Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Oh! Thames - Father Thames

"Oh, Tiber! Father Tiber!
To whom the Romans pray,
A Roman's life, a Roman's arms,
Take thou in charge this day!"

Like what Horatius [verse LVIX]prayed to Tiber, i did that to Thames today.
From my 21st floor window looking at the Thames, the monument, the gherkin, the tower bridge, the canarywharf on my left and the london eye to my right.

I am back to office after abt 6 weeks of working from home, since i broke my metatarsals 2,3,4 on june 4th in a competitive game of football.[Will meet you with a seperate post on my NHS experiences.]

One word. The city has changed. The city where, the weekend starts on thursday afternoon, stretches till tuesday afternoon, the pubs overflow from 5 in the afternoon. The pep atmosphere of the city which rejuvenates in the morning was not there this morning.

The railway bashing, which invariably opens a conversation with a co-passenger waiting for a delayed train is missing. People are dug deep into Metro.

All the regular friendly faces which i used to see for the past one year, were not recognizable at all. Yes, all those nice goaties have become clean shaven.

I had been to brick lane for lunch. The bangladeshi area was unusually tight lipped. The fun and smile on those at the counter was not to be seen. The bollywood songs that are usually played were swtiched off.

Well it definitely is not an illusion, for i am talking abt tangible observations.
What do i call it? Mourning for the victims? Becoming serious about life? Showing a brave face?
whatever it may be, one thing was sure, it was not fear.


5 Comments:

At Wed Jul 13, 09:56:00 AM CDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ellaam Konjam Naalaikku dhaan... freeyavidunga

ioiio

 
At Wed Jul 13, 10:58:00 AM CDT, Blogger Kasthuri said...

As ioiio says, I guess things will be normal soon. A saying goes "We do not remember days; we remember only moments".

 
At Wed Jul 13, 02:08:00 PM CDT, Blogger AF said...

its because of the shock..
The Asian communities are scared due to the arrests I suppose. But all will pass....

 
At Thu Jul 14, 03:27:00 AM CDT, Blogger Chakra said...

Was in London yesterday. Happened to go past Aldgate East where one of the blasts happened last week. Though life appeared to have returned to normal, whenever those familiar sirens of ambulance & police are heard, people look up & notice with a sort of anxiety in their eyes. London might have handled the aftermath of terror admirably, but it has left an indelible imprint in the minds of the people. Incidents of last Thursday has definitely shaken them.

 
At Thu Jul 14, 09:02:00 AM CDT, Blogger TJ said...

yes, hopefully things comeback to normalcy ASAP.
It is also undeniable that there has been a cnsiderable change in the mindset of the people on how they perceive the overall safety.

 

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