My company had booked the flight tickets with the 7 hour gap in London. I didn't crib and was actually happy about this. I was hoping to experience London in these 7 hours.
The waiting area was big and confusing. There were hundreds, in fact thousands of peope waiting. There were many sexy ladies all over the place. It looked like heaven for a while - a long one. I could see shops all over. 'Duty-Free shops' most of them. But the very first thing that attracted my attention was the British accent. My ears were wide open trying to listen to whatever of that I could hear. I like observing the way people speak and I somehow give a lot of attention to accents.
I wanted to speak to some Britishers in the Airport. I had a subconscious mission planned to work on during this entire trip - to make new friends and understand as many new things - whatever they may be - as I possibly could. Making friends takes time and happens at its own sweet pace. The mission made me a little hasty to get to this task at the first opportunity. Slowly I have realized, with a strong self-affirmation, that relationships take time to grow. Love/Friendships at First Sight cannot happen to me.
I find the British accent particularly interesting. That's because, it is from the Britishers that we have derived our versions of English. It is really interesting how when people proficient in a particular language learn a different language, they make common errors and develop the same accent without even realizing it. Like all Madrasis have a similar Hindi accent.
As far as English goes, I like the British accent. More than the American or the Australian one. Coz it's closer to our own accent and we can easily master it. Unlike the American accent, which many Indians make a mess of, and end up speaking in weird, funny and unintelligible ways here in America, British accent can be picked up pretty easily by Indians - of course only if the other departments of their English are sound enough. During the many hours of waiting, I got to hear a lot of it. It was fun.
I exchanged some Dollars for Pounds so as to make phone calls to India from the public coin-phones over there. I came to know that one hundredth of a Pound is called a Pence. I exchanged 15 Dollars and got 5 Pounds and 47 pence. I spent 4 Pounds in calls. Also spent 1 Pound and 30 Pence to buy a big cup of coffee. Nothing else, coz things seemed pretty costly inspite of being Duty-Free. I am sure duty is just a small part of the price. Waiving it doesn't help so much, especially for Indians who've come out for the first time and are still thinking in terms of the Rupee. For example, 1.30 Pounds is more than 100 Rupees. My costliest coffee ever. But that was the cheapest thing I could find in the coffee shop. I didn't want to spend any more money in eating, though I was terribly hungry, coz the next flight would serve food anyway. Why waste money, viz. Rupees.
I couldn't see "Drinking Water" written anywhere in the waiting area. There were small Mineral Water bottles everywhere at Bombay Airport. To be picked up by anyone who needed. For free. But at the London Airport, there were none. You have to buy water over there. Sometimes it feels like drinking water is out of fashion in these western countries. Of course, I shouldn't generalize to this extent since I have seen only a few places. Perhaps some of the readers can comment on this.
But after spending 5.30 Pounds on calls and coffee, I was left with 17 Pence. I could see some water-bottles in a fridge at the coffee shop. I enquired the price of a bottle. It was more than a Pound and I didn't want to exchange more money. So coffee was all I had during the 7 hours at London, and it was a really bad coffee. Later as I roamed in the Airport, I found that there were things to eat that were cheaper than a Pound. I regretted having spent 1.30 Pounds on a disgusting coffee. And also felt sad about 1 Pound that got wasted in a call that I couldn't make. The coin went inside the box and stayed there but I saw no balance time for me to talk.
Those coin boxes were pretty good, otherwise. You insert coins and they give you some talk-time. You can make as many calls as you like to exhaust that talk-time. With every call, there is some flat amount that will be deducted besides the charges for the duration of the call.
There were Indians everywhere. Most shops were being run by Indians. One shop was playing Himesh Reshamiya's songs loudly. One Indian guy explained to me how to use the coin-phone. And after I was done with my calls, I explained how to use it to another Indian guy. All in Hindi. I also explained a Canadian lady how she could exchange her Canadian Dollars for some Pounds and use them to make calls through the coin-phone. I guess this was the first time during the trip that I spoke to any 'real' foreigner.
There was a car on display - a nice red one - right at the centre of the waiting Area. I am not a fan of cars, nor do I know much about them. But here's the pic for you. Feel free to stare at it if cars turn you on.
There were lots of chairs to sit on. I wanted to talk to someone...Make friends...Talk about London. But I am a jerk when it comes to starting conversations with strangers. I was trying to not be myself for a few hours and reach out to some people. I went and sat beside an old British woman. I didn't know what to talk. I asked her the time. I adjusted my watch and told her how important it is to set your watch to local time so that you don't miss the next flight. She didn't say anything except the time, smiled and was lost in her own thoughts. I took out my laptop just to look busy. Tried to look for wireless networks available. I tried a few, but all of them asked me to pay so as to use them. I gave up. I got up saying bye to the woman.
I walked for hours around the place checking out all kinds of shops except for the Lingerie stores. I am not so good at this, I mean at roaming around in markets and checking out things. I saw the prices of a few products just so that I get some idea. But I could hardly form any opinion. I don't even remember the prices now. The best was the Liqour section. I saw Smirnoff Vodka, Romanov Vodka and Antiquity Whisky...felt homely :D
I went inside a book-store. I was curious to know how many books by Indian authors these British stores kept. What I found was disheartening. Only one - Salman Rushdie. I was expecting more. Perhaps I missed a few. But surely not many.
At one corner there was a sign-board that read "Multi-Faith Prayer Room". Though I am not a religious person, I felt like checking it out. It is always nice to see people of all religions praying together in peace. Anyone who has ever visited Pir Haaji Ali's Mosque in Mumbai would know that it is possible. Religion and God begin to acquire new meanings in such places. Perhaps their original meanings.
I was sad to see that the door of the room to which the signboard pointed was closed. I went and sat in front of a TV hanging from the top. Two chairs to my right was a sexy gal sitting and reading a book. And to my left, there was a fat British guy. He also was watching TV. I tried again to start a conversation. Couldn't think of any topics. Continued to watch TV and figured that news channels in UK (and now I know that in US too) show more crap than the Indian ones do. I decided to chat on this topic with the guy sitting next to me. I asked him whether that was the kind of news that the channels there normally showed. He smiled and said yes. I told him that in India, we had similar news channels that showed crap, and we thought that things are better in the west. He didn't give any expression - surprised or happy or curious or offended - and continued to watch TV. That ended the conversation. He went away after a few minutes and a few more minutes thereafter, a couple came and sat next to me. I felt like Forrest Gump.
('comment' in the terminology of computer progamming is a block of code that is ignored by the compiler and is not to be executed and is enclosed between /* and */)
/********* JAVA COMMENT STARTS *********
The material enclosed in the comments might be objectionable to some people and so, must be read with caution. Ignore it if you want to and if you can...
I got up and took another round of the Airport. I have been trying for long not to mention anything about the toilets at London Airport. But I guess I have to, otherwise I'd feel like I skipped an important observation. I went there twice for susu and combing hair. The susu basins, or whatever they are called, were so low - almost near the knees - that anyone could see anyone else's Jhonson (that's what it is called in America. It has many other names too). I somehow did it. I don't know if this is the way things are all over the UK or if the Airport ones are just an exception. I have many friends who find it difficult to pee even if someone is peeing right next to them.
I am sorry these toilet-topics keep coming up. I have come to know that they offend some of my readers, who might discontinue to be my readers due to this. But I cannot intentionally deny the Right-To-Information of others. So kindly bear, or wear and tear - your clothes or whatever.
********* JAVA COMMENT ENDS *********/
I was confused whether I had to checkin again or the boarding pass given in India - one for each flight - would do. I was told, though, by the girl at the Mumbai Airport that those were all Dummy boarding passes, except for the one for the Mumbai-London flight. I was not sure what she meant. I went straight to the American Airlines counter at the London Airport and asked the girl there if I needed to do something before boarding my flight. She said I had to checkin again and gave me a new Boaring pass. Also she gave me a form - Custom's form or whatever - that I had to fill and submit at Chicago - the Port of Entry into the US!
2 hours before the departure time of my next flight, I marked in my mind the gate through which I had to enter for my flight - American Airlines Flight No: AA 047 to Chicago - O'Hare International Airport! And 1 hour before the departure time, I entered the corridor that led to the gates. It was a very long corridor. A Long Long one, with many moving floors in between. My legs were aching, so I used all of them. Actually walked on them so that I reached faster.
Finally I reached my gate - gate No. 18 - if I remember correctly. I went inside. My passport was checked and I was let into a hall with a lot seats. I sat on one of them and waited. The Airline staff was all American and the Airport staff was all British. I was enchanted to hear the conversations between the Americans and the Britishers. A treat to hear both of the best accents of English - each melodiously following the other - more so when the 2 people talking are females.
A few minutes later, it was announced that we could board the flight. I went along with all others and was inside the plane within 5 minutes. And from there started the American world for me.
To Be Continued...
The waiting area was big and confusing. There were hundreds, in fact thousands of peope waiting. There were many sexy ladies all over the place. It looked like heaven for a while - a long one. I could see shops all over. 'Duty-Free shops' most of them. But the very first thing that attracted my attention was the British accent. My ears were wide open trying to listen to whatever of that I could hear. I like observing the way people speak and I somehow give a lot of attention to accents.
I wanted to speak to some Britishers in the Airport. I had a subconscious mission planned to work on during this entire trip - to make new friends and understand as many new things - whatever they may be - as I possibly could. Making friends takes time and happens at its own sweet pace. The mission made me a little hasty to get to this task at the first opportunity. Slowly I have realized, with a strong self-affirmation, that relationships take time to grow. Love/Friendships at First Sight cannot happen to me.
I find the British accent particularly interesting. That's because, it is from the Britishers that we have derived our versions of English. It is really interesting how when people proficient in a particular language learn a different language, they make common errors and develop the same accent without even realizing it. Like all Madrasis have a similar Hindi accent.
As far as English goes, I like the British accent. More than the American or the Australian one. Coz it's closer to our own accent and we can easily master it. Unlike the American accent, which many Indians make a mess of, and end up speaking in weird, funny and unintelligible ways here in America, British accent can be picked up pretty easily by Indians - of course only if the other departments of their English are sound enough. During the many hours of waiting, I got to hear a lot of it. It was fun.
I exchanged some Dollars for Pounds so as to make phone calls to India from the public coin-phones over there. I came to know that one hundredth of a Pound is called a Pence. I exchanged 15 Dollars and got 5 Pounds and 47 pence. I spent 4 Pounds in calls. Also spent 1 Pound and 30 Pence to buy a big cup of coffee. Nothing else, coz things seemed pretty costly inspite of being Duty-Free. I am sure duty is just a small part of the price. Waiving it doesn't help so much, especially for Indians who've come out for the first time and are still thinking in terms of the Rupee. For example, 1.30 Pounds is more than 100 Rupees. My costliest coffee ever. But that was the cheapest thing I could find in the coffee shop. I didn't want to spend any more money in eating, though I was terribly hungry, coz the next flight would serve food anyway. Why waste money, viz. Rupees.
I couldn't see "Drinking Water" written anywhere in the waiting area. There were small Mineral Water bottles everywhere at Bombay Airport. To be picked up by anyone who needed. For free. But at the London Airport, there were none. You have to buy water over there. Sometimes it feels like drinking water is out of fashion in these western countries. Of course, I shouldn't generalize to this extent since I have seen only a few places. Perhaps some of the readers can comment on this.
But after spending 5.30 Pounds on calls and coffee, I was left with 17 Pence. I could see some water-bottles in a fridge at the coffee shop. I enquired the price of a bottle. It was more than a Pound and I didn't want to exchange more money. So coffee was all I had during the 7 hours at London, and it was a really bad coffee. Later as I roamed in the Airport, I found that there were things to eat that were cheaper than a Pound. I regretted having spent 1.30 Pounds on a disgusting coffee. And also felt sad about 1 Pound that got wasted in a call that I couldn't make. The coin went inside the box and stayed there but I saw no balance time for me to talk.
Those coin boxes were pretty good, otherwise. You insert coins and they give you some talk-time. You can make as many calls as you like to exhaust that talk-time. With every call, there is some flat amount that will be deducted besides the charges for the duration of the call.
There were Indians everywhere. Most shops were being run by Indians. One shop was playing Himesh Reshamiya's songs loudly. One Indian guy explained to me how to use the coin-phone. And after I was done with my calls, I explained how to use it to another Indian guy. All in Hindi. I also explained a Canadian lady how she could exchange her Canadian Dollars for some Pounds and use them to make calls through the coin-phone. I guess this was the first time during the trip that I spoke to any 'real' foreigner.
There was a car on display - a nice red one - right at the centre of the waiting Area. I am not a fan of cars, nor do I know much about them. But here's the pic for you. Feel free to stare at it if cars turn you on.
There were lots of chairs to sit on. I wanted to talk to someone...Make friends...Talk about London. But I am a jerk when it comes to starting conversations with strangers. I was trying to not be myself for a few hours and reach out to some people. I went and sat beside an old British woman. I didn't know what to talk. I asked her the time. I adjusted my watch and told her how important it is to set your watch to local time so that you don't miss the next flight. She didn't say anything except the time, smiled and was lost in her own thoughts. I took out my laptop just to look busy. Tried to look for wireless networks available. I tried a few, but all of them asked me to pay so as to use them. I gave up. I got up saying bye to the woman.
I walked for hours around the place checking out all kinds of shops except for the Lingerie stores. I am not so good at this, I mean at roaming around in markets and checking out things. I saw the prices of a few products just so that I get some idea. But I could hardly form any opinion. I don't even remember the prices now. The best was the Liqour section. I saw Smirnoff Vodka, Romanov Vodka and Antiquity Whisky...felt homely :D
I went inside a book-store. I was curious to know how many books by Indian authors these British stores kept. What I found was disheartening. Only one - Salman Rushdie. I was expecting more. Perhaps I missed a few. But surely not many.
At one corner there was a sign-board that read "Multi-Faith Prayer Room". Though I am not a religious person, I felt like checking it out. It is always nice to see people of all religions praying together in peace. Anyone who has ever visited Pir Haaji Ali's Mosque in Mumbai would know that it is possible. Religion and God begin to acquire new meanings in such places. Perhaps their original meanings.
I was sad to see that the door of the room to which the signboard pointed was closed. I went and sat in front of a TV hanging from the top. Two chairs to my right was a sexy gal sitting and reading a book. And to my left, there was a fat British guy. He also was watching TV. I tried again to start a conversation. Couldn't think of any topics. Continued to watch TV and figured that news channels in UK (and now I know that in US too) show more crap than the Indian ones do. I decided to chat on this topic with the guy sitting next to me. I asked him whether that was the kind of news that the channels there normally showed. He smiled and said yes. I told him that in India, we had similar news channels that showed crap, and we thought that things are better in the west. He didn't give any expression - surprised or happy or curious or offended - and continued to watch TV. That ended the conversation. He went away after a few minutes and a few more minutes thereafter, a couple came and sat next to me. I felt like Forrest Gump.
('comment' in the terminology of computer progamming is a block of code that is ignored by the compiler and is not to be executed and is enclosed between /* and */)
/********* JAVA COMMENT STARTS *********
The material enclosed in the comments might be objectionable to some people and so, must be read with caution. Ignore it if you want to and if you can...
I got up and took another round of the Airport. I have been trying for long not to mention anything about the toilets at London Airport. But I guess I have to, otherwise I'd feel like I skipped an important observation. I went there twice for susu and combing hair. The susu basins, or whatever they are called, were so low - almost near the knees - that anyone could see anyone else's Jhonson (that's what it is called in America. It has many other names too). I somehow did it. I don't know if this is the way things are all over the UK or if the Airport ones are just an exception. I have many friends who find it difficult to pee even if someone is peeing right next to them.
I am sorry these toilet-topics keep coming up. I have come to know that they offend some of my readers, who might discontinue to be my readers due to this. But I cannot intentionally deny the Right-To-Information of others. So kindly bear, or wear and tear - your clothes or whatever.
********* JAVA COMMENT ENDS *********/
I was confused whether I had to checkin again or the boarding pass given in India - one for each flight - would do. I was told, though, by the girl at the Mumbai Airport that those were all Dummy boarding passes, except for the one for the Mumbai-London flight. I was not sure what she meant. I went straight to the American Airlines counter at the London Airport and asked the girl there if I needed to do something before boarding my flight. She said I had to checkin again and gave me a new Boaring pass. Also she gave me a form - Custom's form or whatever - that I had to fill and submit at Chicago - the Port of Entry into the US!
2 hours before the departure time of my next flight, I marked in my mind the gate through which I had to enter for my flight - American Airlines Flight No: AA 047 to Chicago - O'Hare International Airport! And 1 hour before the departure time, I entered the corridor that led to the gates. It was a very long corridor. A Long Long one, with many moving floors in between. My legs were aching, so I used all of them. Actually walked on them so that I reached faster.
Finally I reached my gate - gate No. 18 - if I remember correctly. I went inside. My passport was checked and I was let into a hall with a lot seats. I sat on one of them and waited. The Airline staff was all American and the Airport staff was all British. I was enchanted to hear the conversations between the Americans and the Britishers. A treat to hear both of the best accents of English - each melodiously following the other - more so when the 2 people talking are females.
A few minutes later, it was announced that we could board the flight. I went along with all others and was inside the plane within 5 minutes. And from there started the American world for me.
To Be Continued...
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