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.
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