This article is written by Pranav Arora
My journey from Rana Pratap Bagh to London was like the title of the movie, Amritsar to LA. London is the place I am sure most of us want to visit. It reminds me of tall ancient buildings, Shahrukh Khan running on the London Bridge, its rich heritage and also real English people. I got an opportunity through my school under the UKIERI project to visit London this year.
When I arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, I felt as if everybody was welcoming me only.
The flight gave me a relaxing, enjoyable and home-like feeling during the journey. The view of the sky from the window was amazing. I was imagining that the clouds were vanilla ice-cream scoops with the sunlight as a mango topping over it.
After eight-nine hours, I reached Heathrow, where I met Crispin Bonham Carter, with whom I was going to stay for the next six days. His family and I talked about the Indian cricket team, Indian food and my project. They gave me Indian food to eat.
London is famous for its theatre. I went to the Peacock Theatre, where I watched a play, Insane In The Brain. It was like our Munna Bhai movies. But it was a dance based show. I tried English food, less salty and less spicy, and made good friends.
The next day, I went on a London tour where I watched Will Smith starrer, I Am Legend, at IMax, the only 4D cinema in the world.
A show at the IMax, London
On day four, I got the chance to visit London Eye, which cost me 10 pounds. I also enjoyed the cruise on River Thames. It was very relaxing. The funny dresses of the guards outside the Buckingham Palace and their kettle cover like hats made me giggle.
In the Tower of London, I saw the Kohinoor diamond. It is so beautiful and lustrous. It made me feel proud that we are its original owners. The visit to Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum was my next destination. It took me a few hours to reach there from Southhall by car. I saw wax effigies of Beckham, Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and many more.
The family with whom I was staying took me on a cycle ride. They were really concern about saving the enviroment by not burning fuel.
They know my keen interest in cricket, so they took me to Lords for a match. There we watched a match between Middlesex and Kent. I was supporting Middlesex, which won the match by a little margin. I got to see Adam Gilchrist and David Warner very closely. I also saw Sachin Tendulkar’s autographed bat and Kapil Dev’s sweater worn in the 1983 cricket world cup at the Lords Museum.
The Gurdwara Singh Sabha, Southall, London
In the last two days of my visit the school where I was on the mission gave me a party. I tried real Italian pizza and got to see its preparation too. I danced the entire night. I bid goodbye to the English family with teary eyes and went to my paternal aunt in Southhall. I was overwhelmed to see a beautiful and majestic gurudwara there. Southhall is like mini India.
I really didn’t want to come back to India. Though I love India but living is better there. London is less polluted, less corrupted, well planned and the beautiful weather inspires you to stay there for long.
Finally my aunt dropped me at the airport. I am still in touch with the English family and will definitely go to UK for further study.
Pranav Arora
14 Sept 2010
http://travel.hindustantimes.com/travelogues/london-is-less-polluted-and-well-planned.php
