London 2005

I haven’t been blogging the last 6-7 weeks. This is partly because I’ve been averaging 1 book or movie per day, but mostly because I ran out of things to say. I will start again soon. In the meantime, this is an announcement I heard when travelling on the Jubilee line. (The train had halted at North Greenwich.) “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re being held at this station for a while. This is because, you’re not going to believe this, but we’re slightly early! We’re not due at North Greenwich for another 60 seconds. Once again, I apologise for the delay, which is because we’re early. ...

I was travelling on the Jubilee line, just pulling into Stratford (the last stop), when I heard this announcement. “The next station is Stratford, where this train terminates. Thank you for travelling on the Jubilee line, and I hope you have a very pleasant evening.” (pause) “Unless, of course, you were the person who pulled the passenger alarm at Westminster, in which case I don’t care what kind of an evening you have.” ...

I had declared 30th May 2005 as my longest day. Air India proved me wrong. My longest day was 18 Feb 2006. I didn’t plan to fly Air India to Chennai in the first place. British Airways had more convenient timings and a similar fare. But I clicked on the wrong button, and didn’t realise until a few days before the flight that I was on the Air India, and that the flight left at 8:45am. ...

Had tea at the Ritz today. Initially, after reading that “Gentlemen are politely requested to keep their jackets and ties on during tea”, my reaction was rather like Calvin’s. But the tea (Earl Grey) was outstanding. So were the scones, sandwiches and desserts. Although most people were ladies above 60, the younger ones were among the most beautiful I’ve seen in London.

Innocent in London. LONDON (Reuters): - A London underground train station was evacuated and part of a main east-west line closed in a security alert on Thursday, three weeks after suicide bombers killed 52 people on the transport network, police said. A Transport Police spokeswoman said Southwark station was closed and Jubilee Line services suspended between Waterloo and Canary Wharf in the east London business district. This Reuters story was written while the police were detaining me in Southwark tube station and the bomb squad was checking my rucksack. When they were through, the two explosive specialists walked out of the tube station smiling and commenting nice laptop. The officers offered apologies on behalf of the Metropolitan Police. Then they arrested me. ...

I need to get used to the British way of responding with “No” when they really agree with you. For example, in response to “The weather’s not looking good,” I would say “Yeah.” The British say “No.” (No, it isn’t.) It’s a bit jarring – feels like they’re disagreeing. For instance, “London isn’t expensive.” “No.” (what? you’re saying it’s expensive?) “I don’t have a ticket.” “No.” (what? you’re telling me I have a ticket?) ...

I got on to a taxi at the station. As usual, I sat in the front. When the engine was turned on, it started making loud siren noises. “Oh, you have to put your seatbelts on, you see,” the driver said. So, I did. “It’s really annoying,” he continued. “You’d think it’d shout a few times and then shut up, but no, it just goes on and on.” “Well, good isn’t it,” I countered, “if it’s the law to have your seatbelts on if you’re sitting in the front?” ...

I cross the prime meridien almost every day. I live 0 degrees 5 minutes east of the prime meridien. I travel to Liverpool Street usually, which is 0 degrees 5 minutes west of the prime meridien. The station closest to the meridien, on my route, is Stratford, which stretches from 7 seconds to 17 seconds west of the meridien. Of course, crossing the prime meridien has no time-zone related significance like the international date line. But it does mean that I travel to the western hemisphere and back every day. ...

I went to Waterstones at Oxford Street to see the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. There was a party the previous night, with all the fanfare associated with a previous night. But things seemed fairly quiet when I was there. The usual crowd at Oxford Street, and the usual crowd at Waterstones. I already knew who dies in the sixth book. I couldn’t help spotting it as I was reading some blog. Since the suspense was already spoilt, I opened to the last few pages, and ended up learning who the Half-Blood Prince was. ...

I met Leonard Payne, The Priest, Andrea Casalotti and Scott Caplan at the London Marketing Soiree. Quite a diverse bunch of people. Leonard quoted Seth Godin on something neither he nor I will never forget. They say, if a website is well designed, people will find what they want. That’s not true. Think of the visitors as monkeys, wearing a ‘Big Red Fez’, going itchy on the keyboard. What’s the one thing on the monkey’s mind? ...

We had a conference call planned at 8:00am. Reva was to join in from India. We got on to the call, and were done by 8:40am. 9:10am: SMS. Waited in conference now off to lunch 9:56am: Mail. You didnt initiate the call! 10:03am: Reply. I guess you dialled in at 9am UK time. We had the call at 8am. 3:17pm: Mail. I dialled at 8 GMT = 13.30 IST ? Correct? 3:19pm: Reply. Ah, no. We’re 4.5 hours ahead. 3:25pm: Mail. Great Britain is one hour ahead of GMT during summer! 3:53pm: Reply. Yeah, you’re right – most people don’t realise Greenwich isn’t always on Greenwich Mean Time :-)

There are explosions all over London. We are fine. Comments Sri 7 Jul 2005 2:24 pm: Nice way to let your family Krishnan 7 Jul 2005 4:14 pm: Hi Anand…The six ways of reading a book for free link is not working. Can u pls reload the link S Anand 7 Jul 2005 4:45 pm: Did I have a link like that? Where? Ram 8 Jul 2005 2:15 am: Those who are using IE may get a false icon saying it as a broken link,but with Firefox it works fine S Anand 8 Jul 2005 5:44 am: Guys, what link are you talking about!? Anonymous Hero 8 Jul 2005 7:22 am: I am using Firefox but the link is not working Ram. Can you tell me how it worked for you? S Anand 8 Jul 2005 8:47 am: If this is a hoax on me, it is the best I have seen so far! Anonymous Hero 8 Jul 2005 10:12 am: From my side, yes… I saw the other two comments and thought to myself, “Mate, that looks like a nice way to pull a fast one on Anand’ :-) S Anand 8 Jul 2005 10:59 am: Well, seems like a day of hoaxes. I got a mail from a colleague in Finance asking me not to reclaim VAT. I never even tried! Ram 9 Jul 2005 3:44 pm: From where can we get Free e-books ? If anyone knows please post it here or mail me Dhar 10 Jul 2005 1:58 am: Depends on what kind of e-books you are looking for. If you want novels, you could check out http://www.greylib.align.ru/ S Anand 10 Jul 2005 11:38 am: The torrent network has plenty. Try the BitLord client. Dhar 11 Jul 2005 3:46 pm: And the sites: torrentspy.com and thepiratebay.org/. What I like the most about thepiratebay is their response to legal threats (http://thepiratebay.org/legal.php) Anonymous 12 Jul 2005 9:41 am: guess the link that was mentioned corresponds to the june 17th entry at http://www.geocities.com/root_node/articles/London_2005.html and mirc is a good place for ebooks. S Anand 12 Jul 2005 11:04 am: Oh, OK.

The public transport reacted beautifully to the damage. I had to take Bus 259 from Finsbury Park to Tottenham Police Station. As I waited at the bus stop, I saw a 259 double decker pull in. Followed by another. And another. And another. Four double-decker buses following one after the other – and they ended up getting filled. Almost felt like a train, except without rails and a floor above. ...

If it weren’t happening to me, I’d appreciate the British sense of humour. I was at the King’s Cross station, buying tickets for the next week at a counter. “Hi, um… I already have a zone 1-5 pass…” “Con-gra-tu-LAY-tions!” Comments Anonymous 11 Jan 2007 1:13 pm: dont follow the humour

The next London Geek Dinner is on July 11th. I’ve registered.

King’s Cross station. 6:20pm. I’m rushing along to catch the next train to Liverpool Street, when a jacket and suitcase step in front of me. “Salaam alekum.” This has happened to me before. 5 years ago. My response hasn’t changed. “Huh? “Salaam alekum?” “Huh? “SALAAM ALEKUM?” “Huh? “Aap Pakistani ho?” “No, India actually.” (smile) “I just lost my wallet, and I don’t have a ticket. Could you please help me?” ...

Among the various technology gizmos I’ve seen at the UK, this is the best. Our flat has a security system that does not allow anyone without an electronic key to enter. As with most flats, there is a panel on which you can dial the flat number and speak to the owner. Usually this is connected to an intercom in the flat. I was initially surprised that there was no intercom in our flat. ...

I’m fairly stingy. When it comes to books, I’ve always taken it to extremes. For example, I’ve read several Asimov novels at Landmark (Chennai). I’d walk into the stoor, pick up an Asimov, just stand there (no seats) and read for 4 hours. After the neck-ache becomes unbearable, I’d leave and come back the next day. I got pretty tech-savvy once I got a laptop and a mobile phone. I would walk over to bookshops, note down the names of interesting books on my mobile, and download books in digital format. I’ve a pretty large collection now. ...

After a long time, things started going right for a change. 7:15pm: Get out of office. 7:22pm: Walk into train platform exactly as the train arrives. The right train. 7:40pm: Long walk to change trains at London Bridge. Once again, the train arrives bang on cue. 7:47pm: Another change of platform at Bank. Train to Newbury Park arrives almost immediately. 8:15pm: Out of Newbury Park station. That was easily the shortest ride I had from Croydon to Newbury Park. Probably will continue to be the shortest ever.

For a long time, I thought the problems associated with getting an American visas was mainly for Indians. Today, I met someone at a Lebanese restaurant near Marble Arch. (It’s called Maroush III. There are at least a couple of other Maroushs in the area.) He’s a consultant, and has been travelling around the globe for over 20 years. He recently flew from Boston to Bangalore. Without a visa. Why? Because he would be issued a visa at the port of entry, of course. Stands in the queue. Hands his passport to the officer. The officer leafs through the pages. Halts. Studies each page very carefully. Gets puzzled. ...