By the time I reach the luggage
belt, all the suitcases have been unloaded onto the floor. I don’t know why I expected
them to still be doing rounds on the conveyer. It doesn’t normally take
passengers over three hours to collect their stuff and I think the bags got tired of waiting. I get a trolley
and hunt my suitcases down. There are three, and each heavier than the previous
one. I deadlift them and put them over one each other, until they are perfectly
balanced. I know the cab I had booked has left, and I have
to book a second. After trying and failing to do so multiple times, I sigh,
exasperated and tired. For once, I’d like things to go my way.
I wheel my things out of the
airport, towards a row of black cabs parked by the curb. I wonder if they can
be hired on spot, and how much they would cost. I have heard and read about the
famous London black cabs, but they never really mention the technical aspects
of travelling in one. I approach a gentleman who I presume to be the driver,
and ask, ‘I want to go to the Dolphin Hotel in Paddington. Could you take me?’
He nods and opens the sliding door of the cab he was standing next to. I try to
ask how much it’ll cost but give up, because even if I know the price, I am not in a position to bargain. He loads all my suitcases and bags into the car, mumbling
about how many things I have. I give him a sheepish smile and tell him I am a
student. He nods, and I gather he is used to ferrying lost students from the
airport.
He asks me to sit back and relax,
‘It’ll take just over an hour to reach, so try to get some rest and enjoy the
view.’ After the chaos and discomfort I experienced during the past couple of
hours, I feel like I have earned this. I lean against the leather seats, looking
outside the window as he drives down the highway. At first, I see warehouses and
factories, spread out on large pieces of land. I recognize a few big stores as
they come into view – Tesco, Ikea and Sainsbury. I probably should have done
more research into UK's shopping centers, but I was busy planning out
how I will decorate my room. My priorities are clearly skewed. As the big,
albeit ugly, buildings melt away from sight, suburban villas emerge, with
their tilted orange roofs, backyards and gated communities. I click a few
pictures, to send to my family. We have read so many books set in the
English countryside, that watching it upfront feels unreal.
The view outside starts to bore
me, and I direct my attention towards a meter-looking device visible through
the driver-passenger partition. I try reading what is displayed on it and do a double
take. Forty? Forty what? Pence? Pounds? No, it cannot be. I must have not
seen the decimal between the four and zero. Huh? There is no decimal between
four and zero. I check the time and calculate in my head. No. It will
not cost that much. The English are many things, but they are not thieves.
Well, they are but surely they have fixed their ways. I attempt to distract
myself by going through the messages I had received when I was in the air and
reply to them while stopping myself from freaking out. Yes, it is sad that your
shoes are ruined, but at least they do not cost more than the rent of a
two-bedroom house in India.
Thankfully, the car has started to
pull into what I think is Central London, giving me far too much to look at and
divert my attention towards. The sight before me fits the description of an overcrowded city on a Thursday morning. Skyscrapers loom above the streets, casting shadows
over the ground. Pedestrians walk past each other, trying to get to their
place of work on time. They maneuver their way on the sidewalk, with a coffee in hand, amongst other office workers and ready-to-hire bikes parked. I thought people always drove to work, is fuel that expensive in the UK? Somewhere, a child screams in what I think is either
happiness or frustration – you can never tell with kids. Telephone boxes or booths are scattered about on the roadside and I wonder if one of them is the entrance to the Ministry of Magic. Red buses – which I get very excited on seeing - halt at
intersections, waiting for the signal to turn green. They all have different
numbers written across the headboard, and I wonder who decides which bus gets
which number and how they do it. The faint sound of the metro – the tube,
apologies – reverberates through the ground, as trains arrive at the platform, waiting
for a few minutes before setting off to
the next station. The doors will open on the left. Please mind the gap
between the platform and the train, I echo, wondering if that is what they
say here too.
The cab turns into a quieter
street, lined with Victorian style buildings that surround a park. On closer
inspection, they appear to be old-fashioned houses, as seen in movies set in the
1900s. I wonder why we are in a residential space when our destination is a hotel, which is generally situated in a commercial area. The driver stops in front of one such building and tells me we
have arrived.
I look at him, confused and then look
out at the name plate hung on the front door - the words ‘Dolphin Hotel’ hastily
carved on it. This is the hotel? I am a little flustered because I was
expecting something better. Before I can say anything, the driver unloads
my things and looks at me expectantly. He wants money. Well, obviously. ‘How
much?’ I squeak out and he points to the meter. My head goes blank when I see
80 flash across the screen, with a £ next to it. Why didn’t I notice the
sign before? ‘Uh, eighty pounds?’ I ask to confirm, hoping he says, ‘Nah,
that’ll be 80 pence.’ He only nods. Wondering if this is karma for what I did
to the boy I met at the airport, I whip out a £100 pound note and thank
him for the change.
As he drives away, leaving me alone on a random street in Paddington with all my
luggage, I ask myself if things could get worse. Spoiler alert -- they do.
It is very well written! π I could visualize each and every word written by you. π
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! <33
DeleteVery well written. Felt as if I was travelling in that cab. Your last one was also fabulous! Keep it up πͺ
ReplyDeleteBeautifully expressed!π Eagerly waiting for the next blog!!
ReplyDeleteThe imagery is spot on, adventures abound!
ReplyDelete