Tuesday, December 19, 2006

The chilly winds...

... of England seem to have the sharpest bite of them all. A week into the UK and I already feel the woollen I have will hopelessly fail to insulate me – when I am outside, that is. In the inside of the house, the office, and the mall I visit in between walking from one to the other, there are heaters working tirelessly to make the people feel warm and cozy.

The walk to the office is a pleasant one – early in the morning, thanks to a disciplined colleague who works smart – the shops in the mall are just about opening as we walk past them, the heavenly smell of cookies and bread emanates from the brunch shop, a couple of people nod a silent “Good Morning”, as we walk the entire diagonal length of the mall, window shopping the huge stores, brandishing their merchandise at a re-worked price for Christmas.

One desk beside me, the large glass windows (or should I say walls) stretch themselves over the parking lot, and beyond it, one can see a palatial structure with a dome – that’s the Indian restaurant, Jaipur – the closest to authentic Indian food you get around Milton Keynes comes from these kitchens, they say. One can also see the traffic emerging out of the railway station, which is just in front of the office building. The cars, I won’t even talk about them – BMWs are driven as taxis. More land is allotted to the parking lot than the actual office space. The sun, when it shines, bounces off the glass windows, and reflects off the shiny roofs of the cars below.

Outside, the leaves have bid goodbye to the trees, and those which have managed to hold fast have turned a rusty brown. People walk around hugging their dark overcoats tighter around themselves. You can’t make out who is smoking unless you look at their hands and find a cigarette between their fingers. The landscape outside has a touch of wilderness with all the brown and the earth. Even so, the guy next door, scraping frozen dew off his car windows, brings hope that it might be a white Christmas after all.

10 comments:

Chitra said...

Photos please??

Shruthi said...

ok... I left the comment on Orkut before I read this post... keep it up :)

Anonymous said...

Keep urself warm pal.....the magic potion shud do the trick... :)

Viky said...

Chitra: All in good time. I will upload them soon. :)
Shruthi: Wokay wokay. Swords are drawn for this weekend !!!! ;)
Goks: The potions here are truly magical, I tell you... :D

Author said...

Been away for a while from your blog. Did not know you were in UK.
I am going to be UK in two weeks too. Dreading the cold already checking the temperatures from weather.com !
[I will be located in Rugby, Warwickshire though]
Hope we get to meet in UK. Its much easier to travel from Rugby to Milton Kaynes than Bangalore to Pune :)
Shastri

Viky said...

Shastri, Welcome!! Will you be coming to MK? Public transport might not be available on 25-26 though.

Viky said...

In two weeks alwa...then by New Year's... :)

Anonymous said...

Henge ayte maga mayyi? Thannige aita?! heh heh!

Anonymous said...

Tried Alexander's battle cry over d weekend.....was an amazing one..... :)

Author said...

Thanks for the welcome note :)
Nope, I will not be coming to MK. I just said if I decided to meet you, its easier in UK :)
I am there on 5th Jan. Just after the new year's chaos.