?

London is similar and London is different… London has humans who behave like machines and as if they are on a conveyor belt… the tubes keep running, the people move out first, and then the people move in… they stand on the right side of the escalators and walk on the left… they look before they cross the road… not crossing on the red lights… its mechanical… as if some super natural power ( read self-discipline) controls everything here… and at times, it can really get to your head !!! It did to mine for sure… a couple of times…

Have been able to see the famous London Tower Bridge, walk for over 4 hours on the Queen’s walk next to the river Thames, checked the slow moving London Eye and the heard the Big Ben… Not to mention have clicked a few pictures as well to compliment my stay here in the city… With Abhishek’s help, who has been kind enough to keep me with him for the time I am here this month, I managed a trip to one of the best places I have been to… Camden town… the punk place… had an amazing time walking around the streets there... and ended the day with a fantastic performance by some street musicians… loved that day of mine…

Another day that I would like to remember for good is the visit to the “Prime Meridian” of the world… the line that divides the world into two halves... amazing feeling that was to see that line... and the 24 hour clock… and the view that place gives of London... too many goodies in one there…

Also managed one day work related trips to Manchester and Gloucester in this week… and after work did walk around the two places to capture some of it in my camera… yes yes... I have talked about pictures... there are going to be uploaded soon... gimme sometime please…

Rest is fine… The life is good… with a few exceptions of course... but I guess I can manage that…

Will keep writing…