Into the sixth day, I must
say, I am doing pretty well in quarantine. Slight fever, still no taste and
smell, but then not much to worry about and hoping that it continues like this
till I am fully recovered. So now I am going to share an excerpt from my time in
London. Almost ages ago, but an interesting one that I had penned down on 2nd September 2014 while sitting in the cinema room of the hostel where I was staying in the London Borough of Southwark.
My journey starts with a late wake up call. I was so tired last night that I just didn't want to wake up early to have the free breakfast at the hostel. To be honest the hostel is great. Having a bunk bed in a room of fourteen people, staying with strangers is quite an experience. I was not very comfortable at first time when I stayed in Russell Square in London in 2013 but then I guess as far as I do not talk to anyone and nobody bothers me I’ll be alright. I am supposed to be on a job hunt but then we are talking about London here, it is not as easy as it sounds.
So the day starts and I leave the hostel at around half past twelve in the afternoon, thinking to make up to RIBA headquarters and sort out my accreditation process, which should be enough for the day.
Since I had messed up last day in losing fifty pounds in some
stupid electronics place in the Oxford Street area so now I needed to save
money, hence instead of taking a ride, I decided to walk to 66 Portland Street,
the office of the big guns in architecture who acquired the key to my registration
I must say.
I started my journey from Borough High Street, walked towards the London Bridge. The first glimpse of Thames made me think of all the big names in the world who came to this city, struggled and then stood up achieve their goals. This is the greatness of this city, as said by everyone who knows London well. But the thing is that there are so many people here and every one seeking for an opportunity, that one chance that can make their lives, however not all are lucky. We all know that, it is just one of the norms of nature.
I have come here as an opportunist too, but somehow I am getting this feeling that I will not be one of those fortunate people. Yes, all these people are 'lucky' who came here, settled and living their lives, I believe. Somehow they are rulers of the world. For instance, the architectural offices are swarmed by architects, big or small, all throwing their ideas all over the world. They have everything in their hands, no matter how much they complain.
Anyway as I was approaching London Bridge, I saw policemen and cars rushing towards a point. That point had a focus. The focus was a woman in burqa (Chinese), seemed as if she was facing difficulties in jumping off the bridge… a suicidal attempt, as was put by the authorities when inquired. Everyone gathered around her but nobody seemed to help her in not doing so. Very dramatic, huh! Since I didn’t realize the whole situation, I stood their taking my own selfie with the phone. I have developed this new habit of taking my own photos. Showing places behind wherever I go. This habit developed because I have never had photos of myself in the places that I visited in London during all this time.
Anyway avoiding the scene I passed the bridge and happened to
end up in Cannon Street. As soon as I entered the place, it hit me with a
memory from the past. I had been here, with my wife and our mutual friend on
our first visit to London. I still remember that trip. We came for the New
Year’s Eve, from Liverpool with very less money in our pockets. *sigh* … but, good old memories.
Anyway,
I was tired already, probably not in a mood of rambling anymore and turned
to my electronic map, noticing it would take almost fifty-six minutes to reach my
destination if I continue
walking. So I decided to find the bicycle stand from where I could hire. And in
no time I was standing in front of Starbucks
outlet in one of the buildings designed by SOM (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
- one of the largest and most influential
architecture, interior design, engineering, and urban planning firms in the
world). I developed my interest in this architectural type during my post-graduate course. Exposed metal enforcements with
glazing. The building had a strong character, for sure.
Well,
after having a cup of hot chocolate that I bought for 2.5 pounds, I continued
my journey. Memories from the trips to this city kept thrashing my concentration
all along, as I had visited for documentation of some buildings for the research
of my dissertation for my first year of the degree.
I saw a name written on a wall... the NEW LUTYANS and that
reminded me of the building that my tutor from university had asked me to find
and document through photographs for my paper (Color dichotomy inArchitecture). I still remembered the day, 3rd March 2013, when I came in
search of this building, couldn’t find anywhere at that time. But now I could
see the tinted glazing and yellow painted beams and columns of the complex. It didn’t
look that impressive to be honest, at first, but then no one knows what it
would be like after it gets completed.
I had reached my destination and it was time to let go the borrowed bicycle in one of the nearby stands that cost me two pounds, with some exceptions of course. I surely had not read the rules to ride these bikes and might have broken rules while cycling, but then do you think I would care as I was getting late to reach my endpoint. The best thing was that I was in SohoGarden Square. What I know about this place is that it was dwelling with artists from all groups. The streets were narrow, filled with trivial restaurants that were tempting, and some eye-catching bistros and takeaways. The environment seemed very native till I reached the Oxford Street. The premiere shopping street in the whole of London, that’s how it was mentioned to me by my dorm mate. I have been here before, I was there again, I am afraid I do not like it. After almost twenty minutes of walking I reached the last station, RIBA head office. As always I had problems in understanding the confusion regarding my qualification for Part III. I wonder what the fuss was about but then after dealing with my work I continued my journey towards the Regent's park, sat there for some time and rethinking about my future. After all London is famous for its parks too. It was almost 6 pm and I wanted to leave for the hostel now. I hired the bike (Barclays) through the Langham place, the same place where the BBC office is located, passing through the Oxford street again and ending up into a very crowded area. This was the Piccadilly Circus. Time to let go the bike again and continue on foot and as I did, the place reminded me of the stories that my mother had told me of the time when they were in the city during her prime days.
As I passed by the National Gallery, to my utmost surprise there was a huge purple cock standing as a piece of art on one of the strands in front of the arcade. This was the same strand that was a part of Antony Gormley’s project once. I saw the documentary last year. I sat on the stairs. The place was full of people from all the races. I stayed there for some time and then continued my journey towards the hostel. Not forgetting that I had to eat food, I needed something to survive and I was so hungry now that I started shivering, deciding to stop at McDonald’s at the Leicester Square, ready to take away during my trip. I reached the hostel at around 7pm. It was drizzling, and the Shard looked amazing, surrounded by clouds at the top.
After coming to the dorm I met this guy COSTAS from Greece. After a little chat I came to know that Costas was not very happy with work schedules in the city but he just had to do it to survive. He had been in UK for almost 4 years now. Mostly in Bristol, and Glasgow but now he was in London. He was the guy who holds lights and microphones during shoots. A short shabby guy, all tired up and willing to sleep.
So this was the story behind the whole day as I am writing
from the cinema room in the hostel.
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