History

The graphic representation on the airlines passenger information system of the map of the world and the flight path showed how the sun was setting in Africa and parts of India as we closed in on London . The sun had set on the British Empire !
The weather report on page two of The Daily Mail forecasted two degrees in London for the whole of the week , with a maximum temperature of five degrees and four hours of sunlight thrown in . Whoever coined the term ‘trecherous London weather ’ , was right . We would soon find out .

It is true that once upon a time , the sun never set on the British Empire . The Empire span from the East Asian countries to the Australian continent and most of Africa and to the discovered lands of Americas and Canada . It is also true that they amassed vast wealth over the passage of centuries and its former colonies are still called ‘commonwealth ’ .That even much later in the years , they attacked Argentina in a Falklands war or recently jointly ran through Iraq shows that their conquering spirit still exists. History and culture is part of most of the European cities . Spanish explorers discovered parts of the world , Portugese sailors uncovered cities as far as India from around the African continent , Romans conquered many countries , Greeks fought amongst themselves prompting Alexander’s expedition , even the landlocked Moghuls invaded India and spread their religion and architecture .With six thousand kilometers of coastline , India never put a single ship out to sea , never once attempted to reach a country ,never attempted to go to any country and challenge its beliefs or understand the world . Raja Raja Chola , the only king who did so , came back half way from Ceylon when one of his ships collapsed . We witnessed a Anglo-Dutch war in our country . Imagine two countries fighting for control of India . Our history , therefore , is reactive history . We reacted to Moghuls , Portugese , French , Dutch , Britishers , Spaniards and now react to the Americans .
That is was makes London interesting as a destination , drawing people from all countries who can drop in to see a piece of their own history in the city. A Spanish Armada ship , the Kohinoor diamond , the sword of Tipu Sultan , houses of authors from all over the world who stayed here from Rabindranath tagore to Shakespeare .
Thousands of years of culture mark everything in the London , unlike other world cities like New York which is just a boiling cauldron of commerce and capitalism . It is to their credit that they created most of the educational and political systems across the cities they ruled in . How on earth would such a sparsely populated country dream of ruling over most of civilized world is as amazing as it is mystifying . Even today , as New York stands as the ultimate destination for any enterprise , London has reinvented itself to be a world city worthy of a visit . Its transport systems are created to serve the needs of twenty million people everyday ,a number that’s thrice its seven million residents ,
Walking down different lanes in London gives a feeling of exhilaration not felt in any other world city , even New York . Even though 5th Avenue and Manhattan are great walks with its brilliant facades and colourful shopfronts , Oxford street is better . More organized , more stylish and definitely more expensive . People dress well, there’s a sense of fashion . Women are pretty , impeccably dressed and extremely perfect with their lissome profiles . The chill winter breeze also makes them wear high leather boots and loosely wrapped around mufflers .
There’s also a sense of content around people . They are peaceful , satisfied and happy .Even blacks here dress well , unlike the ones in New York or San Fransisco , whose stench can be felt from far . They wear breaded hair , torn jeans and worn threaded sneakers whether in New York or Minneapolis , not in London though . Here , they carry themselves very well .
Leisceter Square and its theatre headquarters is an amazing place to spend any leisurely evening . It’s buzzing with activity till early hours of the next day .We caught the play ‘Phantom of the opera ‘ at Her Majesty’s Theatre , now in its twentieth year and it was a packed house .
The cabs of London are fresh and different , all of them look freshly painted and clean. Specially made by a firm called London Taxi Industries in acontract from the government , they cost a good thirty fve thousand pounds , very expensive. Also , unlike elsewhere , the public cabs cost more per commute than local dial-a-cab services .
There are no cops on london streets , or atleast I couldn’t see one the whole week , except the few gun-totting ones patrolling outside Scotland yard with its no-window building . Instead , I caught a lot of close-circuit cameras all over London . Streets from Kings Cross to lanes in Hampstead , the Tube , Oxford Streets , everywhere .Guess the cops keep a hawk-eye view on London’s happenings without being present . 221B Baker street , the lane housing the famous detective Sherlock Holmes had a close circuit camera too .
‘Ridiculous , Watson . That’s no way to keep an eye on crime ’, the purist Holmes would have shouted , had he seen such technology take over the sheer thrill of deduction .
It was very cold .It was the last week of February and summer was nowhere in sight . The sun rose early and set by afternoon , a chilly breeze swept through most parts of the day . It snowed in the afternoons and it rained heavily for four hours the day before we left . As we walked through Hyde park towards Buckingham palace , it snowed again .And just as we had the time of our life in Spearmint Rhino , the gentleman’s club , and emerged at one am in the morning , it drizzled all the way for fifteen minutes as we crossed streets to get to the Italian restaurant on the other side . Half the pond in Hampstead Heath was frozen and the other half had swans basking in the mild morning sun .
Must say , the weather did have us baffled .

Fact is London doesn’t play a role in the world theatre anymore is ample proof , no global businesses are British , no bog brands are British , they don’t win soccer world cups , cricket world cups , Ashes , they don’t export anything , they send forces wherever Americans do , their move to make Euro the common currency has fallen flat on their face with France saying no ,none of their banks are present in most parts of the world , the queen is forgotten , nothing British matters anymore. London is just plan history .
Yet , for that alone , it still is a great place to be .

As Dr.Samuel Johnson says ,

When a man is tired of London , he is tired of Life ;
For there is in London , all that life can afford .