Category: differently observed

Parks, people and other things in London

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Another update for friends in India, showing similarities and differences, same and different.

Clean.
Sports
Last week a music concert here for thousands. No sign of it now.
Finsbury Park. people and no litter.
Sleeping policemen aka road bumps
Here too
Portable toilet for construction workers. No other peeing in the street
No builders waste in the street. All goes in the skip.
Mobile cycle repair.
On one back street I saw three dumped plastic bags and this sign. It a limited problem but I feel it’s cultural hence the different languages.
Dog poo is also picked up
We’re taught this as young children. It’s reinforced by parents, at school, on the TV.
Different
Bicycles
Bikes
And people
Gorillas pop up everywhere. I’m here with my sons oliver in the middle and Ben on the right.

Next stop Bristol

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Sally in Bristol.

Sally first visited us at Mysore Bed and Breakfast, years ago. She now leads textile tours of India.

Exploring the city, finding magic, public arts and engineering innovations.

Magical art found all around Bristol
Banksy Street Art
Engineering marvels by Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Camera Obscura

Pictures of England Part two shopping

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Turkish Bakery

One for Kaveri. The pavement (sidewalk) is smooth enough for skating unlike in Mysore.

My favourite shop for discounted clothes, shoes lots of things.
Pizza that evening
I spent more in twenty minutes in the supermarket than in over two months at our local veg and fruit shop.
I used to take Cadburys roses chocolates back to MAnjula who would share them out to friends and their children. The cheaper bigger tins will not be available until December so there’s none to buy for Kaveri’s school. What a shame.
The cat welcomes me with a hiss.

Later that day, outside Poppy’s flat

The three police cars with flashing lights have circled a woman pedestrian who’s lying on the road, injured after an accident with a two wheeler. Three police are directing the traffic, one is interviewing the two wheeler rider and two more are giving First Aid to the injured woman.

It’s all calm.

Everyone did as asked and all went smoothly.

I didn’t take photos of the immediate situation or hang around, out of respect.

Pictures of England ….

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For friends in India.

Occasional photos to show what it’s like in England.

Step one London.

Aerial view as I arrive. There’s lots of well known places in the photo. Including the river Thames and Tower Bridge.

Ben, Alice and Poppy live in north London

The roads are busy

A cycle lane separated from the other traffic by a simple white line.
It works as the motorised vehicles stick to their lane

First impressions on arriving on Thursday. Manjula realised how diverse London is on her first visit. The local shop near our friend Gina and Angus’s house was run by Punjabs

Hire cycles are everywhere.

Here on Haringay Green lanes it’s residents include people from Poland, Turkey and Asia, including India.

The Post Office is an ordinary shop
And it’s busy just like in India
Some new drivers add these signs on their car to show other they’ve inly recently passed their test. Available in the post office.
The equivalent of 300 rupees for a plastic rule! It’s not cheap in England.

Next: Shopping locally.

Grandad poo

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Lady at corner shop complained about Kaveri not calling me uncle. Honestly it’s ok!

If only she knew what my granddaughter Poppy called me🤔🤭🫣

I’ve found this Birthday card from two years ago.

Dialogues : Making Connections

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Over the last year we’ve occasionally had small gatherings at our house for young people.

It’s included people from their late teens to early adult but it’s open and not specific, conversations are in English and all it requires is an open mind accepting of others and their opinions.

It’s flexible.

It’s resulted in stimulating insightful conversations

We meet again this month to decide how to take it forward.

If you’re in Mysore and interested write to me at

Sfindia@gmail.com

Stephen

Fairy or mouse ?

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Kaveri’s tooth has been bothering her all week while on holiday in Kannur.

The new is pushing out the old.

Now it’s out

It seems that in Italy (Ilaria is with us) and England (I’m the official representative) children are encouraged to place the tooth under their pillow.

A mouse (really?) or fairy will replace it with a coin, or so we think. if that happens, will there be an Italian or British coin? Mmm

We’ll see, maybe.

Here in India, we’re told, the tooth gets wrapped in cow shit and thrown over the roof. Who knows what happens after that.

Someone might be pulling our leg.

The very next day

A coin appeared under Kaveri’s pillow.

Compassion pah … humbug

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I just had to post again. Earlier I reflected my concern about the lack of care and compassion (see last posting) when I stumbled across this photo and dickens quote

Here’s someone’s extreme lack of care and compassion preferring that we don’t support people in poverty, who are clearly undeserving feckless oiks.

Un-bloody-believable.

Except this attitude is all too familiar, but I expect that these people (I’ve made it anonymous as we don’t want to create an internet teacup storm) aren’t demonstrating the slightest bit of self awareness by posting such crap on an insignificant page of old London photographs.

Maybe they haven’t got the slightest idea that our system is slanted in favour of the rich and powerful and blaming the powerless feeds into a narrative that maintains this unsavoury order.

Obviously I am naive about how people just accept the demonisation of poor people. I feel a Brexit moan coming on. Get real old people.

I write this having just returned (I live in India, remember?) from a one room dwelling that would have been no better and probably far worse than where those in the photograph lived.

The people are not to blame for the cycle of deprivation or their lot in life.

In my distorted view. It’s our duty in life to work out how best we can be kind and that includes showing care and compassion with a more equitable share of the resources we have at our disposal.

Assuming the immigration bureaucrats (long story) let me remain in my adopted country, we’ll continue to help where we can, through Manjula’s Mysore.

Kalyuva Mane is a school we support to help children who’ve experienced difficulties in their young lives.

give me strength

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I apologise for ever complaining about Indian bureaucracy

In any case I usually blame the British Raj and maybe the current British Administration might value a lesson.

Sarcasm warning

I travelled to Bangalore last month, a five hour round trip, to submit my passport for renewal.

Yesterday I received an email from the passport office in Liverpool England, with a formal letter attached.

My photos have been rejected for a range of possible reasons. They haven’t indicated which one: it could be only one photo sent, head too small (in real life, opposite being the problem) or any number of other options. They’ve kept that secret.

Clearly my approach of carrying a selection of photos to Bangalore and asking their staff member which ones were suitable and they selecting them ( yes there were two) , didn’t do the trick.

I have twenty days to send to England otherwise my request might be rejected.

I have a new photo taken and place them in envelope ready to send. I avoid writing a sarcastic note about having asked their representative for guidance. I just plead to get it back asap so I can travel again.

At the central post office.

Take a ticket for your place in the queue. We all take one but then ignore the system.

Speed post Sir?

Yes please, how quick will it be?

Twenty days

I’ll send positive affirmation vibes against any delays and rejection of my application.

Please complete the declaration form and sign

Here it is

Three copies

There’s a xerox machine. Gets jammed but quickly sorted.

Copied and signed

ID please with address.

I have my Adhaar card.

Two copies please

Back to the xerox

…

I Zap the equivalent of £19 via QR Code (bet you can’t do that in Britland) It’s done.

Yes I can hear you saying. Why doesn’t he send the photographs digitally?

Because you can only do that if you’ve completed an online form and you can’t do it online when requesting a renewal from outside the U.K.

Just don’t ask, I’m now relaxing