Friday, July 08, 2005
London burning...
Came bleary eyed to office yesterday after a late night at the jazz festival. Saw the "we are alright lets work harder and show 'em" e -mail from the big man in London and said WTF?! and checked CNN. Then wrote to a few friends there to check they were alright (they are) and worked harder.
Its sad how much in our stride we take things now. The thing about 9/11, I was in Cairo then, was they rude shock of it. This is not supposed to happen - there. Its a loss of innocence on a big scale and the response to London , in London is part British resolve and part we have been there seen this before.
I love London. It was the first Western place I travelled to on a holiday and still remember how exhilerating it was. I was young and naive then and on my own. And for the first time felt completely comfortable and unself conscious being on my own in a public place. In a way I could not imagine before. In India( and most other places) you can't but be self conscious and vigilant at all times. So much so you are not aware of it. In southern Europe you are aware of being the outsider and mostly unwelcome. London was happy and easy going and friendly in a way I had not imagined. I could be ananymous and loved being cheerfully ignored as everyone was doing their thing. I remember reaching at 9 and taking the metro with a relative, who took me out at Trafalgar and by then it was 12, and there was a huge party going as the Brazillians had won of the World Cup matches and there were bands and everyone was doing the Samba - drunk. I had the best Shawerma sandwiches and Coke ever and fell in love with the city. I am embarrassed to admit this I loved the touristy-est places, the crowds of young people just hanging out.
It was a great summer.
And I felt free in a way I have never felt before. For the first time I was happy to just be.
I have been back many times since and London always seemed cool and truly cosmopolitan. New York is too cold, too busy. Paris is too beautiful and introverted. Rome is provincial when not busy being a museaum. And I haven't been to Amsterdam, the husband man says the grass is great and people are mellow.
Its sad how much in our stride we take things now. The thing about 9/11, I was in Cairo then, was they rude shock of it. This is not supposed to happen - there. Its a loss of innocence on a big scale and the response to London , in London is part British resolve and part we have been there seen this before.
I love London. It was the first Western place I travelled to on a holiday and still remember how exhilerating it was. I was young and naive then and on my own. And for the first time felt completely comfortable and unself conscious being on my own in a public place. In a way I could not imagine before. In India( and most other places) you can't but be self conscious and vigilant at all times. So much so you are not aware of it. In southern Europe you are aware of being the outsider and mostly unwelcome. London was happy and easy going and friendly in a way I had not imagined. I could be ananymous and loved being cheerfully ignored as everyone was doing their thing. I remember reaching at 9 and taking the metro with a relative, who took me out at Trafalgar and by then it was 12, and there was a huge party going as the Brazillians had won of the World Cup matches and there were bands and everyone was doing the Samba - drunk. I had the best Shawerma sandwiches and Coke ever and fell in love with the city. I am embarrassed to admit this I loved the touristy-est places, the crowds of young people just hanging out.
It was a great summer.
And I felt free in a way I have never felt before. For the first time I was happy to just be.
I have been back many times since and London always seemed cool and truly cosmopolitan. New York is too cold, too busy. Paris is too beautiful and introverted. Rome is provincial when not busy being a museaum. And I haven't been to Amsterdam, the husband man says the grass is great and people are mellow.
