i speak ....: July 2008

Monday, 28 July 2008

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

Tuesday, 1 July 2008

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)

i speak ....