There's No Place Like London!
Dec 9 2005 | Views 1105 |
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Last year, and this
year, we took an odd detour through London to Israel - we had the extra days,
so we might as well, we thought.
Basically, there are three reasons why a person travels to London:
1) Shopping
2) Sightseeing
3) Productions
I went to London with all three intentions:
1) shopping for Bollywood posters and CDs,
2) going to Indian communities such as Green Street, and
3) well, Bollywood movies do count as productions, right?
When I went last year, I was very unprepared, hoping to be able to hop into a taxi and having the driver take me to wherever may be best to do all three. Of all the plans my parents had for me, taxis travelling to vague destinations didn't make the list.
Nevertheless, fate had Bollywood right in my path, as you can see...
Here
That was in Madamme Toussade. I was trying to take a photo of the glamorous statue of Aishwarya you see on the right, when three people suddenly popped out and asked for volunteers. I tossed my jacket and camera to my father, and joined into a dance taken straight out of Bride and Prejudice.
It was certainly fun, but I have two left feet and will obviously not make my career in Bollywood through this. Thankfully, the pictures that my father took of me while dancing turned out awfully.
I did come out with a nice pack of bindis - one of which, by the dancers' insistence, was on my forehead, and remained there until the elements finally hacked away at it a couple of days later - I had forgotten about it.
A couple of days later my parents left me in a bookstore. Since I'm a writer, this was equivalent to leaving a child in a toystore. Within an hour I collected various books to the sum of 100 Pounds - half of which, interestingly enough, were set in India, and two of which were guides to learning Hindi. My parents weren't impressed. I did manage to come out with at least a couple of the books set in India, only to find that they were terribly written. However, still keen to shop for Bollywood paraphernalia, after my parents paid for the books i did manage to cling to, I whispered to the cashier that I was looking for Bollywood posters. By now I don't think I need to explain why I whispered. She grinned and in similarly hushed tones, suggested I go to Green Street. We continued this conversation for some five minutes until people began to stare. However, our flight departed that night and so I didn't have the time to go to Green Street.
That was all last year, and this year I had done some research. After asking on a forum I received a list of venues to go to, including a shop called Ganesha, which belonged to a former member, Jo*. And so I landed in london, and set out to see all the destinations. On the first night I decided to visit Ganesha and meet the distinguished Jo*. My parents didn't want me walking around London alone at night, so I had to drag my father along.
We arrived at Waterloo station.
Then we got lost.
It's interesting to note that nobody in London seems to be a resident there when you're lost.
Eventually, we did find the shop, after walking in a random direction for some time. My father would probably mention the freezing cold weather, a point which I shall omit because I, either because of my very thick jacket, or my determination, didn't feel cold at all.
Upon arrival to the shop, my father rushed to find a bathroom, while i was met by a different challenge: the door. One should think that I'd know how to open one, but obviously the difference between pushing and pulling is something I have to work on.
Upon entering the shop, I looked around. Eventually I mumbled to the blonde woman sitting behind the counter,
"Do you perchance know someone by the name of Jo?"
"Yes," she answered. "That's me."
I explained to her that I had heard about her and her shop on the bollywhat?! forum. She was very impressed. We spent some time chatting and exchanging tales, but soon our conversation dwindled to silence. During this silence, however, much thought was going on:
She was wondering what places she could recommend me to go.
I was wondering where I could find a tissue, and what to do about my nose until one was obtained.
After some more idle chat I went nextdoor to see their CD inspection.
Now here's what I love about London. Where else can one meet a person who looks Indian, sounds French and is in actual fact Polish? Well, that's Jo's wonderful companion, Joanne! We spoke for a while, and listened to CDs. I of course began singing along. At some point my father returned and stood in the corner, looking as though he felt very awkward. The fact that the shop sold Palestinian soaps obviously didn't help make him feel at home, either. Eventually he decided it was time to leave. Feeling guilty having spent so much time in the shop only chatting with the owners, I managed to modestly buy a couple of floating candles on my way out.
The next day I decided to go to Green Street. This time my father had decided I was old enough to go alone. My mother was too busy shopping. And so I set out! Green Street was very interesting, with posters (at long last, after years of searching, I find posters!) at a lovely price of 75 pence, Indian clothes from saris to salwars and this interesting sign.
Thereafter, I returned to Ganesha for some more advice about where to go. Instead, Jo and I spent the next two hours exchanging our tales - and as both of us were NDIs and writers, we had much to exchange - and staring at her SRK photos (which she had, by her own hands, taken!) But alack, again I had to depart to meet my parents.
The next day I didn't go out to an Indian community. I went to Oxford street, to a bookstore, and came out with what I've desired for a long time: a guide to learning Hindi. On the way I was stopped by a girl who insisted that I take a free stress-test. I probably wouldn't have, but the girl appeared Indian and was very cute, so I promised that I'd just go to the bookstore and come back to do the test. When I did return, I at first couldn't find the girl, and thus decided to move on. However, she was there, hiding behind a group of people.
"Hey, you! Sit down there!" she ordered, pointing to the tester. (I gather she had not obtained pleasing results herself)
"Ok," I shrugged. I was then to hold two rods attached to a meter, and think of the answers of questions that another person asked. Family, friends, work, where I wanted to live, etc. - nothing made the meter move. Eventually, in desperation the person asked to think of anyone. My mind flicked to Kashmirah. I chuckled.
"Aha! What were you just thinking?" the tester asked.
"Oh," I explained to her the story of Kashmirah, who wanted me to marry her daughter.
"And that causes you stress?" the tester asked.
"No."
We came to the conclusion that I was not stressed enough.
After escaping the stress-test, I returned to Ganesha once more to bid a final farewell to Jo. I then met the third person who ran the store, in passing - I may be mistaken, but I think his name was Carlos. Let me just say a few words about Ganesha, which is a really neat store - be sure to check out the website, www.ganesha.co.uk. You can also buy online. The address is also there. The easiest way, IMO is to take the tube (District line) to Blackfriars, cross the bridge and turn right. Keep going until you pass the OXO tower, and you'll find it there on Gabriel's Wharf.
Most of their products, which are all really wonderful, are from organisations that generally benefit society, such as the Nepal Leprosy Trust, SEWA and Calcutta Rescue et. al. They have a large collection of Bollywood CDs, including various Golden Oldies, and also have really cool bags covered in BW pictures, scarves, kurtas, Aishwarya Rai and SRK shirts, various candles, soaps and incense, notebooks, wallets and much, much more! Also, if you're bored in London, be sure to talk to Jo and she'll give you great advice on things to do - both involving Indian culture and modern art.
Just to give everyone a bit more of an idea, here's some photos of the shop...
The shop - outside
Wallets and more
Bags and purses
Basically, there are three reasons why a person travels to London:
1) Shopping
2) Sightseeing
3) Productions
I went to London with all three intentions:
1) shopping for Bollywood posters and CDs,
2) going to Indian communities such as Green Street, and
3) well, Bollywood movies do count as productions, right?
When I went last year, I was very unprepared, hoping to be able to hop into a taxi and having the driver take me to wherever may be best to do all three. Of all the plans my parents had for me, taxis travelling to vague destinations didn't make the list.
Nevertheless, fate had Bollywood right in my path, as you can see...
Here
That was in Madamme Toussade. I was trying to take a photo of the glamorous statue of Aishwarya you see on the right, when three people suddenly popped out and asked for volunteers. I tossed my jacket and camera to my father, and joined into a dance taken straight out of Bride and Prejudice.
It was certainly fun, but I have two left feet and will obviously not make my career in Bollywood through this. Thankfully, the pictures that my father took of me while dancing turned out awfully.
I did come out with a nice pack of bindis - one of which, by the dancers' insistence, was on my forehead, and remained there until the elements finally hacked away at it a couple of days later - I had forgotten about it.
A couple of days later my parents left me in a bookstore. Since I'm a writer, this was equivalent to leaving a child in a toystore. Within an hour I collected various books to the sum of 100 Pounds - half of which, interestingly enough, were set in India, and two of which were guides to learning Hindi. My parents weren't impressed. I did manage to come out with at least a couple of the books set in India, only to find that they were terribly written. However, still keen to shop for Bollywood paraphernalia, after my parents paid for the books i did manage to cling to, I whispered to the cashier that I was looking for Bollywood posters. By now I don't think I need to explain why I whispered. She grinned and in similarly hushed tones, suggested I go to Green Street. We continued this conversation for some five minutes until people began to stare. However, our flight departed that night and so I didn't have the time to go to Green Street.
That was all last year, and this year I had done some research. After asking on a forum I received a list of venues to go to, including a shop called Ganesha, which belonged to a former member, Jo*. And so I landed in london, and set out to see all the destinations. On the first night I decided to visit Ganesha and meet the distinguished Jo*. My parents didn't want me walking around London alone at night, so I had to drag my father along.
We arrived at Waterloo station.
Then we got lost.
It's interesting to note that nobody in London seems to be a resident there when you're lost.
Eventually, we did find the shop, after walking in a random direction for some time. My father would probably mention the freezing cold weather, a point which I shall omit because I, either because of my very thick jacket, or my determination, didn't feel cold at all.
Upon arrival to the shop, my father rushed to find a bathroom, while i was met by a different challenge: the door. One should think that I'd know how to open one, but obviously the difference between pushing and pulling is something I have to work on.
Upon entering the shop, I looked around. Eventually I mumbled to the blonde woman sitting behind the counter,
"Do you perchance know someone by the name of Jo?"
"Yes," she answered. "That's me."
I explained to her that I had heard about her and her shop on the bollywhat?! forum. She was very impressed. We spent some time chatting and exchanging tales, but soon our conversation dwindled to silence. During this silence, however, much thought was going on:
She was wondering what places she could recommend me to go.
I was wondering where I could find a tissue, and what to do about my nose until one was obtained.
After some more idle chat I went nextdoor to see their CD inspection.
Now here's what I love about London. Where else can one meet a person who looks Indian, sounds French and is in actual fact Polish? Well, that's Jo's wonderful companion, Joanne! We spoke for a while, and listened to CDs. I of course began singing along. At some point my father returned and stood in the corner, looking as though he felt very awkward. The fact that the shop sold Palestinian soaps obviously didn't help make him feel at home, either. Eventually he decided it was time to leave. Feeling guilty having spent so much time in the shop only chatting with the owners, I managed to modestly buy a couple of floating candles on my way out.
The next day I decided to go to Green Street. This time my father had decided I was old enough to go alone. My mother was too busy shopping. And so I set out! Green Street was very interesting, with posters (at long last, after years of searching, I find posters!) at a lovely price of 75 pence, Indian clothes from saris to salwars and this interesting sign.
Thereafter, I returned to Ganesha for some more advice about where to go. Instead, Jo and I spent the next two hours exchanging our tales - and as both of us were NDIs and writers, we had much to exchange - and staring at her SRK photos (which she had, by her own hands, taken!) But alack, again I had to depart to meet my parents.
The next day I didn't go out to an Indian community. I went to Oxford street, to a bookstore, and came out with what I've desired for a long time: a guide to learning Hindi. On the way I was stopped by a girl who insisted that I take a free stress-test. I probably wouldn't have, but the girl appeared Indian and was very cute, so I promised that I'd just go to the bookstore and come back to do the test. When I did return, I at first couldn't find the girl, and thus decided to move on. However, she was there, hiding behind a group of people.
"Hey, you! Sit down there!" she ordered, pointing to the tester. (I gather she had not obtained pleasing results herself)
"Ok," I shrugged. I was then to hold two rods attached to a meter, and think of the answers of questions that another person asked. Family, friends, work, where I wanted to live, etc. - nothing made the meter move. Eventually, in desperation the person asked to think of anyone. My mind flicked to Kashmirah. I chuckled.
"Aha! What were you just thinking?" the tester asked.
"Oh," I explained to her the story of Kashmirah, who wanted me to marry her daughter.
"And that causes you stress?" the tester asked.
"No."
We came to the conclusion that I was not stressed enough.
After escaping the stress-test, I returned to Ganesha once more to bid a final farewell to Jo. I then met the third person who ran the store, in passing - I may be mistaken, but I think his name was Carlos. Let me just say a few words about Ganesha, which is a really neat store - be sure to check out the website, www.ganesha.co.uk. You can also buy online. The address is also there. The easiest way, IMO is to take the tube (District line) to Blackfriars, cross the bridge and turn right. Keep going until you pass the OXO tower, and you'll find it there on Gabriel's Wharf.
Most of their products, which are all really wonderful, are from organisations that generally benefit society, such as the Nepal Leprosy Trust, SEWA and Calcutta Rescue et. al. They have a large collection of Bollywood CDs, including various Golden Oldies, and also have really cool bags covered in BW pictures, scarves, kurtas, Aishwarya Rai and SRK shirts, various candles, soaps and incense, notebooks, wallets and much, much more! Also, if you're bored in London, be sure to talk to Jo and she'll give you great advice on things to do - both involving Indian culture and modern art.
Just to give everyone a bit more of an idea, here's some photos of the shop...
The shop - outside
Wallets and more
Bags and purses
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