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...