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| Oxford |
We had to go to
Oxford and from there to Stratford upon Avon. My friend Tiwari’s daughter used
to be in Oxford working, if I recall, in a research establishment. Tiwari had
told us that his daughter, Bela, had bought an apartment and we could
conveniently spend some time with her. When I rang her number from Margate I
was surprised to get Anne on
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| Oxford |
the other side. She had come over for a few days.
We took a bus
from London’s Victoria Coach Station and were in Oxford in under two hours.. As
we had made it rather early I deposited the bags in Left Luggage. As I came out
I saw somebody peeping out of a window from the Coffee Bar and calling out to
me. It was indeed Anne. I had met her in Delhi in 1972 when the entire family
had travelled to Gwalior and was staying while on their way
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| Oxford |
in YMCA at
Delhi. Bela was around 5 or 6 years old then. There were two other children –
Nila, almost of the same age as Bela and Anil who was four months old. These
two were adopted children and were neither of East Indian nor of Caucasian
descent.
in YMCA at Delhi.
Bela was around 5 or 6 years old then. There were two other children – Nila,
almost of the same age as Bela and Anil who was four months old. These two were
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| Oxford |
adopted children and were neither of East Indian nor of Caucasian descent.
Ever so
irreverent about social niceties, my mother asked Tiwari why did he have to
adopt two children when he already had one of his own. He explained to her how
things were different in Canada and that everyone had to share the societal
burden. I could see his point. Having decided to live out his life in an alien
land it made an enormous lot of sense to adopt its ways. He
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| Shakespeare's birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon |
had done just that.
We spent just
about two days with Anne. Day One was meant for sight seeing and day two for
Stratford-upon-Avon. I think on the third day we moved back to London on our
way back to Brussels.
Oxford is
basically a medieval town and the architecture is
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| On the banks of River Avon |
likewise medieval. We took a
conducted tour in an open top
bus. The city has numerous spires and towers and
each one is very well maintained. I couldn’t help wondering at the upkeep of
these old buildings that could well be more than 500 years old. I think pride
in their heritage that drives the local people to maintain the buildings in the
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| AnneHathaway's cottage, Stratford-upon-Avon |
best possible manner. It is a matter of attitudes. They have the right attitude
while we seem to have no attitude at all. I took a few photographs. No
Swachchha Mission can keep cities as clean as you see Oxford in the photographs.
I must also mention what a pleasure it was to see boys in white playing cricket
on local greens.
Another bus ride
and we were off to the Bard’s place. The bus seemed to move between a sea of
yellow. The fields were full of rapeseed flower which yields oil used as
cooking medium.
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| Stratford-upon-Avon |
Stratford I found rather unremarkable. The only places worth
seeing were the house that was Tudor in style where Shakespeare was born. The
house he died in, however, no longer exists. The other worth seeing place was
the cottage of Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare’s wife. She appered to come from a
family of substance and, perhaps, that is why her house is relatively much
bigger.
One must,
however, mention that one cannot do justice to Stratford-upon-Avon in a day
trip. One needs to take in the Shakespearean atmosphere by visiting at least
one theatre, say the Royal Shakespeare Theatre or take a weekly Ghost Walk in
which guides are all professional actors. I wish my father could visit the
place. He
used to teach Shakespeare in the College having been taught at the
Presidency College, Kolkata by English professors who
used to be experts either
in Shakespearean comedies or in tragedies. That was in the first decade of the
last Century. Then the Avon River offers beautiful sights on its banks. A boat
ride should have been a must. But, alas, inadequacy of cash made it impossible
to spend more time.
Next day we were
back in Brussels. We crossed the sea in the catamaran nullifying the anxiety of
the Belgian mmigration officials displayed during our out-bound trip. We rounded off this trip of
ours to Europe
by taking day trips to Antwerp, Cologne and Luxemburg.
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