A view of London

     

      If you are a foreigner in London and have visited the city a few times, you are by now familiar with the quirks and idiosyncrasies of the British kind.

     Landing at the Heathrow, the British passion for queueing is visible all around at the immigration counters. Over to the streets of London and day to day life and the British, queue for everything from supermarkets to cinemas, bus-stops, train stations, aircrafts, plays, football tickets, post offices, groceries,  hospitals and malls. Ten people in the queue is “long”. Obviously they haven’t been to India or Tirupathi to understand what a queue or a serpentine queue is all about.

     Jostling, pushing, shoving and elbowing , to get ahead in a queue as we do in India is considered a misdemeanour and the British show their pique by just glaring at you and conveying a message that you are an ill-mannered upstart.

     Staring, ogling, gazing, gawking and gaping, are national pastimes in India, observed across all age groups and all echelons of society. One stares at foreigners, women, bejewelled, bedecked aunties, or anyone who is eminently stare worthy. The subject of the gaze either ignores, looks away or simply stares back, because, we in India, grow up getting used to being stared at by all and sundry.
   

     In London, on the contrary, if you are on the train, tube or bus, one never makes eye contact with fellow passengers, leave alone stare! One is required to look at the back of newspapers held by the commuter in front of you, at the ceiling, floor, destination board, route map on the sides, or if nothing else, simply out of the window! On an escalator in the tube station, one always stands on the right to let other commuters race up or down as the case maybe.

     You can safely look at the dogs or pets that accompany the masters or mistresses on the train and even smile at them. They may make eye contact with you, but do not bark or wag their tails like their energetic Indian counterparts because they are far too well bred to attempt indiscretions of any kind.

     One learns soon enough that a roundabout is actually a traffic circle, a jumper is a sweater, a jacket is a coat or an overcoat, a motorway is a highway, aubergine is brinjal and crisps are chips.

     Discussing and predicting the weather patterns is a widespread obsession in England. In India we escape to the hill stations in search of cooler climes, but in a wet and rainy country, a few hours of sunshine in a day is celebrated with a nationwide outpouring of pure delight.

     The British are charming people nevertheless and if one lives here long enough, one may even begin to enjoy and appreciate the grey skies, rain and the cold weather. 

     

     

The Leap year girl

     She is a dynamo, she is zealous, she is persevering, she is earnest, she is quirky, and she is adventurous. 

     She is the youngest of five siblings and born on the 29th of February, her birthday is a quadrennial event. She is hence unique, in more ways than one. 

     She is a brilliant teacher, who believes in teaching from the heart and not from the book. She guides her students to the next plane and makes winners out of all of them, irrespective of their levels of proficiency.

     Her infinite energy and enthusiasm are legendary. She is an avid traveller and hops from town to town, city to city and country to country, if only to be with her loved ones for a few hours to celebrate an occasion.

     When in her company, there is never a dull moment as she keeps everyone enthused and guessing her next move.  She loves exploring new terrain and follows a standard operating procedure that is flexible for fellow travellers, allowing for last minute changes in venue, time, date, duration and mode of transport.

     If anyone in the group has an unyielding boss, she has no qualms about picking up the phone and requesting him to allow her nephew/niece to extend his/her stay. 

    She is omnipresent, whizzes in and out of nowhere at lightning speed and never misses an opportunity to participate in an event she fancies. Her persuading skills and never-say-die attitude have won her many battles. Forever a sport, she endures the constant ribbing from her family with a smile. 

     She is an amazing mother to two adorable boys, a devoted wife to a caring husband, an affectionate sister, a loving daughter and a dutiful daughter-in-law. She is all set to don the role of a mother-in-law to a lovely young girl.

     There's more. She is a music enthusiast, a yoga exponent and a philanthropist. 

      She is the good-natured one – Suguna. She is the universal friend, philosopher and guide and I am proud to be her sister-in-law.

     Suguna soon turns sixty. We wish her many more action-packed years ahead and pray she stays indefatigable, for we cannot perceive her any other way.