"Its all so new and unheard of! Its like being born again at 22!"
At first when I came here I thought, "So its London .. Been there so many times before. Shouldn't be sooo much of a change right?" .. Well I was in for a treat alright. It all started with having my first glass of water. Now I've been here before, I've been to Singapore where the similar practice is undertaken but I'm still from a country where we dont directly consume tap water! I mean who does that?! Apparently EVERYONE here.
Then came the rules of the road. So your walking down the road say .. and you realize you need to cross the street and so it begins - the planning in your head of how to cross, look for an opening between the zooping cars without killing yourself right? Yeah; No. Not here at least. Maybe in Central London you'll find some of those rude drivers but definitely not here. You wanna feel like a Queen? Take a walk on any road side and simply stand at a crossing. Any car and believe me when I say ANY car coming at no matter what speed will come to a dead stop as soon as your foot's forefinger's nail touches the road.
This is getting a little boring .. I'm just gonna convert this into a poem ..
They drink tap water and park in squares,
The unpredictable weather always confuses you to wear a light shirt or layers,
The traffic and the people are all too polite,
They'll stop at the red lights even when there's no one in sight!
Laws are followed and balance is maintained,
The best quality of stuff is available here - right from Barley to Sugarcane,
We have sabzi mandi, they have Tescos and Azda,
their poor is our well-fed, their Maruti is our Mazda!
'English' - the word itself has so many different connotations now,
It could mean cold, diplomatic, clever, bland, historical, or make you wanna take a bow,
It is shit expensive though and highly overrated I tell you,
London has a vibe but its dead after 3, you have to walk crazy distances just to use a loo.
A storm will make news headlines if 3 trees fall and a handful die,
roads will be closed, trains will have bus diversions, delays will make you go *sigh*,
They're very efficient sometimes but are usually so lazy,
laid back, by the book attitude, boring and unrefreshed, like the climate - drab and hazy.
The Sun here teases you and teases you alone,
It wont come like a good friend for lunch to stay,
It'll come like a high school Principal for a cordial visit and then run away.
It'll be days before you see its light brightly shone!
Thankfully, they're not many insects here, just a few spiders and small fellas,
they'll show up every now and then just to remind you how you sound when you yella!
But the food though is horribly bland,
its like eating beach sand :S
The good thing is that things usually work,
fast internet, constant power, hot water, the system supports you to push forward,
around public offices you need not lurk,
Oh and for those who are fans, here its called 'Yogurt' not 'Curd'.
The river is sublime in some areas and the long intertwined roads are a sight to behold,
Breakfast at Riverside Cafe, lunch at 'Foxes n Hounds', The Holiday Inn, The Boatyard Tavern,
The colourful leaves spring forth in autumn from Tress with small green molds,
the birds here are as if indifferent to us! They're just not scared! and it doesn't seem like they'll learn.
I think I'll stop now ... little sleepy .. plus its like 2:30 AM. Unless I'm still operating on Indian Standard Time, I should sleep if I know whats good for me.
Farewell.
At first when I came here I thought, "So its London .. Been there so many times before. Shouldn't be sooo much of a change right?" .. Well I was in for a treat alright. It all started with having my first glass of water. Now I've been here before, I've been to Singapore where the similar practice is undertaken but I'm still from a country where we dont directly consume tap water! I mean who does that?! Apparently EVERYONE here.
Then came the rules of the road. So your walking down the road say .. and you realize you need to cross the street and so it begins - the planning in your head of how to cross, look for an opening between the zooping cars without killing yourself right? Yeah; No. Not here at least. Maybe in Central London you'll find some of those rude drivers but definitely not here. You wanna feel like a Queen? Take a walk on any road side and simply stand at a crossing. Any car and believe me when I say ANY car coming at no matter what speed will come to a dead stop as soon as your foot's forefinger's nail touches the road.
This is getting a little boring .. I'm just gonna convert this into a poem ..
They drink tap water and park in squares,
The unpredictable weather always confuses you to wear a light shirt or layers,
The traffic and the people are all too polite,
They'll stop at the red lights even when there's no one in sight!
Laws are followed and balance is maintained,
The best quality of stuff is available here - right from Barley to Sugarcane,
We have sabzi mandi, they have Tescos and Azda,
their poor is our well-fed, their Maruti is our Mazda!
'English' - the word itself has so many different connotations now,
It could mean cold, diplomatic, clever, bland, historical, or make you wanna take a bow,
It is shit expensive though and highly overrated I tell you,
London has a vibe but its dead after 3, you have to walk crazy distances just to use a loo.
A storm will make news headlines if 3 trees fall and a handful die,
roads will be closed, trains will have bus diversions, delays will make you go *sigh*,
They're very efficient sometimes but are usually so lazy,
laid back, by the book attitude, boring and unrefreshed, like the climate - drab and hazy.
The Sun here teases you and teases you alone,
It wont come like a good friend for lunch to stay,
It'll come like a high school Principal for a cordial visit and then run away.
It'll be days before you see its light brightly shone!
Thankfully, they're not many insects here, just a few spiders and small fellas,
they'll show up every now and then just to remind you how you sound when you yella!
But the food though is horribly bland,
its like eating beach sand :S
The good thing is that things usually work,
fast internet, constant power, hot water, the system supports you to push forward,
around public offices you need not lurk,
Oh and for those who are fans, here its called 'Yogurt' not 'Curd'.
The river is sublime in some areas and the long intertwined roads are a sight to behold,
Breakfast at Riverside Cafe, lunch at 'Foxes n Hounds', The Holiday Inn, The Boatyard Tavern,
The colourful leaves spring forth in autumn from Tress with small green molds,
the birds here are as if indifferent to us! They're just not scared! and it doesn't seem like they'll learn.
I think I'll stop now ... little sleepy .. plus its like 2:30 AM. Unless I'm still operating on Indian Standard Time, I should sleep if I know whats good for me.
Farewell.
This is wonderful 'poem-post' Anirudh. Never been to London, but visited Malaysia this year and believe me, turning toward a road [even without a zebra crossing] made all big sedans stop in a second, and what is adorable is no anger on driver's face. Thanks for posting it.
ReplyDeleteHaha, The traffic truly surprises us coming from a hostile place like India doesn't it .. Glad you liked it Jitu, thanks for commenting :)
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