The Drama Bus!!!

hi Rekha and everybody!!

Me and my lovely girlfriend Gemma are going back to Edinburgh in January for her big 30!! We have booked a four star hotel (no more of those hostels!!) and we cant wait as we are there for 4 days. We are also tempted at doing a one day haggis tour but it will be so so cold!!

Life is back to normal and we are both really down at work and both want to quit and get back on the drama bus!!

Rekha we would apprecitae more pictures if you have any good.

Hopefully we will all keep in touch as I want my free accomodation in India with yourself and my farm stay in Oz with Erica!!

Still think of last month and smile and Gemma misses it as much as Recka.

I know ive said it before but thanks to you all for making the trip a really fun time if only we could do it all again!!

Hello!

It feels very strange making a post on someone else's blog. Rekha invited me to do so, however, and so here I am testing things out! It works, Rekha!

Miss you!

final day of the trip - London..

today just walked and shopped around London. Took the tube from Waterloo to Westminister,walked out of the tube station there, entered Big Ben road, went along the Westminister Bridge towards South Bank, along the Thames :)- towards Vauxhall Bridge.

I was tired of walking and then turned into the 'Tate Britain' museum for a 15 minute sightseeing,guess whom I saw there ? SHWETA BACHCHAN :)- finally i saw a celebrity in London and a desi one too ..

I chatted with her a bit and then gave my regards to the Big B!! as of she would remember but then it is courtesy isnt it ? Then I was all excited...

Well finally landed at Oxford Street into Primark, oh My God that place is full of malls.. did my shopping.. and finally took the tube to Bond Street and then to Waterloo..

Then the 2 hour train ride to BOurnemouth at Roops' house...

my trip is done for now.. tomorrow I take the bus to Heathrow terminal 4 from B'mouth and catch the BA afternoon flight to Bangalore....

Adios UK for now... I will be back...

When the Scottish Highlands meet the Gangetic plains....

The "India Alba" fusion was an excellent experiment. An hour of pure traditional music,pleasing to the mind and soul. How beautifully the bagpipes blend with our tabla,someone was not wrong when he said 'Music is universal'. Impartially speaking though,the Indians were far far ahead,this was evident from the difficulty the bagpipe artiste was facing to do an alap in Raga 'Kaafi' ( Hindustani) but, the attempt is truly commendable. Overall, an excellent experience. The tabla artiste was the hero of the evening...

My day tour to Loch Lomond was very nice, once again got to see the Highlands. My God, it is heavenly. Am hurting because, in a couple of hours, I leave this beautiful country, the beautiful people- warm and friendly,the stunning landscapes, the rich history, the streets - Royal Mile, the Haggis office, the festival,the music and above all, the ultimate freedom of spirit that reverberates in this place, it is a tough thing to leave happiness when you are in the middle of it.

But am glad, in another week, I will be home with my people, my home, bed, food and music and work ofcourse. God is very kind to me, especially the last 2 days, I am sure he listened to everything I told him...

My travels have made me a better person for sure, but my Scotland trip has changed me forever. Being amidst nature's unknown forces - animate and inanimate ,has mellowed me down. My pride has given way to some kind of humility,one that has realized that beyond all men,lies a force that is tough to oppose and it is best to take it in one's stride and live to the fullest. And it has taught me the true power of prayer!!

My bus to London leaves at 10 PM and it is 6.30 PM now....

Edinburgh festival - am there right time in the right place

My faith in destiny is complety reinforced.. :) Now I know that beyond me ,there lies an enormous power that controls everything. I also know that the simpest way to get that power to work for me, is by prayer! I'm back in Edinburgh,right amidst the festival and I have only words to thank HIM for putting me in the right place at the right time!

My original plan was to go to Edinburgh on the 9th by an overnight train and stay there on thr 10th and get back on the 11th. But, I had journeyed for 4 days and I wasnt in the mood,hence I decided to postpone to 10th instead. Right decision! Because there wernt any night trains on 9th, or rather all trains are booked for overnight jounreys, I learnt later...

So, I head back to cousin's and then stow away my luggage there.Cool. On thr 10th, I come up to London again thinking of spending the afternoon there and taking an overnight train to E'burgh,but I learn to my dismay that all overnight trains are full... Ahhhhh! I remember a tear or two making its way to the brim of my eyes...Wait! there is a train in the evening (of 10th) that reaches E'burgh on the same evening by 9.30 PM.. Sounds like a plan but where the hell was I going to stay overnight ? Streets ? Alone at 2 AM ? Nah.. the station ? no way... I was just debating and then something overtook me and I got on the train, not thinking about anything else.. I had to get somewhere to stay, I would... the whole universe conspired last night to get me here.. :)-

So, I get to E'burgh finally, walk across the street from the station and land at St Christopher's Inn (where it all began about 3 weeks ago) and lucky me FINDS a bed...just for one night though.. (yesterday) Good so far... will think about tomorrow later.. I go up the streets and see so much celebration that I forget myself,the fact that am lonely and that am crazy... I feel happy and at peace with myself.. not sure why but this place feels like home..

Wake up this morning ,checkout and go hunting again for a room tonight... One guy told me that there is nothing for less than 100 quid and am like,oh Shucks!, need to stay on the streets tonight perhaps....Then I walk upto the haggis office to book a day tour for tomorrow (Sunday), I love these tours.. I have done 3 of them already and it is worth every pound I pay them... Well, I go upto the haggis office, meet my tour guides from the last trips.. exchange pleasantries and then walk down to a youth hostel down the street( where i stayed once as well) and as I step in, I see a lady checkout!! Deal done, got a bed for tonight for 22 bucks.. dirt cheap....

Am happy and singing as I go up to the bus station and get a ticket for tomorrow's journey back to London...Then,I bought myself a ticket to an Indian-Scottish fusion of music - classical and tradtional,violin and bagpipes, tabla and cittern for tonight... lovely.. am back on the streets watching the street shows and people, it rains and I stop at a soup place to have green peas and lentils soup... yummy....

Will go out again now and shop a bit.. PLan to buy a 6 pack of Irn Bru for consumption in Bangalore. I should have bought a ticket to the tattoo beforehand.. missed that but yesterday saw a horde of huge horses being loaded into a truck after the tattoo event.. and I heard the event from the outdoor walls of Edinburgh castle, saw brilliant fireqworks at 12 AM and lots of military people in different uniforms.. the Scottish kilts are beautiful..

This is the craziest thing I have done and am glad am crazy!!

This city is celebrating life at the moment.. and my true Sagittarian spirit is, as well!!

Cornwall coast exploits and memories of Scotland...

I took another haggis tour to the Cornwall coast,and the Cornish region is brilliantly beautiful.. sidelined beaches and greenery all along with little villages inbetwen the valleys, I close my eyes and take it all in.. am trying to live as much as i can fully in these moments,days of my life.. God knows what turn life shall take when I get back home..

I soaked myself on the seas of the Cornish coast to my heart's content,till the saltiness of the water came up on my tongue....a beautiful feeling it is...I can say that I soaked my soul in the beaches, but but.. my heart is left behind in the highlands of Scotland...a part of me shall live in that wonderful country forever..dunno why I feel at home there amidst the lush valleys,the smell of peat burning and the music notes of the bagpipes,the rains suddenly pouring out on me from nowhere as i walk up a hill,again to be cleared up and the sun coming out again,leaving behind its colors in a rainbow,the pubs and the people,the ferries,the beans in sauce,ice cream,my friends,the yellow bus,the hopping-on/off daily,dragging my luggage,youth hostels.... and finally Edinburgh..where it all began... the most beautiful place on earth.. voices within me that sound like music.. is this a dream ? whatever... i only know that I have left a part of me there,etched forever...

Back to England and thereafter...

am back to Bournemouth now.. yesterdsy went to Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare and then to Oxford, so essentially,my travel was more of academic a purpose!! It felt very nice to step on the floor that little Shakespeare played on,in that creaky single-storeyed wooden home with a lovely garden infront. Then hdeaded out to Oxford and took the city sightseeing hopon-hopoff bus. Oxford is a great place, so many colleges and so much of learning spirit emanates from there. Well, I did not do much other than seeing the colleges etc, might have wanted to go to the museum where Einstein's relativity theory is still scribbled apparently!

Today I headed out to London, went to Picaddilly Circus and walked the streets,then took the tube to Lords,but I was late for the tours.. going there early tomorrow. Felt so good to be in a cricket stadium and see Rahul's poster stuck up right in the front :)-

I took almost 4 lines of the London Tube today going here and there,it is fun and so neat, you almost can go anywhere to anywhere in a few minutes..
am living life as a Londoner would do.. that is a grt feeling..

am going back to Edinburgh next week .. my next blog,shall be wholly dedicated to this wonderful city and my sentiments associated with it. Because, to write on Edinburgh,is a pleasure and I want to do it well..