Big Ben

Not a long time ago, I lived in Bangalore. Its actually been 2 whole years since I have moved countries, moved homes and started on what almost seems like a whole new life. The premise of this life was based on leaving a lot behind. Funnily, after 2 years of finding myself in a new place I realized - there is a lot I have found, a lot I have lost and a lot is yet to be explored.

I have truly learned to let go - how else can one make a fresh start. I have learned to detach and reattach. I have discovered music which is probably the most important aspect of my life today. I love London - like I love any city I live in. I love the streets/trains/experiences/big ben/ food/ heathrow airport. I am yet to find a comfort zone in it which comes from finding friends/conversations and looking at spots and remembering good ol times. The city is truly beautiful! The city offers a cultural experience hard to find anywhere else in the world. I associate London with percussion. I associate London with walks.

I am not sure what I set out to write but maybe London was lingering on my mind. Maybe it was because I did step out of the tube late at night to catch a glimpse of the most beautiful structure - 'Big Ben 'standing stoic late at night. Like someone just put together molten wax and created a structure so delicate like icing on a cake. Yet it stood strong like a timeless piece telling me, no matter when or no matter how I visit London - with a backpack or walking past from work. It will be the only thing that will never change!!

London - Without a camera

Be it on the pretext of having friends around or just because the weather has been warm - I have ended up discovering a few things about London. Unfortunately, I have not carried a camera to click some of the most beautiful moments!

British Museum - A place one can spend days in. Walk down any tube station and you will be surrounded by a picture. I was almost seeing this image in my dream. Love the photograph. Trying to discover the photographer of the same.

However, the best part of the British museum (the only part I had time to explore) - was the theme of Living and Dying. This was a room describing experiences of suffering in everyones life and how as humans we find the innate ability to fight suffering and live. What I loved about this was the true stories and the realism that exists. I was surprised to find a piece of art by women in Gujrat who had embroidered on raw silk images about AIDS awareness. Pictures that depicted how it spreads, what people should avoid and really cute pictures of condoms being distributed in the mix.  There was also a master piece of a sheet that spread a few meters which had 14,000 medicines weaved into it (apparently the number of medicines an average Britisher would consume through the cycle of life). It then had small stories for each phase of life and real artefacts beneath like a masked story. Beautifully done.
On a side note, I was not that impressed by the Olympic medals which were displayed for the upcoming olympics:-d

Barclays Cycle Hire: Been wanting to use the Barclays cycle hire more. However ended up usually taking it for a casual ride to Regents park mostly. This time tried to pick it up and ride to Greenwich (17 miles ride). The scheme seems to be expensive at the outset especially if using for more than a few hours. Cycles are not maintained all that well. Its your best bet if you want to occasionally use it to get from point A to B. However if you do cycle extensively,  I would recommend buying a bicycle.
Cycling on a lovely sunny day: However the experience of cycling on a lovely sunny day was awesome. Riding through the lanes of London made me realize how much this city has to offer in every corner. The Savoy, Shaftesbury Avenue, Eataries along Noel Street and the Somerset house are places I will go back to. Makes me wonder - what is it about us humans that makes us so curious about stories of the past? Context probably is what makes everything worth it. Be it a piece of music, a piece of art or a ruin in the middle of the city. Loved Cutty Sark and would certainly want to go back for the thames riverside walk all the way down to the London Eye. I want to climb up the 316 steps of the monument and get the best view of London and go down to the Pudding Lane which was the origin of the fire in 1666! Just so much to take in and discover!

More next time with pictures hopefully.

Hope you are all having a lovely time exploring the stories around your places.

Bookmarks

Often when reading a book, we want to pause, sip on coffee or just ponder. Bookmarks were probably invented with a reason. I watch a movie. Then the intermission comes in drawing the part to a logical conclusion. Life is full of such pauses too. Important days - Birthdays, New Years, Anniversaries are all about pausing, breaking our life into parts. I guess these days just don't do it for me. Hence, I am off on a self imposed pause. Call it a vacation, a trip home or just a way to break away from a non-routine to find a way to come back to one.

I know the weeks ahead are full of a lot of pauses, bookmarks and events. Marriages/Birthdays and just re-unions or wasteful days. I have not yet unwound myself in its anticipation. I guess I will just go with the flow and see if I will get back to the book or pick it up years later to find I had left a book mark some time long ago and then flip back a few pages to start again.

London - As I see it

This city feels like the epicenter of a cultural volcano. Looks calm at the surface despite the molten, quasi states of a zillion tourists and the strong and lost identities of the immigrants! What constitutes this city? It is hard to describe - Maybe culture, Maybe trade, Maybe the feeling of belonging or the feeling of not finding it my own. For being a lover of art and culture - this feels like 'Mecca'. Today I am settled in and feel like I am beginning to belong. I have managed to watch a few plays, a few concerts, walked down most known streets. I have a list of must do's for myself before I set foot into the wilderness of the globe yet again.

- Watch all my favorite artists perform
- Watch the wicked, phantom of the opera and a few not so advertised but still awesome plays
- Finish up my short course in art direction
- Learn the piano and a few other instruments. Indulge in Music - Classical Forms, Percussion!
- Walk Zone 1 and 2 of London over a weekend!
- Take the night bus more often
- Get as many seats as possible for the London Jazz Festival.

Clicked a few pictures to remember how this journey started! Just like London says - All of you are welcome as long as you are in transit!

A new start?

Settled in London, found a house and checked in. Its strange how the process repeats itself all over again every single time when you setup a house and yet there is no short cut. You just have to go through the grill.

I have had interesting times, felt bad about moving continents, leaving an apartment behind and most importantly my friends and family in a time zone 5 hours away. At the same time I am excited about this new phase for it promises a lot of experiences.

• Marked my first day with a run in Regents park. Watched rugby, got wet in the rain and listened to music at my pace in my way and just experienced sheer bliss. I don't know if it was the run or the rain or was the fact that I knew I had established a new rapport with this city, marked my territory in the park with so many joggers, passers by and tourists, but something was monumental about my run today. I made a new memory with a new song and a new story.
• Met interesting people at a friends party and firmly believe that the world is indeed a small place and London even smaller;-) Connections from the past linger by and interesting times are yet to come.
• Learnt to play my first set of chords on the guitar - D, C, G, Am and struggling with my Open F!
• Have a long list of to-buy, an even longer list of to-dos and heck a hectic week ahead.
• Excited that my folks will finally be around and I can show them Europe and hope that the weather is not too harsh.

Looking forward to watching many a concerts and all the plays and learning some art direction. I had promised myself this year would be about re-defining myself and so far I have been at it. Whoever told it would be easy?? I was only told it would be fun!