[Photos] An interesting week around England
After struggles with paperwork and internal conflicts, I was able to visit my cousin who lives in the 'rather' beautiful city of Cambridge.
I had an unusual feeling of relief while I was in the UK. I do not know why. Maybe I was around known things. Familiar people. The language maybe, perhaps the people, or the food? I was less worried. I know it is not a good thing to say, but that is how I felt. The sense of humour in the UK was much more relatable. Word play, street banter, tongue in the cheek. There is a bit of cultural import from India. The chai is everywhere. The streets smell of curries. They even have pretty cool chutneys. My favourite one is Albert's Victorian Chutney which I was proudly able to smuggle into the EU. They drive on the same side of the road as Indians and many times the pedestrians have no right to passage like India. We, however, have stuff on the moon.
I have been aging myself, consuming British TV. I am a big fan of the TV show called Agatha Christie's Poirot. It casts David Suchet as Hercule Poirot. I am slightly embarrassed to accept that I did visit his fictional house and took a selfie there. The selfie can be seen, only if asked, respectfully, via email. One shall guard one's embarrassments.
Cambridge is a geek paradise. They have the only physical Raspberry Pi store there. There is the British Computer History Museum. It has a huge collection of computers and even champaign bottles from ARM parties. ARM is from Cambridge. You can go punting in the canal. You see the great colleges and their stories for ￡20. The botanical garden is splendid to walk around for a fee. Newton was once there for free stealing apples. Another interesting way to spend time in Cambridge is waiting for the bus to come. The countryside is beautiful with cities like Ely and Great Yarmouth accessible by a complex network of train providers who strike on a whim. Great Yarmouth though is 'interesting', in a British way.
The British, however, do not speak the same English. It seems like they do. But I would say, they do not. You can never tell whether it is a yes or no? It is always a maybe. I tell a tale, it is always interesting. Maybe it's not. Maybe it is. You have to be trained in the British ways to decipher this conundrum. They pronounce things in funny ways too. Try Leicester or Greenwich? Bus drivers are legally obliged to correct every mispronunciation they encounter in the public sphere. The real reason the Turning's machine was invented was to find out which alphabets to silence and its use was later evolved to stop the war. That is why I like Spanish. WYRIWYS (What you read is what you say).
Britain has been the seat of colonial exploitation for India. Part of the reason, we are still somewhat 'recovering poor' is because of the enormous wealth looted from us. They do seem sorry about it or they might not rather talk about it or they would just say, 'Interesting'. Colonialism is a state secret in the UK. I went to Buckingham Palace like other people from the colonies. It was not as magnificent "as seen on TV". The gardens are excellent though. On this point, I suggest readers check this video of a debate at Oxford Union.
The art scene is diverse. In Spain, things are suffocatingly radical yet very homogenous. Much of the discourse eventually talk about the same self, which even Buddha could not find. The art scene in London seems more open and accepting than in Spain and other parts of Europe, prima facia. I saw artists from everywhere being represented there. I felt, slightly more included in the discourse. Most museums in London are free and everything else is expensive. I recommend visiting the Design Museum and Tate Modern. Tate will take 3-4 hours. Take the guided tour.
Then we have Brexit. Which does not affect me as much as it does my British roommate. In the spirit of Western individualism, I shall refrain from commenting on this subject.
...and Rishi Sunak did not respond to my request to meet.
Oh yes! Check out some pictures from the streets.
