Streets of London

It’s now just over two months since we moved to London. The days are shorter, the nights longer, but the sky continues to show off in its full glory, with the criss-cross of contrails, when it’s not cloaked by its own shades of grey. The first morning in London I was awoken by a sky full of pink. I jumped out of bed to have a look at whatever I could get a glimpse of. I did that this morning as well. It just about cleared up before the mizzle and drizzle kicked in. I would have never thought that I’d be spurred to wake up early by the prospect of catching a pretty sunrise. I had to accept – more to myself than anyone – then, that my previous “sunsets person” proclamation was sheer laziness to wake up early. That has changed here. Perhaps, the excitement of being in a new country? Or being back in school? Or building a home.

That was our priority when we got here – to find an apartment. It was quite an exasperating hunt, to put it mildly. Three viewings in a week after 20 calls – that’s quite a crappy strike-rate. During which, though, we discovered why London’s connectivity is laudable. It’s as easy and fun; all you need to do is follow the serpentine layouts, and of course, Citymapper is a blessing! After frequenting the tube those initial days, we decided to use the bus to have a look at the city. We realised traversing from a good area to a dodgy pocket was a matter of just one lane. But it's pretty, all the same. 

I remember expressing my vexation about house hunting to a friend from Bangalore and he said something that stuck. The way that we (dog lovers) believe that it’s our pets who find us, he said, “house hunting is like getting a pet; it may take a bit of time, but the right house will find you”. And not long after, we found it. It took two weeks but was worth the wait even if we could only move in three weeks after. More than the apartment per se, it was the neighbourhood that gave us a warm, fuzzy feeling. We knew this was it. And somehow, it seemed like a bit of serendipity to an extent too. It was the first place that we had visited on the first morning after landing in London to see a very dear friend. These streets, even on that sunny morning, felt convivial. And did I say, there are dogs everywhere?!

Speaking of pleasant, most people are. Kind even. A couple of days ago on the tube, there was a young mother struggling to rein in her wailing boy. At this point, everyone around were trying to distract the boy and help her out. She handed him a sandwich as a last resort, he nibbled on some, but dropped it. She picked it up and was holding him in one hand, her little daughter in the other along with the discarded bread. A girl who was standing by her, a witness to her struggles in that moment, offered to get rid of the bread pieces for her at the next station. She refused at first, a bit uneasy, but eventually was copiously grateful. I personally love my tube commute; it’s my little observatory of life here, and the diversity of it. Everyone has somewhere to be, something to do, their own story, but in those moments, with a screeching underground train for company, you're sharing a common terminus. One nod, one smile and the faces on the Jubilee Line have started to look familiar.

We were lucky to have had familiar faces around when we landed here. They helped us settle in quicker than we thought we would, by just being around. In our first week of being here, we watched a game at Lord’s from the presidential suite. Since then, we had a tour of the Kia Oval, visited Brighton, I obviously had to visit the Tower Bridge (my Lego set was added motivation, duh!) and watched a WSL game at Stamford Bridge. I visited most of the venues around the Queen Elizabeth Park that hosted the London Olympic Games in 2012 since it’s where my school is. I've had more Guinnesses and croissants than I've meant to. Oh, and I had my phone snatched out of my hand, only for him to chuck it back. Maybe it wasn’t good enough for him. Not sure who’s looking out for me but thank you, thank you, thank you! Safe to say, we’ve had quite an adventurous couple of months.

Every day is leg day. Clocking 10,000 steps a day has become ordinary, and to be fair, not as much of an effort as it used to be. I loved strolling the streets of Indiranagar when I had moved to Bangalore in 2012. Every street had its own character; every lane its own charm. I discovered most of Indiranagar on foot whilst stumbling across some hidden gems, much akin to here now. I am not a fan of running, but walking is a different story. The withering autumn leaves keep me company. But it's not the time to saunter aimlessly; the air is crisp and it’s getting nippier by the day. The winds whisper through the music in your ears when they howl. Our plans now depend on the weather forecast. It’s now gloomy and murky, but like my “guardian” from Bangalore said, “weather is overrated. It’s all a state of mind.” Indeed is.

I now relate to Roger Whittaker’s ‘Streets of London’ so much better. I first heard it on my grandfather's fancy music system in the 90s. But truly appreciate it now. For all the things everyone said to us about London before we could come here:

“Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London

 I’ll show you something to make you change your mind.”