No Rush, No Blur – Just London
London is a city where the moment waits, and the moment runs. This city encourages both the deliberate gaze as well as the quick fire which is just another way of saying that London lets you choose your pace. Photography lives in the slow walk of seeing as well as in the quick leap of...
Moonlit Murmurs of the Metropolis – London
London at night is no longer in a rush. Not a hush really but you can find yourself hearing whispers through glowing windows, reflections in the river, and even the traffic breathes slower, steadier, revealing mysteries that are not possible to see in the day. One falls in love even with London at dusk when...
Luring London – The City’s Playful Public Art Trails
London surprises me. Every time. This is one city that doesn’t just wear its history on its sleeve but paints it across pavements, balances it on rooftops, and hides it in plain sight. Every time I have stepped out of my home in London, I have stepped into a story told in sculpture and colour....
Kwick Wits and Kryptic Codes of London Cabbies
Cabbies are not the same everywhere. I remember the drivers of the iconic kaali-Peeli taxis of Delhi who loved to honk incessantly, tailgated other cars, used a full beam at night, played loud filmi music, and began every ride with a sly smile and an apology: ‘The meter isn’t working.’ London cabbies cannot be crowned...
Jump In, Hold Tight – A Joyride Through London’s Cab Culture
Wodehouse spares no one, not even the iconic cab-walas of London. The black cabs and their drivers have inspired the flavor of a million jokes but P G Wodehouse in ‘Right Ho, Jeeves’ considers even hailing a cab feel like someone entering the arena of Mortal Combat… and I quote: ‘I weighed the matter for...
Inhaling London, One Poem at a Time
London is a bustling metropolis with everything one can imagine about, and these are not limited to inventories in stores and must-see lists of tourists. There is a lot of rhythm beneath the city’s skin that is way beyond the capabilities of the steel veins and loops of cables that are constantly pulsating. The poetry...
Heartbeats of London – Feathers, Fur, and Friendship
Ducks, swans, pigeons, and squirrels here in London are as much an attraction for tourists as Tower Bridge, Soho, Buckingham Palace, Kensington, or even the numerous art galleries can ever aspire to be. A handful of birds and animals have helped shape London’s identity by influencing art, literature, tourism, and conservation efforts. I am not...
Guardians of London’s green havens
We have been visiting London since the mid-nineties and so our love for the ducks, swans, pigeons, and squirrels of London has grown over time. It was not easy as many Indians, like us, might shake their heads in dismay and say: “Forget pigeons and squirrels. They are a nuisance. And we have had too...
Filmy London: The City That Lives in Bollywood’s Heart
Bollywood too is enchanted with London. Over one hundred Bollywood films have been shot in London and central London has been a backdrop for most. I remember seeing Tower Bridge, Hyde Park, and Buckingham Palace in a few films. This city of dreams has helped our filmmakers in their quest for showing not just endless...
Epic encounters – Indians who fell in love with London
Touchdown at Heathrow and the first realization that pulls the quilts off the drowsy mind is that it is time for the subconscious to expect unfamiliar accents. The subconscious remains bewildered for the first few minutes but then, as is with most literate Indians, it eases into a different mode and marches along with the...
Dramatic London – Dancing clouds and whispering lights
There is hidden magic in the ever-changing London skies that turn it into a potent Muse. No wonder there is poetry all around. From poetry on the Underground to poets on hire overground, so to say. It is as if the skies over London have just one aim – defy the grey! Not just the...
Changing face of London: From curiosity to inclusion
London was a fine city even in the mid-nineties. One could spot tourists from India wearing lovely western dresses. They generally conversed in English and most of them claimed to be from Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Madras, or Bangalore. This obviously meant that most people who were not from India naturally assumed that the rest of...
