Remember, Remember

29th of July 2009. Remember, remember the 29th of July 2009.

There are certain things my MDI classmates in London, who have gone back to India are and those who would be doing so in the coming months would be missing. High in that list are the rather generous display of skin and the sexy-looking automobiles, both of which almost always elicited oohs and aahs. Also the clean streets, cleaner air and the cleanest parks were well appreciated. I am not sure if I would really be bothered about these things. But I would certainly miss the London pigeons, my heroes.

Talking about the magnificent species, I must share a particular incident I had the privilege to witness the other day. There were two ladies walking and there was this big, fat pigeon ambling towards them in the opposite direction. The two parties approached the point of collision. And then the most amazing thing happened. The pigeon wouldn't change its course and the two ladies had to step aside and make way for the majestic beast. (Trust me. I am not making this up). I was astounded and at that moment my respect level for the bird soared at a staggering high. Ha. This wasn't plain laziness. This wasn't plain carelessness. This was much more that that. This was outright arrogance and snobbery, bordering on condescension. And this begs the question, I posed in one of my earlier posts regarding Pluto. Does size matter?

I would also miss the references to The Queen. [ Did you know that the national anthem of UK starts with 'God Save The Queen'? And a number of products, including the Ferry dish washing liquid in my kitchen, prominently display the message 'By appointment to Her Majesty, The Queen'. ] Ha. Fascinating, isn't it?

Did I mention that I would also miss the insanely amazing double chocolate chip cookies at Subway, the delightful ducks at Hamstead Heath and the moody London weather.

Boy, am I a becoming a victim of the human emotion of attachment or what? Oh Brilliance, where have thou disappeared?

29th, it finally is. 29th of July 2009 is when I would be flying back to India. 29/7/2009. The jerk in me is making me emphasize the date, as if it were something one would need to take note of. Remember, remember the 29th of July 2009.

For certain reasons I won't go into, I am feeling quite worthless and my misplaced sense of pride and ego is hurt quite bad. So I now resort to my usual coping mechanism of making tall claims to make myself feel better. Here I go.

1) I have become a very skilful and a highly impactful football player now. Not that I was a bad player earlier, but I now play like someone 'who one doesn't get to see everyday'. I think I can get away with this claim. Tushar has only recently learned how to use his email account. It would take him ages to understand the concept of a blog and comment on it. Ikam, please refrain from sharing your opinion on this.

2) The next time I come to this country, it would be for accepting knighthood from The Queen.

So until then, it is a 'Royal' goodbye to the United Kingdom.

Do you think, my second claim is unrealistic? Do you? Do you? Think again. Ha.

I would like to thank my good friend, Chinmay who shared an interesting new dimension on the 'Figin Index'. As a token of my appreciation I shall present you the first copy of my book, "Why the frog shouldn't leave the well", specially autographed by yours truly, Sir Madhu Varma.

Anyway, whatever.

Not ta da. TA DA.