CHAPTER 6 - The Next Chapter …..
The first international city outside Hyderabad/India which I visited was Dubai. Well, it was just the airport as we couldn’t afford to go outside the airport at that time but now I cannot help but think, only if I knew that a few years later, I would be staying in the worlds most expensive 7 star hotel “Burj Al Arab” in Dubai with a gorgeous English babe, how awesome that would have been!! Well, I am getting well ahead in the timeline, so let me revert back to my first ever big trip.
We arrived in London almost after travelling for about 20 hours (including the wait in Dubai). My friend who already joined a semester earlier picked us up.
London, a brand new city, one of the most famous and important cities on our planet and the first thing which I see coming out of the airport was a homeless person sleeping on the street. My friend who already lived there for about 8 months swore that it was the first time he was seeing that. Couldn’t help but laugh and then we took the underground to go to my friends apartment. As soon as we got into the underground train (tube, as it is called), there were these bunch of girls, all dressed in provocative school girl uniforms, who also boarded the train. I knew that they were not really school girls and were probably heading for some themed party. But still it was a great welcome. They looked super hot, kind of like Britney from “Baby, one more time” song! Thank you UK for that awesome welcome!!
My friend lived in a 3 bedroom apartment which he shared with 6 other students from his course. All of them were Indians and the apartment was a total mess. All bachelors and most of them were getting ready to do the night shift at a convenience store. Apparently, night shifts pay double the salary of a day shift. Legally, we were allowed to work 20 hours during course time and full time during vacations whilst on student visa. Most of us sticked to that routine.
The first day of University began and there was no time for adjustment, our professor dove deep in the subject and we already knew that the first assignment would be given to us in 3 weeks time. I didn’t want to live in the already crowded apartment where my friend lived, so me and the other friend who travelled with me choose to stay at the University’s student accommodation. It was slightly expensive but when I moved there, I simply loved it, it felt like I got my old room from Hyderabad back again. I even tried to make it look like my old room, I put the same bed spreads, wall posters, even my favourite mug and was quite happy with the end result. The university accommodation worked around 80 to 100 pounds more expensive that living in a shared accommodation, but it was quite close to the university so I could just walk and it definitely provided more space/privacy. Plus yes, whilst I was moving my luggage, I saw this girl in the same block casually walk from the communal shower rooms in her lingerie and yes, it was the university accommodation where I got to know another amazing person in my life! More on that to follow soon.
So, it was not that bad. The block where I stayed had girls as well and there were all quite bold and outgoing. I did manage to exchange a few hellos with them and to me, all of them were extremely beautiful! True story, they really were beautiful, I could easily see them as a lead in any Hollywood movie. Now, that is one of the best things in Britain! Girls are really beautiful, plus they were sophisticated, everyone had a unique sense of individuality and style! Fascinating, if someone would have walked over to me and asked me to be her boyfriend, I would have said yes in a heartbeat! But alas! Do you remember the line from “George of the Jungle”, where the heroine’s mother actually says stripes belong with stripes and spots belong with spots! That is soo true, I never knew an Indian guy, like myself, who came over to UK from India for the first time, ended up with an English girlfriend. Maybe someone like Arun Nayar would get Liz Hurely, but you need to consider that Arun Nayar sleeps in his own private Spaceship, he can get any girl he wants on this planet!! Hahaha, jokes aside, you English girls should consider taking a chance with us Indians, we are very loyal, trustworthy and love our better halves to the core! (wink, wink, smiley)
Also, as I mentioned, I had to work part-time so I could earn my monthly expenses. Through my friend’s recommendation, I got this job of stock filling at Marks & Spensers. When I left Hyderabad, we did not have M&S back there, so this huge store was beautiful and overwhelming! I managed to get three night-shifts of doing stock filling. University classes were for 3 days so I could balance them and make around £500 after taxes, which was enough to pay for my monthly expenses. However, staying awake three nights messed up my sleep schedule. I soon changed jobs and worked day shifts at another superstore called Asda.
The first time when I made some extra money during vacations, I bought the USM 2, it was a Dell Laptop, the very first time I ever owned a laptop and I simply loved it to bits. Once I had the laptop, I loved spending hours in HMV and Virgin Megastores, browsing though and buying DVDs. Films were still my most favourite pastime/hobby and with a wide window into such a huge catalogue, I never stopped at one Genre. I saw films which I missed, foreign films, Indie films, there was no end to it. If I didn’t have to study, I used to spend time watching movies. In fact, I almost made it a point to see one film everyday. Some of the early ones which I remember are X-Men, Charlie’s Angels, Bruce Almighty, Schindler’s list, The Ring, Matrix Reloaded, etc.
The semester exams were upon us at the wink of an eye and I had to spend most of the time in University library, studying and preparing for the exams. I did manage to clear all subjects and was quite chuffed about it.
So it took me about 4 months to settle and I finally got adjusted to this new world, being totally independent and earning my own money. For this reason, I really loved the first ever big purchase of my life which was this Dell Laptop.
London slowly began to become a part of me, I used to love the rush, the beauty of the old architecture which has been well preserved, the cosy streets filled with the aroma of roasted coffee beans, the amazing landmarks which I grew up reading about and all that history which is preserved with utmost care. Since the university accommodation was located in Zone One, I used to love strolling along the Thames or visiting Madame Tussauds, Tower of London or the London Zoo. Being a student was like a privilege in the UK. You get loads of discounts everywhere so I managed to get lots of deals for theatre shows, restaurants, cinema tickets and even general shopping.
In our dorm rooms, we had more Indians as well and we all got together and became good friends. There was me and my friend and then we met two more guys and two girls staying in the same dorm as us. Naturally, all of us had same things in common, we all had to leave India for education and were in the same university, so we all clicked instantly and became good friends.
Most of us used to work in the same Asda superstore so we used to take common breaks and we all used to study together. All of us spoke the common mother tongue Telugu and were from the same part of India so felt it nice to find like minded friends.
During the first Easter holidays, we all took to the task of exploring London, so we covered all popular landmarks. The thing that stood out the most was the Kohinoor diamond in the Queen’s crown at the Tower of London. Now, that is supposed to be one of the rarest diamonds and is considered invaluable. Its origin was traced back to the “Kakateeya Dynasty” from Andhra Pradesh, which is the name of the state whose capital is Hyderabad, my home town. One time, this English friend came up to me and asked if I was upset about the fact that the diamond belonged to India? What can I say, there was a war, we lost and this was the spoils of that war. I mean seriously, consider how big India as a country is when compared to Britain and all the great kings, soldiers and leaders put together couldn’t stop a relatively small army from invading India, what does that tell of us? When getting into discussions abou
t India’s freedom struggle even with my elders, I always used to say that there was no unity amongst us. If there was a Kingdom, leave alone the rivalry for other kingdoms, internally, the King’s son, his uncle, his second wife, his third wife, his bastard son, etc. all wanted to kill him and usurp power. Where is the unity in that? And it was soo easy for any outsider to take advantage of that situation!! That is what exactly happened. As the popular saying goes “United we stand, divided we fall!!”
But times have changed, we all are friends, we allow people across borders and are striving to make Earth a better place. I know there are loads of issues, but slowly, we might get there. All we need is perhaps a catalyst to make us come together!!
I digress, but continuing with our tour of London, we also saw the London Zoo and were amazed at how big it is, given the fact that it is located right in the centre of the city. We then saw the Big Ben, London Bridge, Bakers Street, Madame Tussauds and other popular monuments.
Bakers Street was very nostalgic and brought back loads of childhood memories. As a kid, I grew up reading loads of novels. My favourites were Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Black Beauty, Treasure Island, Famous Five and Sherlock Holmes to name a few. We used to subscribe to a monthly magazine which used to feature short stories from Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, illustrated as a graphic novel. I used to love that and eagerly wait every month for the magazine to arrive through post. So it was great being at Bakers Street and walking down all those lanes where the novel was based on.
We even took a universities tour and visited Oxford and Cambridge. I simply loved these places. Of course due to the British rule in India and the influences which it left behind, we grew up reading about the history of Great Britain. Our English non-detail course at school incorporated poems and stories written by British Authors. We read poems from poets like Wordsworth, W.B.Rand, stories like The Hound of Baskervilles, Moonstone, etc. So, British culture always made its presence throughout my growing years.
During holiday’s time, we even explored the beaches of UK. Summer was far from what it is back in India. But still it was beautiful when the temperature reached about 20 degrees. We were not used to the idea of resetting time or having bright sunshine at 8PM! The first time when we had to set our clocks back, it was night shift for me and M&S people made us work for an extra hour without paying extra. That was my first slightly dejected memory of changing the clock!
British summer bought something else, far more attractive than any monument or beech, it is the female folk and their very-very short/transparent dresses. It was like all year-round they were covered in cocoons of wool and fabric and come summer, they hatch into these beautiful, colourful semi-clad butterflies. (To all women folk, please take all these as compliments given with utmost respect and to all men, you lucky bastards!!!).
The kind of dresses which women wear here, I have never seen that in real-life back in Hyderabad, maybe only in the movies or is some high-end night clubs (which I used to go very occasionally). All these bold outfits were just a treat to the eyes, plus the amazing confidence with which the women carried themselves, it was fascinating.
My university was full of them, there were micro minis, ripped jeans, low-cut tank tops, low-rise trousers with thongs sticking out and see-through tops!! It was the best time! Even our Indian girls tried to be a little bold seeing all this. And it was not at all a bad thing for us Indian guys!!
Now, life is a constant systematic programming schedule from this higher power, which keeps changing all the time. And the biggest change of my life happened at that time. I met this girl and fell in love with her. It was the most romantic and heart-breaking time of my life. I will reserve this for the next chapter.