Ten Things After 10 Days in London

1. Surprisingly Familiar

Although it was the first time I visited London, I felt a sense of familiarity with the place. This was primarily due to two reasons: first, reading English authors in my childhood; and second, the following English Premier League during my teenage years and later.

After I landed at the Heathrow airport, my friend messaged me to take the Piccadilly line to King’s Cross. I thought, “That’s easy. I know Piccadilly (from Piccadilly Jim by Wodehouse) and King’s Cross (Harry Potter).” I knew these places without actually knowing them.

Due to India’s colonial past with the British Empire, Indians were exposed to English Literature compared to any other region. As a kid, I read Blyton, Doyle, Wodehouse, Dickens, Hardy, Dahl, Shakespeare, Rowling, and Kipling among others. Unbeknownst to myself, I absorbed references to England without actually understanding them. And when in London, I got excited every time I would see a familiar signpost like Baker Street (Sherlock Holmes), Abbey Road (Beatles), and Oxford Circus.

Later, I took a cab from the airport to my friend’s place. On the way, I saw directions to Watford, Birmingham, and Cardiff. All these places have namesake football clubs — which became my point of reference. Again, I felt I knew these places without ever having visited them.

However, there was one street sign that was way too familiar.  

2. Walkable City

During my time in London, I spent hours every day walking around the city. I wondered what makes a city walkable. Cities like Delhi and Mumbai have centuries of conquest and rule, making them filled with historical monuments. Further, there is something that catches one’s eye every other street — from hawkers using recorded messages to sell their goods to random murals. But broken pedestrian pavements and unclean surroundings dampen the experience.

A city like Washington DC has historical significance and pedestrian-friendly pathways but falls short due to its spread-out geography. It takes time to reach from Point A to Point B. Finally, cities like Bangalore, Pune, and Islamabad are pedestrian-friendly (relative to other cities in their respective country) and keeps one engaged with picturesque views. But there is little historical significance compared to other cities.

London, on the other hand, ticks all three criteria. Walking in London felt like hiking around the Western Ghats during the monsoon in India. One gets a fresh and captivating view every few hundred meters. With quaint buildings and gothic structures, historical structures, and statues coupled with mild weather, it created a perfect recipe for me to explore the city.

 

3. Culturally Vibrant & Historically Significant

You knew something, John Snow
Before Game of Thrones, there was another John Snow — an English physician — who is considered to be the father of modern epidemiology. He developed a rigorous methodology to prove that sewage water mixed with drinking water caused cholera. Solo contains one of the replicas of the water pump that was used during John Snow’s time and helped establish the linkage between adulterated water and cholera.

British Museum aka Museum of Stolen Goods
The British Museum is huge, free to enter, and filled with amazing sculptures, paintings, and artifacts from all over the world. It is also controversial as many of the goods were stolen from colonies as part of the British Empire.

London Opera House
One enters London Opera House wide-eyed as it is one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful theatre in the world. The multi-storey theater with iconic red curtains, along with yellow lights is stunning even without any performance. I watched La Traviata, an Italian play, with a friend of mine and was blown away by the acting and singing of the actors who were ably assisted by a live orchestra.

4. London-ess: A Different way of speaking  

London felt like a truly cosmopolitan city. Even a small walk around the block to get coffee was quite revealing. I had to cross a Turkish barbershop that promised a traditional Turkish haircut, an African souvenir store that showcased stylish wigs, a Californian place that served Mexican cuisine, an English breakfast place that served "the best fish and chips" before I arrive at my coffee shop. During my walk, I would overhear people speaking in English interspersed with other languages that I invariably fail to recognize.

I failed to appreciate how different an English accent sounded from say, an American accent until I heard everyone around me speak it. Every time I overheard the thick English accent, a tinge of electricity would surge through my ear — not strong enough to decapitate me but enough to raise my hair for a millisecond.

The thick accent, however, was duly compensated with politeness. I heard Sir, Madam, and Darling more often in 10 days in London than in 2.5 years in the US. One incident aptly captured this trait. I was waiting for the bus at the bus stop when I heard someone from behind say, “Dear sir, I would be grateful if you could spare a pound for me.” I turned around and saw a disheveled man with a torn jumper and blue jeans sitting cross-legged holding a placard. It took a moment for me to connect the man to the words he just spoke. Despite the lack of money, he had an abundance in politeness. 

5. Pubs, Beer & Football 

Beer pubs in London are like chai tapris (tea shops) in India — with hordes of people discussing politics and sports over a drink. As the evening arrives, irrespective of the day, people gather outside a pub, hold a mug of beer and chatter incessantly.

The pubs have a disarming atmosphere. Unlike in the US or India, one can simply enter the pub, find a place to sit, and watch football on the large screen. Nobody bothers you. Nobody expects you to order. No one bothers to check your identification. Everyone is transfixed by the football match. Every spectator is a football pundit and provides free expertise to anyone willing to listen. And the collective exhilaration of a goal and sighs of missed opportunity is a sight to behold. 

6. London icons

Red Buses
It is impossible to talk about London without discussing its excellent public transportation. The key part of public transportation is the iconic double-decker red buses. It evoked the child in me when I first entered the bus. I immediately climbed to the upper deck and sat on the front seat.

Red Telephone Box
The red telephone box is to London what the appendix is to the human body. It may have been useful sometime back but not anymore. But would I advocate for removing them? Of course not. It reminds us of the time when calling people without prior notice was called…calling (and not cold-calling).

Black Cabs/ Hackney Carriage
The traditional black cabs are iconic vehicles of London. My friend and I decided to go back home in a black cab. Three things about it surprised me. First, the doors are inverted and it is spacious inside. The one we took could accommodate up to six people. Second, you simply sit inside the cab. Unlike India autos, there is no interview process where the driver has to approve your destination before allowing you to board. Third, the drivers of black cabs have an impressive knowledge of London roads. The driver didn’t use Google Maps to figure out our final destination.

7. Best Stadium in the world

I visited the Wembley — the iconic stadium that has hosted memorable sports and non-sports events — one day before the Liverpool vs Manchester City FA cup semi-final match. We visited the dressing rooms of players, the press conference room, the museum, the technical area, and the ground and the royal box.

The tour guide explained the history of the stadium, the decorum of the royal box (like the dress code, repress emotions, how to clap, etc), and some interesting facts. The most important one is that Wembley stadium contains the maximum number of toilets for any stadium in the world. This comes as little surprise given the amount of beer British people consume. 

The tour guide, while knowledgeable, made an unforgivable mistake when he stated, “Wembley stadium is the greatest stadium in the whole world.” He was obviously wrong. I was about to visit the greatest stadium the following day.

7. The Actual Best Stadium in the world

Lord’s cricket ground, known as the Mecca of cricket, has a distinct aura when one enters the stadium. As Indians, we remember Kapil Dev lifting the world cup in 1983 and the famous shirtless celebration by Ganguly. But it was also the ground where Graham Gooch scored 333 against India after Kiran More dropped a sitter on 36 — one of the costliest dropped catches of all time. 

First, we visited the museum which contained the original Ashes Urn, 1983 ICC Prudential Cup, among other trophies and memorabilia. Next, we visited the pavilion from where the batters make their way to the ground. Later, as we walked upstairs towards the changing rooms, we walked past the walls adorned with paintings of famous cricketers — from shirtless Lara, cigar-smoking Botham, charismatic Warne to larger-than-life Sir Vivian Richards.

As we made our way to the dressing rooms, we saw the famous board of honor engraved with cricketers who either scored 100 or took five wickets in an innings. People remember Tendulkar’s omission. But I was more disappointed at the omission of my two favorite cricketers — Shane Warne and Brian Charles Lara. 

8. Greatest Band in the world

From the greatest stadium to the greatest band — The Beatles. Abbey Road was the Beatles’ last recorded album and my favorite Beatles album. The road and studio are about a 10-minute walk from the Lord’s Cricket Ground.

Although The Beatles disbanded more than 50 years ago, Beatlemania was on full display when I reached Abbey Road. People would pretend to cross the road to recreate the album cover to the chagrin of vehicles. Pedestrians wouldn’t move until they clicked their picture. It reminded me of cows on Indian roads that occupy the center of the road and move only after they are done with their business.

 9. Things that Bothered Me

Inverted Bus Stops
There were a couple of things that bothered me — none more than the inverted bus stops. When I first saw an inverted bus stop, I chuckled at the mistake. But as I traveled across London, I saw several instances of inverted bus stands. By my estimation (limited sample size), at least one out of every five bus stands was inverted. Is it to protect the people from wind? Incompetence by the authorities? Or a cruel joke? 

I researched and found out that it was due to the narrow width of the pavement. But as you can see in the picture below, this explanation holds little water.

Traffic Signals
Traditional traffic signals go from red-yellow-green. Each color had a purpose. Red color indicates to stop the car, yellow indicates to start your engine, and green indicates to start moving. In modern times, many cities have done away with yellow signals since engines need not be turned on. In other words, traffic signals go from red to green directly. In London, however, a yellow signal still exists much to my consternation.

London Bridge
One of the first rhymes I learned in my childhood was, ‘London Bridge is falling down…falling down…falling down.’ Since then, London Bridge has been etched in my memory. I was extremely excited to finally visit it. Last year, I visited the Golden Gate Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge and marveled at its beauty. But I assumed London Bridge would be the icing on the cake. But when I reached the London Bridge, it was nothing like what I had fantasized about. It was just…a bridge in London over the Thames river. The only saving grace for the London Bridge was that it provided a good view of the Tower Bridge. I plan to start a petition to change the words of the nursery rhyme to, ‘London Bridge will let you down…let you down…let you down.’

Names & Pronunciation
Londoners need a class on phonetics. The pronunciations of certain places are befuddling. For example, how would you say the following: Southwark, Euston, or Chiswick? Try googling these places and find out for yourself.

10. The Best Part About London

Despite all the visits to places, the most important and valuable part of my London experience was meeting my friends. London felt like home thanks to my friends. As Robin Hobb said, “Home is people. Not a place. If you go back there after the people are gone, then all you can see is what is not there any more.”

The cherry on top was meeting my friend’s 18-month-old mischievous and endearing son, Rudi. Here is his first of many masterpieces and my thoughts on it.

Bachchon ke chhote hathon ko chand sitare chhune do
chaar kitaben padh kar ye bhi hum jaise ho jaenge - Nida Fazli

Let little fingers of children reach for moon and stars
If they start reading books, they will become like us.