With Love from London

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I must have been in my dreams…I was on British Airways Flight 139 from Mumbai to London with the whole new group of guys who have joined a leading MNC bank for migrating some accounting functions from USA. As first step, before we start we will be given training on Investment banking at exclusive classroom training in Trinity Towers office of that MNC in central London. We have been put up in the luxurious Thistle Towers Hotel in Central London for a period of week. During this week, I have the chance to visit all those famous London city attractions, after the training. I will see Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, London Eye, Tower Bridge, Lords Cricket Ground, Harrods, Trafalgar Square, St. Paul Cathedral and the famous Wimbledon!! Am I in dreams???NO…I was actually in BA flight. I realized as the Air Hostess asked me what would I like to have for drinks??

I had some terrible professional experiences at my previous organization, Eserve International Limited in early part of 2004. I cannot withstand the politics which made me look out for a alternate placement. Thanks to fortunes and I landed up in the pilot batch of IB Accounting & Financial Control migration of Phase I from UK & USA. As a prerequisite for joining, I was required to fly to London for in depth classroom training on the subject matter and then move on to Delaware in USA for on the job training. I got more than what I hoped for! Apart from a decent package, I have got myself a chance to visit all those places on the face of this earth, which I always dreamt of. As I was identified for US migrations, my first challenge was to get the US visa. I never realized till next year that how difficult it is to get one. There are only a handful of guys who are lucky enough to get a US visa and I was luckiest one may be, as I got it for 10 years, in exchange of just 2 simple questions.Aftre getting the visa, we had a break of 10 days to spend time with our family & friends, as we wont meet them for next 3 months. I spent this time packing & meeting my new sweetheart Madhuri. It has just started on May 9 and I got this call to go abroad. In fact, I look at it this way….I got two beautiful things at a time….my sweetheart & my new job. The tickets were booked for 2 am BA flight from Mumbai to London. It was a proud moment for my parents. They were happy but at the same time, I can see that concern as to whether I will be able to manage myself in alien country. Tai, Mai and Bhaoji came to see my off the airport. It was first time that anybody from my family was going abroad and that too to London & US. It was a very proud moment for me!! I am going to miss my family & my sweetheart It was mixture of emotions in my heart as I move inside the plane.

It was my first time in plane, so I was pretty excited. I availed of all the facilities & food during the flight. It was around 2 pm when we came out of Heathrow to be picked up by a special transport arrangement made to take us to Thistle Tower…our abode for next whole week. In flight I have started off well in my personal relationship with my new colleagues, Pracheer, Kamlesh & Shailaja. We were so keen to explore London that the only thing that we did after reaching our rooms in hotel is drop the luggage & get fresh. We were out on our journey in flat 15 minutes of reaching London. We were as clueless about London as a London local will be to Mumbai. But we know to talk and that’s what we did. Our task was to find out this mobile shop from where Pracheer’s brother has bought his Vodafone mobile. We wanted to get it fixed as it was giving some trouble operating. After getting the directions from the Concierge Desk of the Hotel, we started out to find that shop. It was difficult, but we did find it finally. It was first time that I traveled by the subway. We boarded at London bridge station after purchasing a 5 pound day pass. It never occurred to us that this adventure is going to set the mood for next whole week.

Next day was our first day at office. Office was barely 10 minutes walking distance from Thistle. And it was pleasant summer time in London. We used to enjoy our walk to the office to every bit. JP Morgan has invited Miss Clair Venters to share her expertise on Investment banking with all of us. The session was scheduled from 9 am to 5 pm. Clair is an expert at her subject matter and she did not left any stone unturned to ensure that we know all that we should be knowing before we commence our on the job training. One of the things that we struggled thru this training is the food.
We used to have a stomach full of breakfast at Thistle consisting of a fruit juice, a toast and lots of fruits. Lunch was at office. But it was a typical English lunch. Baked chicken and vegetables. I cannot swallow anything like that. This made us find out an alternate in Hotel Rajasthan & Cost cutter - Asian food chain shop. We used to grab some samosas at Cost cutter and then have dinner at Rajasthan Hotel. So the schedule was fixed. Get up at 7 am; give calls to each other to ensure that everybody is awake. Have bath, then meet up the hotel restaurant to have breakfast…leave for office by 8.45 am. Attend training by CV till 5 pm….come to hotel….get refreshed and roam around till late night!!

Each day we used to jot down the places that we visit and plan accordingly. First day we covered Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, where the famous Kohinoor is kept. These monuments were next to our hotel. In fact my room offers a spectacular view of Tower Bridge. Watching it morning, noon & night was my favorite pass time when at hotel. Also on day one which was a Monday we visited the Westminitster district of London. This area is known as Parliamentary area of London and has several government buildings in the vicinity, namely Big Ben, 10 Downing Steer, Houses of Parliament. Even Buckingham Palace & St. Paul Cathedral is located in close proximity of this area. Beautiful gardens are another attraction of this area. It was a wonderful experience walking thru these lush green gardens, enjoying the sites of this heritage British architecture. Next day we decided to visit the local area. The nearest attraction to our hotel, apart from Tower Bridge was London Monument. London Monument is a 50 meter tall structure erected in the memory of those who died in the Fire of London in Year 1904.We also did some window shopping at some souvenirs shops. Hotel Rajasthan used to be our last stop each day before we return back to our hotel. Myself & Pracheer’s dining expenses used to be around 20 pounds on average, which we used share equally. It was in London that I made myself used to the habit of asking for bills for everything we shop, eat or spend. This is required to substantiate our expenses for the tour in office. In all I have received $ 4250 (approx. Rs.200, 000) as our per diem and we are required to explain with bills as to where this amount is spent to calculate our tax liability, if any.

The whole week from Monday to Friday went like this. We almost walked thru London in all these 5 days, visiting every possible tourist attraction. Now we had just 2 days left to visit places which are far off. All of us had their own choices, but ultimately we agreed on spending our Saturday together. The itinerary includes Lords Cricket Ground, Harrods, Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park & Bond Street & last London Eye. But first in line was Change of Guards at Buckingham Palace. It starts at around 9am each Saturday, so we started off a little early. After all we wanted to make the best of these 2 days. Change of Guards is function held outside Queen’s palace & involves handing over of charge from one segment of soldiers to another. Thousands of people gather outside the palace each week to see this parade. It was a joy to watch it. From thereon we moved on to Lords. It was a fairly long travel & almost took us 90 minutes to reach Lords. Unfortunately it was noon time and ticket windows were closed. So we missed the chance to go inside the ground, but watching it from outside was an equally enjoyable experience. We grabbed a quick lunch there and moved onto Hyde Park. It’s a huge park spread over several acres of land. We were tired after walking for so long and what better place to relax than Hyde Park. Sitting there we reviewed our plans for rest of the day. It was almost 4 pm by now. I insisted on visiting Wimbledon but my friends and colleagues told me that it’s too far and we don’t have that much of time left for the day. I was still not convinced. We approached Victoria Station after leaving Hyde Park with the intention of finding out how long is Wimbledon from there. The help desk at station told me that it’s indeed far and we won’t be able to make it in time to visit the Museum. So I postponed my plans for the next day. From thereon it was again back to Westminster, where we bought some souvenirs. It includes a set of Toasters, A pill box for dad, some London postcards.

It was almost 7 pm by now. And we didn’t want to miss the ride in famous London eye. It’s arguable the biggest merry go round in the world & offers breathtaking view of city of London. Myself & Kamlesh quickly stood in the queue & got our tickets… London Eye truly offers the best view…Each observatory is almost of 15 by 12 square feet egg shaped cube & can accommodate almost 15 people. It moves at very slow pace so that each one can enjoy the views to the fullest. On its way down, at approximately 270 degrees , they have installed a camera which clicks your snap which you can pick up from the counter on your way to exit. I took a copy of mine for 7 pounds!! Now we were tired & hungry. So we stopped by our regular joint - Cost Cutter. It was time for yet another samosa dinner & soda. It was almost 9 pm when we were back in hotel rooms. Sleeping in my bed, enjoying the view of Tower Bridge, I was preparing the plans for my last day in London!!

Next day I got up early & called up my colleagues as well. I had a quick bath & breakfast at hotel restaurant. My itinerary was fixed for the day. It was destination “Wimbledon”. Pracheer was not well as he had hurt his knee the other day. So I asked Kamlesh & he agreed. Wimbledon is situated on the outskirts of London. We have to change the Tubes three times before we reach the nearest station. Even after getting out of station it was a good long walk of half an hour before we reached the gates of Wimbledon. I could feel the waves of joy slashing thru my mind. The mother of all tennis tournaments….the place which I never used to miss on TV…the place which has seen greatest of tennis champs…was right in front of me. Since it was off season, only the museum & guided tours of tennis courts was open for visitors. I was quick to buy the combo of Museum & Guided tour for 22 pounds. Kamlesh was not that keen on visiting the courts so he didn’t accompanied me & left on his own after visiting the museum. I was at the peak of excitement. I enjoyed watching all the memorabilia preserved at the Wimbledon Museum….Martina’s shoes, Borg’s Racket, replicas of Wimbledon Trophies & many other things. They have a small section dedicated to each of the player who has left his mark on this place. Martina, Borg, McEnroe, Becker, Steffi, Sampras & lots of others. They also have a TV set placed at each corner which plays clips from the past games. Photography inside is not allowed, but there are always tricks to do that!! The Guided Tours of Courts takes you to all the side courts & inside the Centre Court & Court No 1. They are scheduled every one hour from 11 am to 4 pm. The Guide is generally a person who has been associated with the tournament in the past in some respectable capacity. The one that we got was indeed good. When he took us to the Centre Court, he almost revived the famous battles of the Court, namely Borg Vs McEnroe, Becker Vs Edberg, Steffi Vs Martina. It was wonderful being there, as I try to soak in the environment in my mind. It was truly an unforgettable experience!!

It was almost 3 pm when I left Wimbledon. It took me almost an hour to reach Thistle. But the journey was pleasant. Back in hotel, my colleagues were getting ready to visit Cyrus, one of our colleagues who were suffering from high fever for last couple of days. It was the last opportunity for us to visit him & say bye bye to our colleagues who are going to get trained in London Wall office. These guys were staying at St. Marks apartments in London Suburbs, the official residence of JP Morgan visitors in London. St. Marks has huge rooms, that’s the reason why each apartment was being shared by 2/3 peoples. It was a good get together. We ate, we took snaps…it was good fun altogether!! We left St. Marks at around 9 pm & took a tube back to London Bridge station. From thereon probably it was the last walk for us on the Tower Bridge as we will be catching the next morning flight to Philadelphia. The last night in bed, I wished the stay in London should have been greater so that I can visit some more places. But anyways we have made the best of whatever time we spend in London & I had no regrets. I recalled all those special moments of last week, all the wonderful places that I have visited. It was great fun!!

Next morning, we checked out at 7 am. The pick up service was waiting for us outside the hotel. The Mercedes dropped us at Heathrow airports terminal. We got our boarding passes & got on the BA 69.It was end of first chapter, but the beginning of next one on our journey of dreams!!

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