Through my window, I see the remains of snow on the street – still loitering around after 4 days of rain and sun. I had been waiting for it to snow the entire winter and it was finally here last Saturday – though only for a night.
We were out that day at Oxford Street – doing more or less our weekendly ritual of shopping-movie-dinner. Having read the weather forecast, I was expecting it to be snowing when we came out after watching Agneepath – but to my disappointment it wasn’t, there was just a light drizzle which is no surprise in this city. It was time for dinner and we decided to try out one of the place I had recently read about. As we walked through the fascinating back-streets of Soho, the water drops gradually started turning into snowflakes!
Walking in the snow, we reached the restaurant, which serves and is named after Korean signature dish – Bibimbap – which is essentially mixed rice with vegetables/meat. Fortunately we got the corner table overlooking the street so that I could feast my eyes as well. The food was ideal for a cold night as Bibimbap is served in a hot stone bowl, a bowl so hot that it converts a raw egg into a perfectly fried one in front of your eyes on your table! All through the meal I was eyeing, along with the snow, the shop just opposite the restaurant and I knew that I will be going there as soon as we finish paying the bill. And a gelato shop it was!
Having picked a cone of Mango sorbet for myself, we started our journey towards the station – and did I mention it was still snowing? The road that we were taking for the station was closed due to road works and hence we had to take a detour, which bought us to the Soho square garden. We stopped there to click a few photos of the lovely sight that it was – and were approached by a young lady who invited us inside the St Patrick’s Church, which was open for the night for some special prayers. The church looked so inviting from outside with the warm glow of all the candles inside that we decided to go in.
The lady guided us inside the Church and gave us a pen and a slip of paper to write down our wish. We then went to the altar where we lighted a candle and placed our wish. A choir was present, singing some lovely carols; and a priest too, listening to people’s confessions. We sat there for some time, paid our respect, came out experiencing something so blissful and then took the train home. I loved walking on the snow covered street on the way back home, continuously watching my shoe prints on the otherwise blank canvas. There is something so magical, so pure about the whiteness that snow brings and maybe that’s why I just love it.
P.S: I recently learnt that no two snowflakes are alike and each single one of them has a unique intricate design
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
1st Feb 2012
A month already in to the New Year and things has just been alright. It has started to get cold now after amazingly mild winters we had until now – a welcome surprise. It was so mild compared to previous decades that it had actually confused the plants, giving them a false early start. And now it is just one more month for the spring, officially at least, when the charming pansies start appearing all over the city.
I started a new job this year as well but sadly I am not enjoying the work-from-home arrangement this time. How I managed it for 3 years the first time around has become a mystery to me. It’s so hard to discipline myself to follow a proper 9-5 routine and I find myself bored to death at times. Maybe, I am at a point in my life where I don’t want to work just for money – the importance of money has somehow declined for me. My materialistic urges were never that strong; solitaires being the only exception to them.
In 2002, I had blown all the money that I had saved from a very young age to buy my first solitaire – a pair of studs. It was an amazing feeling to own something so precious for the first time in life! I got hooked on to them and bought myself a ring the very next year on my birthday with all the profits I made in the stock market. That day I decided that I will upgrade the solitaire every year on my birthday and did so with my salary for the next 2 years. That ring is one of my most cherished possessions - a sign of independence, despite having stopped buying solitaires after watching a gory documentary about blood diamonds.
Although I am not enjoying it, there could be nothing more perfect for me at this time. I am glad to have something to do to keep my mind busy for the coming two months, which are going to be tough. I am excited about the prospect but at the same time feeling a bit scared.
I started a new job this year as well but sadly I am not enjoying the work-from-home arrangement this time. How I managed it for 3 years the first time around has become a mystery to me. It’s so hard to discipline myself to follow a proper 9-5 routine and I find myself bored to death at times. Maybe, I am at a point in my life where I don’t want to work just for money – the importance of money has somehow declined for me. My materialistic urges were never that strong; solitaires being the only exception to them.
In 2002, I had blown all the money that I had saved from a very young age to buy my first solitaire – a pair of studs. It was an amazing feeling to own something so precious for the first time in life! I got hooked on to them and bought myself a ring the very next year on my birthday with all the profits I made in the stock market. That day I decided that I will upgrade the solitaire every year on my birthday and did so with my salary for the next 2 years. That ring is one of my most cherished possessions - a sign of independence, despite having stopped buying solitaires after watching a gory documentary about blood diamonds.
Although I am not enjoying it, there could be nothing more perfect for me at this time. I am glad to have something to do to keep my mind busy for the coming two months, which are going to be tough. I am excited about the prospect but at the same time feeling a bit scared.
Thursday, 5 January 2012
05th Jan 2012
Tomorrow will be my last day in this college; the past six months have been good but now is the time to move on. I really enjoyed working here and will surely miss this place. Will surely miss walking past the church each day and the local flower shop just outside it. Will surely miss shielding my eyes each day at 12, just when the sun appeared outside my window forcing me to draw the blinds. Will surely miss being amused by the circular emails used to recruit volunteers for all kind of studies –from removing wisdom tooth to inducing musical hallucinations. Above all will surely miss working on a project which had a 0.1 % chance of survival and was doomed to be a failure but was successfully resuscitated by the amazing team.
Obviously there are also things that I will not miss, like leaving my duvet and warm bed early morning, like taking the underground in the rush hour, like having sandwich for lunch every day, like being confined to the 9-5 timing, like returning home tired, like postponing all personal things until the weekend. I will be able to avoid all of these when I start my new project from Monday, which will have me working from home. I am going back to the project from which I started my career in this country – and what a break it was - and coincidently I will be working with the person who took my first interview almost five years back – and what a day it was. It was the day when India was playing Sri Lanka to keep its place in the Cricket world cup and the first time I travelled to London alone.
Everything seemed so crowded, so confusing, so overwhelming. I remember feeling lost in the streets not knowing what to do or where to go; it was raining as always (I didn’t know the importance of umbrella back then) and I was getting soaked. I didn’t know if the clothes I had bought were right for the interview, I didn’t know if I would be able to understand the accent of the interviewers (though I was relieved by the fact that one of them had an Indian name), I didn’t know if my previous workex would be sufficient here, all I knew was that this was the only interview call I managed to get after three months of frantic job search and I wanted it bad.
Five minutes in the interview and I realised that I wasn’t very far off from what’s expected and that I can do it. Thankfully I didn’t realise at that time that this was once in a lifetime opportunity and that my future colleagues would all have decades of experience compared to the months that I had under my belt. But things went well and I left the interview feeling confident. A week later I got the offer which I readily accepted and thus started my first job, which lasted for almost three wonderful years. I am going back to the same organisation and really looking forward to refresh many such fond memories.
P.S: I somehow started to hate cricket after that day!
Obviously there are also things that I will not miss, like leaving my duvet and warm bed early morning, like taking the underground in the rush hour, like having sandwich for lunch every day, like being confined to the 9-5 timing, like returning home tired, like postponing all personal things until the weekend. I will be able to avoid all of these when I start my new project from Monday, which will have me working from home. I am going back to the project from which I started my career in this country – and what a break it was - and coincidently I will be working with the person who took my first interview almost five years back – and what a day it was. It was the day when India was playing Sri Lanka to keep its place in the Cricket world cup and the first time I travelled to London alone.
Everything seemed so crowded, so confusing, so overwhelming. I remember feeling lost in the streets not knowing what to do or where to go; it was raining as always (I didn’t know the importance of umbrella back then) and I was getting soaked. I didn’t know if the clothes I had bought were right for the interview, I didn’t know if I would be able to understand the accent of the interviewers (though I was relieved by the fact that one of them had an Indian name), I didn’t know if my previous workex would be sufficient here, all I knew was that this was the only interview call I managed to get after three months of frantic job search and I wanted it bad.
Five minutes in the interview and I realised that I wasn’t very far off from what’s expected and that I can do it. Thankfully I didn’t realise at that time that this was once in a lifetime opportunity and that my future colleagues would all have decades of experience compared to the months that I had under my belt. But things went well and I left the interview feeling confident. A week later I got the offer which I readily accepted and thus started my first job, which lasted for almost three wonderful years. I am going back to the same organisation and really looking forward to refresh many such fond memories.
P.S: I somehow started to hate cricket after that day!
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
03rd Jan 2012
Festive holidays have come to an end and I am now all charged up for the New Year. Saw the Christmassy window displays, heard carols at Fortnum and Masons, decorated my pseudo Christmas tree, played scrabble , made full use of the cineworld card and did lot of vegetating at home – in short it was a very good break.
Did a lot of socialising in the past few weeks, met old friends and some new ones as well. Had all sorts of get-together – from a formal 4 course Christmas meal to the finger food at a surprise birthday party. We also had a Christmas get-together at our place for which I made Chinese food and Cherry pie, which is currently my favourite dessert. I actually enjoy cooking and do not find it difficult at all unlike most of the people I know. After the party clean-up we tried to make good use of the Boxing Day sales and bought a few bargains. I actually hated shopping until recently but gradually have started enjoying it, even the jam-packed oxford street.
We did a lot of fun things too, my first experience at the ice rink for instance. I realised that it doesn’t hurt to fall in the rink; I only managed to fall twice out of my allotted limit of 12 - not because I was a good skater but unfortunately because I was too cautious. We also hired a car for a few days and explored the countryside; be it sun or rain, this country never fails to impress with its hidden villages, stone houses, thatched roofs, ancient cathedrals and the moving white dots on lush green fields. And there is a genuine reason why the DVLA theory test asks question such as, ‘what would you do if there is a horse on the road’.
So the year ended well – but somehow I feel that 2011 just passed by without me actually having lived it. There was so much more I could have done, so much more I could have learned, so much more I could have experienced – but then that’s what 2012 is here for.
Did a lot of socialising in the past few weeks, met old friends and some new ones as well. Had all sorts of get-together – from a formal 4 course Christmas meal to the finger food at a surprise birthday party. We also had a Christmas get-together at our place for which I made Chinese food and Cherry pie, which is currently my favourite dessert. I actually enjoy cooking and do not find it difficult at all unlike most of the people I know. After the party clean-up we tried to make good use of the Boxing Day sales and bought a few bargains. I actually hated shopping until recently but gradually have started enjoying it, even the jam-packed oxford street.
We did a lot of fun things too, my first experience at the ice rink for instance. I realised that it doesn’t hurt to fall in the rink; I only managed to fall twice out of my allotted limit of 12 - not because I was a good skater but unfortunately because I was too cautious. We also hired a car for a few days and explored the countryside; be it sun or rain, this country never fails to impress with its hidden villages, stone houses, thatched roofs, ancient cathedrals and the moving white dots on lush green fields. And there is a genuine reason why the DVLA theory test asks question such as, ‘what would you do if there is a horse on the road’.
So the year ended well – but somehow I feel that 2011 just passed by without me actually having lived it. There was so much more I could have done, so much more I could have learned, so much more I could have experienced – but then that’s what 2012 is here for.
Friday, 16 December 2011
16th Dec 2011
Really frustrated with my job at the moment – hopefully I can resist the temptation to resign for five more days. No, things will not change after that, but at least I will get a must deserved break when the college closes for Christmas next week. Things are really irritating - the unrealistic project plan, the legacy to be borne, the ‘lessons learned’, the yesterday’s deadlines, the cribbings, the resignations, the new appointments – the endless list.
Office this week has been a madhouse to say the least. Try telling a person with strings of alphabets attached to their name that they may have got things wrong! Now imagine a room full of such people and the client constantly nitpicking on their work. Now further imagine that it’s for a project which has been thrusted upon the Sheldon Coopers of my college. So, now you really know what I am talking about. With all the jibber-jabber that goes on, no wonder paracetamols have taken the place of wine gums in my office!
All the cribbing apart, it’s indeed fun coming to office every day - in freezing winters, blowing cold white air, wrapped in layers, knee boots, muffler, gloves, hat and a red nose. And after a long day in office, the same Christmas lights in the streets surprise me each day. So does that guy distributing the Evening Standard at the traffic lights – ever so smiling, ever so courteous, always handing it to me with a ‘here you go young lady’. All this week, there have been various groups singing Carols in the station - the music is lovely and festive no doubt, but it’s their Santa Claus hats that liven up everything around for me.
Christmas is in the air everywhere– you can see the excitement on everyone’s faces – along with their shopping bags. There is so much to look forward to in the next couple of weeks – I am all excited. But why does this feel like my first Christmas in the city? Hmm, let me think: 2006 – Watford but a stranger, 2007 – Switzerland but sick, 2008 – India, 2009 – India, 2010 – in city but sad, 2011 – in city and really looking forward to it!
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Office this week has been a madhouse to say the least. Try telling a person with strings of alphabets attached to their name that they may have got things wrong! Now imagine a room full of such people and the client constantly nitpicking on their work. Now further imagine that it’s for a project which has been thrusted upon the Sheldon Coopers of my college. So, now you really know what I am talking about. With all the jibber-jabber that goes on, no wonder paracetamols have taken the place of wine gums in my office!
All the cribbing apart, it’s indeed fun coming to office every day - in freezing winters, blowing cold white air, wrapped in layers, knee boots, muffler, gloves, hat and a red nose. And after a long day in office, the same Christmas lights in the streets surprise me each day. So does that guy distributing the Evening Standard at the traffic lights – ever so smiling, ever so courteous, always handing it to me with a ‘here you go young lady’. All this week, there have been various groups singing Carols in the station - the music is lovely and festive no doubt, but it’s their Santa Claus hats that liven up everything around for me.
Christmas is in the air everywhere– you can see the excitement on everyone’s faces – along with their shopping bags. There is so much to look forward to in the next couple of weeks – I am all excited. But why does this feel like my first Christmas in the city? Hmm, let me think: 2006 – Watford but a stranger, 2007 – Switzerland but sick, 2008 – India, 2009 – India, 2010 – in city but sad, 2011 – in city and really looking forward to it!
.
Friday, 9 December 2011
9th Dec 2011
Today is the last day of one of my colleague, who was my ex-project manager and before that my client – that’s freelancers club for you. But different projects also mean working with new people all the time, like this American guy who joined us this week. First real contact with a person across the pond – my first impression – I prefer Brit colleagues. Yes even with their peculiar sense of humour and sarcasms, which is as mystifying to me today as it was five years ago - even after watching repeat episodes of Little Britain!
Anyways, so we went for drinks yesterday evening to ensure that his last day in office would be as productive as possible with a little help from the hangover. I usually get bored during such outings, but yesterday I actually enjoyed myself and felt alright. Honestly, I do not really understand what’s being said most of the time due to the music and accent. But such outings become totally worthwhile when you actually hear things like, ‘my children, her children and our children are going to the museum this weekend – to have some family time you know.’ Or when the new joiner tells the manager ‘I am keeping my options open as I took a cutback when I joined’ and the manager smiles ever so politely and offers an encouraging nod.
So after an evening of office gossip, I headed back home in the gusty wind. Apparently, the winds were so strong yesterday night that a wind turbine, further north, caught fire and ended with blackened blades (source: morning Metro). So, I came out of the tube station, fumbled through by bag for the oyster card, touched out, pulled out the umbrella, fumbled again for my mobile, only to realise that I had left it in the office. Now me and my husband always catch up on our respective day while walking home from the tube station – 99 out of 100 times it’s me who is at home and 28 out of 99 times I cannot talk as I am in the kitchen cooking and 18 out of (99-28) times I cannot talk as I am in middle of my daily dose of Indian soap opera. But the remaining 99-28-18 times we do catch up! So today was going to be that 1 out of 1 day where I would have called and couldn’t.
And then I see the long forgotten phone booth just outside the tube station – in fact two of them. I have seen lots of people using the phone booths before but never for making calls; it just features in their holiday pictures –a proof of having done one of the most important things in the to-do list. I fumbled my bag again, this time for coins, and made the call. Coincidently I used the phone booth on the very same day that I mentioned not using payphones any longer. Was it a coincidence or did I actually see the phone booth only because I remembered it in the morning? By the way I now know why people don’t use phone booths any longer and am thankful for that :)
Anyways, so we went for drinks yesterday evening to ensure that his last day in office would be as productive as possible with a little help from the hangover. I usually get bored during such outings, but yesterday I actually enjoyed myself and felt alright. Honestly, I do not really understand what’s being said most of the time due to the music and accent. But such outings become totally worthwhile when you actually hear things like, ‘my children, her children and our children are going to the museum this weekend – to have some family time you know.’ Or when the new joiner tells the manager ‘I am keeping my options open as I took a cutback when I joined’ and the manager smiles ever so politely and offers an encouraging nod.
So after an evening of office gossip, I headed back home in the gusty wind. Apparently, the winds were so strong yesterday night that a wind turbine, further north, caught fire and ended with blackened blades (source: morning Metro). So, I came out of the tube station, fumbled through by bag for the oyster card, touched out, pulled out the umbrella, fumbled again for my mobile, only to realise that I had left it in the office. Now me and my husband always catch up on our respective day while walking home from the tube station – 99 out of 100 times it’s me who is at home and 28 out of 99 times I cannot talk as I am in the kitchen cooking and 18 out of (99-28) times I cannot talk as I am in middle of my daily dose of Indian soap opera. But the remaining 99-28-18 times we do catch up! So today was going to be that 1 out of 1 day where I would have called and couldn’t.
And then I see the long forgotten phone booth just outside the tube station – in fact two of them. I have seen lots of people using the phone booths before but never for making calls; it just features in their holiday pictures –a proof of having done one of the most important things in the to-do list. I fumbled my bag again, this time for coins, and made the call. Coincidently I used the phone booth on the very same day that I mentioned not using payphones any longer. Was it a coincidence or did I actually see the phone booth only because I remembered it in the morning? By the way I now know why people don’t use phone booths any longer and am thankful for that :)
Thursday, 8 December 2011
Random diary entry
8th Dec 2011
I was infuriated in the morning when Jubilee line was suspended, which meant that I couldn’t reach office on time. There was an alternate route of course; maybe that’s why tfl delays/suspends services regularly without any feeling of shame, regret or guilt.
Having spent around 20 minutes seated - a luxury few elite experience in the morning madness, I got to read the Metro end-to-end. I simply love the Metro – just enough for every type of reader. Now when I say every, I of course do not include my husband’s ex-boss, who would rather cut-off his limbs than take pleasure in the day-to-day lives of mere mortals. The most interesting article today was on 50 daily tasks, which are now extinct thanks to our addiction to technology. Sadly there was nothing on that list for which I could say, ‘don’t generalise people, I still do this’. Not even for using payphones, which were an essential way of pacifying mom, in far past, that I am not up to any mischief and just need to attend those extra classes ;)
So I reached Temple, no not the sanctuary of gods and goddesses but the tube station by that name. (I wanted to know why it’s so called – searched Google/Wikipedia – got tangled in the knight Templers, temple bars, zillion other links – finally gave up and accepted being naive.) Had it been a new station and new route, it would be a perfect opportunity to reach office just in time for lunch. Yes, my sense of direction is that bad even after 5 years in this city! But thankfully, I had been here one Saturday night not so long ago on a splurge trip.
I climbed the 64 steps (don’t know when it started but I always count steps as I climb) to the Waterloo Bridge and started walking across. That is when it struck me for the umpteenth time – damn I love this city. It was gorgeous- the nip in the air, the light drizzle, the river, the clock, the eye, the red bus, the old and the new - all spread out over one breathtaking expanse. Loved every minute of that walk this morning – and now here I am in the office seeing computers, files, phones and deadlines. Alas that’s life! But I suppose, you need to see this aspect of life to appreciate the other aspects...
I was infuriated in the morning when Jubilee line was suspended, which meant that I couldn’t reach office on time. There was an alternate route of course; maybe that’s why tfl delays/suspends services regularly without any feeling of shame, regret or guilt.
Having spent around 20 minutes seated - a luxury few elite experience in the morning madness, I got to read the Metro end-to-end. I simply love the Metro – just enough for every type of reader. Now when I say every, I of course do not include my husband’s ex-boss, who would rather cut-off his limbs than take pleasure in the day-to-day lives of mere mortals. The most interesting article today was on 50 daily tasks, which are now extinct thanks to our addiction to technology. Sadly there was nothing on that list for which I could say, ‘don’t generalise people, I still do this’. Not even for using payphones, which were an essential way of pacifying mom, in far past, that I am not up to any mischief and just need to attend those extra classes ;)
So I reached Temple, no not the sanctuary of gods and goddesses but the tube station by that name. (I wanted to know why it’s so called – searched Google/Wikipedia – got tangled in the knight Templers, temple bars, zillion other links – finally gave up and accepted being naive.) Had it been a new station and new route, it would be a perfect opportunity to reach office just in time for lunch. Yes, my sense of direction is that bad even after 5 years in this city! But thankfully, I had been here one Saturday night not so long ago on a splurge trip.
I climbed the 64 steps (don’t know when it started but I always count steps as I climb) to the Waterloo Bridge and started walking across. That is when it struck me for the umpteenth time – damn I love this city. It was gorgeous- the nip in the air, the light drizzle, the river, the clock, the eye, the red bus, the old and the new - all spread out over one breathtaking expanse. Loved every minute of that walk this morning – and now here I am in the office seeing computers, files, phones and deadlines. Alas that’s life! But I suppose, you need to see this aspect of life to appreciate the other aspects...
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