(normandy) tower of london and tower bridge:

for photographs please visit http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/mlkesarwani/NormandayTowerOfLondon

science museum:

for information please log on to http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/ and for photographs please visit http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/ScienceMuseum

happy birthday to you, papa:

i am glad to share the photos of the occasion. please visit http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/HappyBirthdayToYou

imperial war museum:

britain had been an active player during the first world war (1914-18) and the second world war (1939-44). the technological developments during the early twentieth century made the warfare a complex and costly affair. every new invention was geared to the military ambitions. the museum exhibits war efforts of britain, its allied partners and the enemies. it also showcases the life during and after the war. it has a special section to honour Montgomery or Monty, the great hero of the second world war. it also acknowledges that even after two great wars the peace still seems elusive. while some international disputes have been successfully resolved, the others still remain. such disputes largely owe their origin to the realities of the colonial world or to the new found importance of petroleum in the modern warfare as well as economic progress.

the museum also acknowledges the contributions made by the subjects of its colonies in the wartime mobilisation. it is really heart-warming that the britain also acknowledged its racial discrimination against the black in the past. it has display of the photograph of a sardar havaldar from india and also that of nelson mendela of south africa. but i regret the museum has not given space to one more great war, which was being fought in india under the leadership of mahatma gandhi. if the ultimate objective of all the wars in the past was to seek an enduring peace, then only the war fought by the indian nation against its colonial rulers under the able leadership of mahatma gandhi could achieve its objective and paved the course for other countries elsewhere including south africa.

the museum has also showcased the involvement of britain's army in the post-second world war era in various countries. at one place it has also raised the problem of terrorism and how it is affecting the freedom of the individuals.

for photographs please visit http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/ImperialWarMuseum

the metro, the london paper, london lite:

the metro (www.metr.co.uk) is a morninger and the london paper (http://www.thelondonpaper.com/) and london lite (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/) are eveningers educating and entertaining the commuters to london on train and to the passers by on the footpaths of london. they sensationalise (or create awareness how to avoid or deal with the growing problems of an urban life?) crimes or other mishappenings. they are full of news about celebrities, lifestyles, sports, and little about politics and business affecting the masses. they make the commuters divert their attention from the rigours of daily fatigue of train or bus journey by providing columns for puzzles, crosswordsl, sudoku, comic strips, etc. they have the daily dose of london's weather forecast, tv and radio programmes on various channels, film shows at various cinema halls, etc. the papers also provide blank space where you can doodle. they also help the lonely hearts to find their mates, which can be for fun, friendship to long term partnership or marriage. they can also help you find your love if you happened to lose before you could know the name or other details. the publication is from monday to friday. the publication is fully supported by the advertisements and the distribution is free of cost.

madame tussauds museum:

madame tussauds museum has acquired a place of landmark in london. having lost her parents, she joined as an assistant to a wax artist in france. after a long association of over twenty years, she happened to be bequeathed with the creations of her master as a gift. the circumstances made her to travel to the britain. she took her exhibition from place to place to earn her livelihood as well as create new wax figures. lastly she put all her creations in a house at baker street, londonl, where she herself charged one shilling from each of the visitors. before her death she created her own wax statue. the art was further promoted and the museum carried on by her children. now the museum is professionally run as a business enterprise while promoting the art of wax statue making. while madame tussauds worked on the basis of the photographs/drawings of a person, the modern tools include taking more than two hundred measurements, matching the original skin and hair colours, using natural hair in the statue, etc. it is truely said that a person is not famous (whether for right or wrong reasons) till he gets a place in the madame tussaus museum. for photographs, please visit http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/MadameTussaudsMuseum

british airways london's eye:

when it is a clear sky, a ride on the british airways london's eye wheel is a beautiful experience. it gives a very panoramic view of the heart of london city. the wheel is a specimen of modern engineering. the most beautiful thing is that a memorial stone has been erected to remember the chief engineer who conceived the idea and gave it a shape. for the photographs, please visit the link http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/mlkesarwani/LondonSEyeBritishAirwaysLondonSEye

swami narayan temple:



wami narayan temple at neasden in london is worth visiting. swami narayan sect has a large following in gujarat, india. its devotees are spread worldwide and they have contributed very generously to build masterpiece structures devoted to their guru swami narayan. it can be reached more easily from the railway station on the london tube or the underground railways. there we could see the families whose third generation was now living in the u.k. for photographs please visit http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/SwaminarayanTemple

st. paul's cathedral:





st paul's cathedral is visited by a large number of people from across the world every day. there had been a cathedral devoted to st paul at its site since 604 a.d. and the present one is the fourth constructed after the previous one was destroyed in the great london fire of 1666. its architect was sir christopher wren. the building is very magnificient. its dome is one of the largest among the cathedrals of the world. though it is a place of worship, it has honoured a few of the britain's national heroes by giving them a place in its crypt (the cathedral's burial chamber in the basement) or erecting their statues or putting up a memorial chapel. in my view it shows how the religion looks at the people who have contributed to the great history of the nation. the crypt holds the tombs of lord nelson, duke of wellington, florence nightingale, painter j m w turner, poet william blake and architect sir christopher wren. among the several statues placed in the cathedral were those of the military leaders of east india company, who fought the war of oudh in lucknow, india, and a judge of the high court of bengal and lord cornwallis, who died in ghazeepur while moving to take charge in bengal. please visit http://www.stpauls.co.uk/ for details and for my photographs, please visit http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/StPaulSCathedral

street hoardings:

it is very rare to see an advertisement hoarding on the streets except the hoardings on the telephone booths installed on the footpaths. i have taken a photograph of an advertisement hoarding.

a sweeper's armoury:

a sweeper here is seen carrying a lot of tools with him to clean the floor or street. this can be seen in the picture alongside.

i have seen lot many machines being used for scavenging. they all consume energy but make the operation hands free. they minimise the time of operation too. with less manpower they help maintain the quality of work also. mechanised vacuum cleaning of streets also takes place. mechanised vacuum cleaning of streets also takes place.

all bins are duly lined with the garbage bag. the householders as well as offfices are using garbage bags. they are properly fastened with tapes so they same do not litter.

public toilets:

i have seen two types of toilets: one free and the other paid. while free toilets are maintained very neat and clean, the paid ones have no parallel. the latter have facilities like toilet paper, liquid soap, electric dryers, hangers for coat etc. using a paid toilet was an experience. the paid toilets are inspected frequently at designated hours and record is maintained.

even in shopping malls the toilets are maintained very neat and clean. they always carry a display board that if any user finds it dissatisfactory, he may draw the attention of a member of the management of the mall. same is the case with the toilets in the hospitals. the toilets also have a baby station for change of the nappies.

it appears that the maintenance of the toilets whether public or private has been given to a third party.

london buses:

buses of london are an identity of london. they are painted in bright red colour. they are always maintained very tidy. you will see no dents and no scratches but for this the city's traffic discipline is very largely responsible. generally buses have only driver who controls opening and closing of doors. cctv cameras are fitted to prevent crimes on the buses. commuters generally have smart cards to pay the fare. you have to pay more if you buy ticket in cash either from the bus conductors or from the vending machines installed adjacent to the bus stops. smart cards are also available for composite journey using bus, train and tram. fare structure is very simple. you pay a flat amount irrespective of distance. normally buses do not take you very long distances. daily, weekly and monthly passes are also available for which you pay a lump sum and can board and de-board any number of times. some passes are issued with reference to the geographical aeas known as zones. more the number of zones you travel accross, higher the fare for the passes.

a few bus stations are architecturally very beautiful. the bus stops are very typical in look. they display the route chart of buses, timings and frequency. an area may have several stops. various stops in an area are denoted by alphabets. the route chart on the bus stop has an inset depicting various stops in the area. very little area of the bus stop structure carries display of the advertisement.

it is very seldom that a passenger is checked for his ticket. if a driver has any doubt, he too has an authorit to challenge a passenger.

the buses have space for accommodating prams. for de-boarding at a request stop, a passenger has to press the button provided in the bus. some buses are double deckers. at present only a few buses have electronic display as well as announcement system for the destination and the next bus stop.

i have also seen change of the driver en route and this did not take more than two minutes. the system is very efficient and electronically controlled. the driver has to be either punctual or be marked absent.

www.transportforlondon.co.uk:

this website is of great help in planning your journey in london. it helps you choose mode of transport and timings to your advantage. you have to select starting point, destination point, departure time and give your preferences regarding mode of transport and indicate any constraints like mobility etc. you will have various alternative routes you can take and the approximate time of your journey.

photographs (uploaded without commentary)

journey by train: http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/RailwayJourneyLondon
trafalgar square/national gallery: http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/TrafalgarSquareAndNationalGallery
westminster/big ben: http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/WestminsterAndBigBen
canary wharf: http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/CanaryWharfLondon
piccadilly circus: http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/PiccadillyCircus
british museum: http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/BriishMuseumLondon
lakeside mall: http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/LakesideMallEastLondon
stratford: http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/StratfordEastLondon
shell's uk office: http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/ShellSOfficeLondon
miscellaneous photogaphs: http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/MiscellaneousPhotosLondonVisit

swati.kapol.romir.tandon

let us share the joys we have while romir tandon, our younger daughter's son, is in canada with his parents. while a few photographs are given hereunder, for full album please visit http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/SwatiKapolRomirTandon

barking, havering and redbridge hospitals

barking, havering and redbridge hospitals: normally hospital is not a place to be on the itinerary of a tourist, and, therefore, is not expected to be a part of the memoir of a journey. however, mr vivek mai khare (mr khare, father-in-law of ashwini, and his wife ms mohini khare are also on tour to uk at the invitation of ashwini and shagun) got ill due to some infection. he had to contact the accident and emergency department of the barking, havering and redbridge hospitals at the old church, which is about one kilometer from our residence. when the treatment did not respond despite one week treatment as out-patient, he was admitted to the hospital on 19th june, 2008. he is being discharged today, the 26th june, 2008, and will need further treatment either in uk or when he returns to india. hence, this story on this blog.

uk has got a very good social security system and free medical facilities to a very large extent is available to its citizens and the persons on work permit. the tourists are not covered but are given emergency treatment. persons over 60 years of age are allowed free medicine even as out patient. once emergency is over, the treatment has to be paid for. therefore, it is advisable for tourists to have insurance cover.

the medical facilities are run as part of the national health scheme. nhs trust has been formed to manage the hospitals. patients have to be routed to the hospital through their general practitioners, who are private doctors working for the nhs. only in case of accident and emergency the patients can approach the hospital directly. therefore, the hospitals here are running twenty-four hour emergency. when gp's are not available as their clinics have closed, the patients are coming to the a&e department of the hospital and getting temporary treatment and are thereafter advised to go to the gp's unless they are admitted to the hospital in the meantime.

on arrival to the hospital, the patients are first enrolled and then referred to the triage nurse, who decides about the nature of emergency and accordingly divided into several groups like minor, majors and children. this facilitates severe emergencies to be tackled first. accidents and ailments requiring immediate attention like cardiac problem are labour pains are separately dealt with. that is why there is a separate entrances for maternity cases and accident cases.
ambulances and police vehicles have exclusive access to such entrances.

the cleanliness of the hospital is superb. this has been outsourced. they use lot of mechanical devices for sweeping, wet scrubbing, etc. in case of wet scrubbing, the water is automatically collected leaving the floor completely dry. the toilets are checked for their cleanliness at given intervals. the toilets are kept completely dry with the use of paper towels. glasses are also cleaned regularly. all the floors have eithr venyle flooring or carpet tiles.

beds of the patients are of very high quality and all arrangements have been made for oxygen supply and other needs of the patient. in a general ward, only four patients are kept in a room.
visitors are allowed only during 1430 hrs to 1930 hrs. there can be only two visitors at a time with the patients. the nurse-in-charge is able to enforce the discipline.

the patients are given food from the hospital. for the purpose, the hospital has an arrangement from a hotel. a menu card is given to the patient every day in the evening and he can choose the menu as per advice of the dietician. the breakfast, lunch and super is served at the appointed time. the super is interestingly served at arount 1730 hrs. tea, coffee, milk, ovaltine, chocolate drinks are, however, served every two hours. the patient can demand it as and when he likes but not after 1900 hrs.

i have found that the most of the visitors to the hospitals were children or the aged. no patient had any worry on his face. he was sure of getting the best possible treatment at no cost. the doctor will always first talk about the sickness to the patient only, if he is conscious. only with his consent, he will speak about his health to his family members or the outsiders. the patient's privacy is fully respected. the patients and their family members do not forget to place a thank you card at the desk of the doctor and at the nurse station.

special tv telephone and mobile phone facility are available in the hospital and can be availed through the nurse. newspaper is also vended through mobile trolley. pay phones and cold drink and chocolate vending machines are installed outside every ward. there is a food court, a restaurant and shop for general utilities on the ground floor just near the main entrance. an information desk manned by several persons is also there.

ashwini and shagun's rented flat:


I wish to let you have an understanding of the design and construction of the flat where we are staying in uk. it is flat number 40, malt house place, romford, rm1 1ar, essex, uk. it is in an area called brewery, where many malls and shops, including several banks, are located. the railway station is just 3 to 5 minute walk. several bus stops are also within the same distance. just moving out of the building gets you in the market area. so you never feel staying at a lonely place. there is a public library also at about 7 minute walk distance. nearest hospital is about a mile away. the area has a lot of restaurants and pubs. so on friday evenings it is mostly visited by the youngsters. as told earlier a local market of street vendors is also held on wedenesdays, fridays and saturdays.

the flat's construction is also unique in some respects as compared to my experience back home. the outer walls of the building is built of bricks but all inner walls are hollow and made of gypsum board with a gap of about four inches. there is no provision for ceiling fans. however, during summer people do feel need of a fan and, therefore, pedastal or table or wall mounted fans are being sold in the market. there is a provision for heating of the flat. such units are called radiators. all door and window frames have a groove fitted with a lining to stop dust. kitchen and drawing room are just one big hall. kitchen has an integrated unit to house oven, stove, heating unit, refrigerator, washing machine, cloth drying unit, chimney and shelves and drawers for storage. only one room has a niche for the cabinet. kitchen top is not made of marble or granite stone but some other material which has been laminated. its surface has to be protected from heated utensils. bath rooms are so built that they can be kept dry. the bath area has bath tub. the bath area is so protected by a sliding glass partition that during bath the water does not spill out. walls along the tub are lined with ceramic tiles. there is no open drain outlet. the bath room has venyle flooring. only wash basin has a water tap. one has to use toilet paper for personal hygeine after passing stool. special cotton rugs are used in the bath room to kept the area completely dry. all joints around utensil sinks, wash basins, toilet seats and bath tubs have been waterproofed by a special sealant. all rooms including bath rooms are fitted with radiators for heating. barring a small area adjacent to the kitchen unit and bath rooms, the whole floor is carpeted. all rooms have at least one side (excepting six inches from the floor level and six inches below the ceiling level and inclusive of doors and windows on that wall) fully glazed. it allows natural light as well as heat in plenty from the sunrays. one more thing, there are two panels of glass with a hollow space in between in each frame. the balcony is a steel fabrication hanging by iron ropes fixed to the wall. the bath room has exhaust fan probably of six inch dia and protected by grill on both ends of the duct. the rpm of the exhaust fan is quite high because one toilet, which does not have even a window, does not suffocate. the exhaust fan and the electric bulb in all bath rooms have a common switch. all electrical sockets for plugs along with the relative switches as also cable, telephone and broadband sockets are fixed on the walls at the height of two and half feet. the switches for the electric bulbs are fixed on the walls at the height of four and half feet. the plug tops have rectangular legs. a remarkable featire is that none of the flats has an intercom facility. there is a common area duly covered by wooden partitions where garbage trollies are kept. these trollies are carried to the truck and hooked therewith. the truck will lift the trolly and empty it. the building is maintained by a third party and its car parking area is administered by another third party. the flat is duplex type and a round wooden staircase connects the room on the upper floor. in uk people have an option to choose service providers for electricity, gas and telephone. the competition among service providers has ensured quality of service. water quality is so good that there is no need to have water purifier.

the building has enough of parking area with each flat having one slot. but there is no provision for parking of the guest's car. they will have to park their cars at a public car parking facility and pay for it.) the parking slots in the building are generally embedded with a foldable pole. the pole can be raised upward and locked after the owner has taken out his car.

you are invited to have a look in and around our residence at
http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/RomfordEastLondonUkResidence


natural history museum:

the museum deals with the birth of earth, its place in the solar system, evolution of life on the earth, place of human beings in this evolution, earthquakes and their role in widening our knowledge about the earth's inside, minerals and their uses, atmosphere and ecology, need for conserving natural resources for our future generations, global warming and saving the earth as we see it today. the museum has a piece of earth brought from the moon in its rare collections. also visit http://www.nhm.ac.uk/ . For my favourite photographs , please visit

http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/NaturalHistoryMuseumLondon

victoria and albert museum:


the museum is the world's greatest museum of art and design. it has galleries devoted to items of artistic and designer values from asia (covering china, islamic middle east, jakplan, korea, south asia and south-east asia) and europe each. the third gallery houses items based on the material and technique used and covers architecture, ceramics, glass, silver, iron, textiles, fashion, jewellery, prints, paintings, photography, musical instruments, etc. the fourth galllery is devoted to twentieth century articles including industrial products like typewriter, radio, transistor, laptop, which have value in terms of their design and art. shahjehan's wine cap and a sculpture of buddha's head were worth seeing. though present day technology does not have much space for the artwork, the gallery devoted to fashion clothing seemed too short of space and products. a remarkable absence in the fashion gallery was bra and bikini, history of which is not too old. of course, a gent's underwear was on display. also visit http://www.vam.ac.uk/ . my favourite photographs at http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/VictoriaAlbertMuseum

london aquarium:




london aquarium has its own speciality. it has different sections devoted to each ocean and the sea animals found in it. secondly, the fish tanks are very large and so the number of fish in each tank is also very large. each tank has a display showing a map of the world with marking of the seas where that kind of fish is found.




various kinds of fish have been named on the basis of their similarity with another object, e.g., wolffish, starfish, dogfish, etc. moonjelly fish was a special attraction because of its appearance. in fact it looked more like a bubble increasing and decreasing in its size rather than a normal tail type fish. it has no heart, no brain, no blood, no gills. however, its smell and taste senses are very strong. another fish, which i particularly noticed was anableps, which is four eyed and swims at the surface level of the water in the tank. it can see ahead of it as well as below, and, therefore, it can protect itself from attack from the predators.


the aquarium also had a section devoted to the rainforests of the world and the tribes living there. these tribals were able to meet their needs by working for just a few hours a day. their children were having much fun and freedom and were able to learn the skills necessary for their adult life much the same way. should we call them 'backward' just because they did not use money or electricity or such other things, which we are accustomed to use? don't these tribals have a right to their lifestyle? protecting rainforests is necessary not only to protect the freedom of the tribals living there but also for its contribution to the world's climate and its rich flora and fauna. we depend on the rainforests for most of the medicinal plants.

for my favourite photographs, please visit http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/Aquarium


river thames:




the river thames flows through the heart of london city. the history of london is woven around the riven thames. the bridges built across the river, the castle, the wharfs/ves, the churches, the residences of the bishops, the westminster (the british parliament) etc take the visitors into the long history of london city. the recent constructions like british airways' london eye and the glazed multi storeyed buildings tell the story of engineering and technology.


river thames has pucca embankments and very wide walkways on its both sides. it has piers for the large motorised boats. even a wartime ship 'belfast' is also parked as a memorial.



on the south bank of the river you will find artistes entertaining the visitors. someone has painted his or her body and put on peculiar dresses, sometimes standing like a statue. another group is there playing instrumental music or just singing on the tunes of a recorded music. someone is displaying his or her skill in playing with five rings around the body or playing with five crystal balls, which move on various parts of the body. they just entertain the passersby and feel happy with whatever you give them in appreciation of their performance. it must be a dying art here also because with the advent of cinema and particularly television, you will not find even "natas" or snakecharmers in india having any substantial income to make a bare living. of course, the social security system in uk must be of much help to these performers.

for my favourite photographs, please visit http://picasaweb.google.com/mlkesarwani/ThamesRiverSouthBankWalkway


the civilisation at its best: degree of civilisation of a person or a society is best measured by the degree of sensitivity towards the needs of another person or society. this is best displayed here when you pass through the roads. construction of footpaths on both sides of the road is the first recognition of a right of a person to walk. london does not have many walkers on foot but even then you will find eight feet to twenty feet wide footpaths. if a road has only two lanes, one for up and the other for down journey, no motorist will overtake you even if the other lane is empty. if it is a red light, every vehicle stops and waits for green signal. even if a person is half way crossing the road on foot, the vehicles will not move till he has crossed the road inspite of green signal. if a lane is for bus only, no other motor vehicle will run on that lane. if a bus is sharing a lane with other vehicles and the bus has stopped on the space earmarked for it (which generally happens on a two lane road), the following vehicle will either stop behind the bus or carefully overtake it provided the other lane is empty. parking space for bus is carved by cutting down the width of the footpath only if the footpath is wide enough. no motorist blows a horn. if a motorist has blown a horn, be sure you have violated the traffic rules. a motorist coming from a subsidiary road will wait and give first right of passage to the vehicles coming from his right side on the main road. you will not find a vehicle stopping on the roadside to obstruct the lane. parking spaced are marked at some places and for that there is clear indication on the motor lanes. there are markings on subsidiary roads, where you can take left as well as right turn. if you listen a sound of continuous siren, be sure to slow down and be on the left side of the lane so that an ambulance or a police vehicle may overtake you. if you are near a crossing, you need stopping so that an ambulance or police vehicle, which might be coming from a side which has red signal, may pass through. generally at circular crossings where five or more roads meet, a triangular is formed where you may be tempted to overtake the vehicle on your left, but here you won't falter.


hi - bye-bye - sorry - thank you: enter any shop and reach a counter, the person at the counter will say 'hi' to welcome you. what a pleasing experience! you should not fail to respond by saying 'hi'. once your job is done, naturally you are expected to say 'thank you'. this is not obligatory for you but you would definitely like to thank the person who has served you. even if you fail, the other party won't fail you and you will hear the sweet words 'bye-bye' pronounced as 'bai-bai'. if there are many persons to be served, you will automatically go and stand in a queu. and again here, you will find that only one person is near the counter and the next person in the queu is at least four to five feet away (isn't it too far away?) if someone on the street happens to come just in your way, the other person will say 'sorry'. in case it is you not the other person who has come in the way, the other person will say 'sorry' without waiting for you to apologise.

automated teller machines (ATMs): ATMs are very popular here. they can be seen outside the bank branch buildings as well as at other places. the machines are generally fixed as a hole in the wall. at a branch, i saw several ATMs in a hall meant for the customers. you can transact banking (such as withdrawing money or transferring money) as well as non-banking (like investing in mutual funds) transactions.

change of guards at buckingham palace: we had a visit to the buckingham palace on 24th may 2008 to view the parade preceding and following the change of guards at the buckingham palace. the photograph is posted.

roads and footpaths: the roads are quite smooth and without potholes. even humps are not to be found without warning post. footpaths are fully aligned with the roads and the houses. just opposite your house's entrance, you will find the footpath sloping towards the road. so your car will move from the road onto the footpath and into your house. footpaths are almost eight feet wide. at some places the cyclists are allowed to drive their cycles on a portion of the footpath. it is a great pleasure to walk on the footpaths. you are not hindered by the hawkers squatting on the footpaths. at reasonable distances you have telephone booths on the footpaths. you may call your friends and relatives if you have forgotten your mobile phone. if you do not have cash, you can pay through your debit/credit cards too. you won't find municipality's garbage bins on the footpaths or garbage collection chambers built on the footpaths. the level of footpaths is exactly six inches higher than that of the roads.

the roads have lane markings. marking for straight, left and right drives are made much in advance so that the motorists can easily change the lanes. nobody overtakes from the wrong lane just to get ahead of the other motorists. there are slots for bus stops. the buses while stopping will not block the following vehicles. if a bus moving ahead stops at a bus stop, the following bus will take turn to stop at the same stop and will never skip the stop.

at some places roads have four lanes, out of which a lane adjoining the footpath on both sides is exclusively marked for bus transport.

there are no open drains. the slopes on the roads and the platforms are so craftly done that all the rain water goes into the drain whole. one street in the greenwich area has long pieces of six inch wide iron jali strips are laid to cover the drains on both sides of the road. as narrated earlier the platform, road and the drain cover are so levelled that the pram can move without hindrance. another special aspect of this street was that the footpath was fully merged with the road, i.e., the level of footpath and the road was the same. undoubtedly, the street was open to the pedestrians only.

symmetrical buildings: an important aspect of buildings of london city is its victorian era architecture. it reminded me of the fort area of mumbai city. most of the buildings were four or five storeys. no sun-shades and enough of glazed windows in suburban areas also we find buildings with symmetrical designs and same heights. it makes the city very aesthetic. if high rises of new york are an attraction in the u.s., the oriental look of the buildings on both sides of the roads is a characteristic of london and its suburbs.

cannary wharf: cannary whart area is near greenwich, area where the imaginary meridien passes through the globe. while returning from westminister we took a boat cruise to greenwich. this area has a rail station by the same name. this area has developed in the recent times only.

the cannary wharf railway station has a very modern look. on its platform a transparent glass fibre wall separates you from the rail track. when train arrives, the doors of the transparent wall and the doors of the rail coaches will open simultaneously. another feature is the marking on the platform which depicts that the boarding passengers should stand on both sides of the doors so that the alighting passengers can first de-board. this station otherwise matches with the construction and designing of the delhi metro stations in elegance and convenience. there is a shopping mall also in the railway premises.

the cannary wharf area has several high rise buildings, where important commercial offices are located. these buildings have twenty to thirtyfive storeys. all exterior is glazed. it appears to be the new york of london.

post dated 13.5.2008 - how it all started: i think i have not been fair enough by not giving enough of credits to shagun for her role in arranging my visit to uk. so i am posting this addendum to say that she is quite a lovely daugher-in-law who would always like to see us happy. ashwini and shagun are so unison in their approach that not only i and laxmi have been invited but mr and mrs khare (parents of shagun) have also been invited to visit uk. they will be arriving tomorrow. and we i and laxmi are happy that we shall be enjoying a joint family of kesarwani's and khare's.

a shop without goods on shelves: can you ever imagie a shop selling goods without having shelves for displaying its wares? yes. argos is one of such shops here. just enter the shop. you will have newspaper stand like things. people are leaning over telephone directory type voluminous books. they are browsing the pages to find items of their interest. they will find the merchandise items with all necessary descriptions like size, weight, colour, features, etc. each product is code numbered. even prices are mentioned against them. but you should not be sure about their availabilit or their current prices. you can key in the product number and you will get immediate display if the item is available with the shop. and then check the current price. you should not be surprised if the item is on that date is available on discounted price. if you like, you may reserve the item and get a token number for future reference of the order. if you have a credit card or debit card (forget your cheque book), please move over to another corner and just key in your token number, insert your credit/debit card and pay the price. immediately you get a cash receipt for your payment and also the details of delivery counter number and the delivery waiting number. inspite of rush, you are assured to be served within five minutes. and lo, your turn is being announced over mike. you walk over to the counter and collect your buy. isn't it good and new experience?

suppose you do not wish to go to the shop. still you can buy the goods of your choice. just browse the website of the shop, see the product, compare the price of the product with those of other online shopkeepers, and reserve the product. you will get online order reference number. if you wish you can make online payment and instruct the shopkeeper to send the goods to your place. you may just have to pay for the service. unless you stay nearby and the goods are light weight, you would like to pay for the service. normally you can get credit from your credit card company/bank to make a purchase. yet, the shopkeeper is also willing to accept payment in instalments provided you hold the card issued by it to its valued customers.

shopping mall without staircase: it had only escalators. laxmi was very hesitant to use it. however, shagun inspired her and she used escalator for the first time. once she reached upper floor, she had no option but to use escalator once again for descending. i was happy that her fear was now probably gone for ever.



cinema halls: the cinema halls here sell monthly tickets. the viewers using the facility can come to view the pictures as many times as they wish during a month. the cinema halls do not have seat numbers. so, there is free seating.



banks: bank's name boards do not display word 'bank' as part of their name. so i had to enquire what 'abbey' was.



weather forecast: here hour-blockwise weather forecast is available. people generally find out the forecast and dress up accordingly

my uk visit.

how it all started: ashwini alias laxman's wife shagun had been in uk since september 2007. ashwini followed her around november 2007. both had short term deputations. both had a desire that before their term ended, we (i and laxmi) should visit uk. however, i always said that our visit was not essential. on january 4, 2008 swati came to india from usa along with her new born son romir. she spent her time with us in lucknow in two tranches, first on arrival for about three weeks and later for a week before her sister-in-law shilpi's marriage. it was during her second stay that she got ashwini to book the journey tickets and at the same time made us not to say no to the programme. on 10th april ashwini got the visa interview dates fixed for 15th april, bought to and fro rail tickets for travel to delhi and also sent all necessary documents by airmail to reach me well in time. on 18th april we got our passports pasted with visa delivered at lucknow. on or about 22nd april to and fro air tickets were purchased by him and electronic copies delivered to me instantly.

preparations preceding the journey: immediately afterwards i started preparing ourselves for visiting the uk. clearing the monthly bills and managing payment of the forthcoming bills relating to telephone, internet, electricity, building society's dues, insurance, house tax, water tax,etc were ensured. consulting the physician before departure was also a necessity. getting bank passbooks updated and reconciled besides ensuring sufficient balance in accounts was also a task. consultation with friends who had visited uk earlier was also there. ashwini also kept us advised over phone and through e mails. overseas travel policy covering medical insurance had also to be arranged. since this needed pathalogical tests and a report by a general physician with doctor of medicine qualifications, it took almost two working days to get the policy.

my pre-occupations with the family temple, kesarwani vaish sabha and the building society: i used to visit my family temple in lucknow every saturday. so i paid a visit on 3rd may and briefed the pujari to take due care during my stay abroad. as i shall be returning only a few days before the next janmashtami, he had to be briefed about timely washing and cleaning of the premises.

i was secretary of kesarwani vaish sabha, lucknow, for 2006-08 and the next executive committee formation was only partially completed, i had to complete the rest of the process. for this purpose an urgent meeting could be called only on 4th may. on 5th the minutes were written and papers handed over to the president sri ghanshyam kesarwani.

i was deeply involved with the management of the affairs of the golf link apartment owners' association. i was treasurer during 2004-06 and later elected as secretary for 2006-08. here also the general body meeting had been scheduled for 18th may and the audit of the accounts for 2007-08 had to be completed. i insisted the auditors to complete the audit by 1st may, which he did by the 3rd may. i had to call an emergent meeting of the executive committe on 5th may to make alternative arrangements during my absence. i informed the members that i had given a reasonable amount of money as advance to the society's electrician jawahar for day to day expenses and the audit work was over. i assured that there should not be any difficulty to any office bearer in managing the affairs during my absence. however, the members simply decided to postpone the general body meeting and designated the vice president to guide the electrician in case any need arose.

as usual all meetings have to be preceded by efforts to fix the date and circulate the agenda, and followed by writing of the minutes and circulating the same. it consumes one's lot of time and energy.

visiting close relatives: i felt it our social obligation to visit our very close relatives before leaving india. so i visited our elder daughter, her parents-in-law, my elder sister, my daughter-in-law's parents, younger siblings of my wife laxmi, etc. i also informed gyan, bindu, rinki, poonam, ved and pravesh about our visit as i did not have enough time to pay a visit to them. i also informed my friends from whom i used to get occasional calls over telephone.

luggage for journey abroad: my airline allowed 28 kgs of check-in baggage and 7 kgs of cabin baggage per ticket. like other parents, we also wanted to carry sweets, namkeens, achars and other groceries generally consumed by indians for our children. each hard suit case weigned around 8 kgs, cabin soft suit case around 4 kgs, our clothes - cotton and woollen - around 12 kgs. so we together could carry about 22 kgs of other items. documents sent by ashwini and the e tickets had to be kept handy in the cabin baggage. passports had to be kept in personal pockets. mr and mrs khare sent a packet of pistachio as small gift as they were also due to follow us to uk on 18th may. laxmi and shibboji of delhi wanted to send several items but i could accept only a small pack of indian tea.

a warm send off on 6th may: we had to travel from lucknow to delhi by night train. i never wanted that anyone should trouble himself to come to railway station at late hours. however, a warm send off was given by mr and mrs khare, mr and mrs ved, mr and mrs ravi. my elder daughter anuradha, son-in-law shirish and grand daughters shreya and tanya were at the station before we reached. we really had a very warm send off.

a brief halt at delhi: our train reached delhi at around 0720 hrs. i immediately hired two coolies to carry the luggage outside the station, then hired two manual rickshaws to take us to my younger sister's residence nearby. we had two and half hours at our disposal for taking bath and finishing breakfast. we enjoyed nagories and kachories of gali batasha. we left their residence at 1030 hrs, reached delhi station by 1100 hrs and took a taxi car for journey upto igi international airport. we reached there at 1145 hrs, i.e., behind schedule by 45 minutes. we got our luggage x-rayed, reported for check in, filled in immigration (truly speaking emigration) form, completed related formalities, moved for security check. it was around 1245 hrs by then. boarding started at 1300 hrs. we were inside the plane by 1310 hrs. just before boarding the plane we made a call to shibboji. we also had a call from santosh, lucknow. from inside the plane we talked to anuradha. the scheduled departure of the plane was 1400 hrs. the plane started moving just around this time. actual take off on the runway was at 1430 hrs.

touch down at london: as per airline authorities, the actual journey time is 8 hours. however, take off to touch down took only seven and half hours. it was 1730 hrs as per uk time when our plane landed at the heathrow airport. collecting luggage took around 20 minutes, immigration formalities arund 10 minutes, and soon we were looking for ashwini and shagun. both were not visible and i had no british currency in my pocket. in fact, i had just forgotten to exchange my indian currency at delhi airport. so i took help of a fellow lady passenger from rajkot. she had a uk sim card. immediately ashwini and shagun were traced. we accompanied them to travel from airport to their romford residence. it was a train journey and we had to change at two places. it took almost two hours. from romford station to their residence, it was about five to seven minute walk. strolley type luggage was very convenient.

romford: romford is a suburb of london. in the satelite picture on google's website we see large patches of greenery around this city. probably the green patches denote farms around the city. so we can say that romford is a modern village. our indian villages will be a great contrast to this village. the romford county has its own municipal council. it has a town hall for the councillors. it has several shopping malls. it has a very big hospital. there is a police station also.

life in a uk flat: in india even if you stay in a flat, you happen to enjoy a social life. every now and then some or the other keeps knocking your doors. it may be your milkman, washerman, housemaid or a vegetable vendor. here you don't have the luxury of a servant or street vendor. in case you are a lone parent visiting your children and your children have left for their offices, you will be strongly missing the life in india.

shopping malls: i happened to visit asda shopping mall, which is as busy and crowded as big bazaar of lucknow. hkowever, one noticeable difference was that here almost 90% visitors were spenders not the onlookers.

weekly haats: romford area has a vast open space marked for street vendors. make shift shops are set up in the open space on the designated days of a week. many people prefer to buy goods like vegetables, fruits, flowers, flower plants, awnings, curtains, petty items of daily use from this market. the vendors display the prices as well as some sell by shouting the prices. there are benches where people can sit. vendors have their own vans, some fitted with electricity generator sets.

smoking: smoking here is as a big problem as paan masala is in india. generally public places are not littered. however, the weekly market place was badly littered with cigarette buts. now the area will be cleaned only when the municipal machine visits the area for which the days are marked. in any case i never expected such littering of the area.

driving: i think the people are at their best when they are driving. they are very very civilised and respect the rules. a red light is red light even if there is nobody crossing the road. a vehicle coming from the sub-road - whether taking left or right turn - will wait till traffic from the right has fully passed through. if any pedestrian wants to cross the road at the junction and such junction does not have a street light, the vehicle will stop to give way to the pedestrian. normally where street lights are there, a machine is also placed which can be operated by the pedestrian to stop the traffc and seek his passage to cross the road.

litter boxes: there were well designed litter boxes placed on the footpaths after every hundred meters. it very much helped in abiding by the rule not to litter.

skin show: no one bothers himself about the skin show. girls enjoy wearing clothes of their choice. body beauty is well appreciated by the people. no one passes any remark. not too many women in bikinis could be seen enjoying sunshine in public places like parks. a few men and boys were strolling without their shirts in the shopping malls.

police station: a police station's outer look was very very different. no one coming in or out of the building. seemed just like another office building. no one in uniform standing outside the building to guard the place. police vehicles were parked inside the building duly barricaded.

beat policeman: not yet seen by me.

curd: curd with different flavours like pineapple, mango, apricot etc is available. it is really very tasty and relishable by the vegetarians. parag and amul should also produce such products.

10 may 2008.