Oxford, The City of Dreaming Spires.

Life is a long journey to one`s destiny but I guess it comes in stages. It has been slightly over a month since I returned from home. I`ve settled in nicely into my new house and started working on my PhD. I ve found new friends and I like to believe that a new chapter of my life has begun well. Although the difficult times in the past will remain somewhere deep inside , the lessons have been learnt, and its time to move on.
Talking about moving, I was recently on the move ..I mean literally....on a tour from the university to the town of Oxford. When I say the name, I bet what immediately comes into my mind is the same as on your mind - Oxford Univerity - The oldest university in the english world! Oxford as a uni has always been high in my esteem , and in the 24 years I spent in India, not once did I dream that I would one day walk the streets of Oxford.

Also called as the city of spires, Oxford is said to have been founded in the 8th century and has had a lot of say in the history of England. Originally the home to many a church, Oxford was given the same privileges as the capital, London by King Henry the second. Oxford even held sessions of the parliament until things got a bit complicated between the townspeople and the upcoming university..ha..more of that to come.

What is most attractive about the city is its architecture...the city is surrounded with amazing buildings and unlike most of the cities in England, this one was very much unplanned. Buildings just cropped up over the ages, when some donor wanted to build it (and name it after himself)and each reflects the influence of its time. Thereby the buildings range from the gothic to the classic all standing beside each other. Yet everything seemed to blend in to a harmony to make Oxford what it is today.

Oxford university in itself is not just a single building as our imaginations led us to believe (or atleast mine) , but a number of colleges in an assemblage of buildings throughout the city. Infact it is made out of 39 Colleges and 7 religious Permanent Private Halls. Also just for your information (and mine), Oxford is currently ranked as the third best university in the world.

After a two hour ride by a chartered bus, we were let loose to roam the streets of Oxford . Although it did look a bit daunting finding ones way in a new city, the company of friends, who doubled up as navigators eased the pain. Oh yeah ..these are some of my friends in the picture above. First of all theres Morgane, who`s from France and is also my office mate ( she has to put up with me all throughout the day..pity her!) ... and her friend Max who was visiting from France, Josiane who`s from Cameroon, and Eliana whos from Singapore. (Morgane , Josiane and Eliana are also starting their PhD`s along with me.)

Anyhow, we managed to find our way about and checked out the market where there were some interesting stuff like a headless deer and a bodyless shark!...and also various buildings, about which we had no clue until later in the day.

A typical college (0ne out of 39) consists of the following : a great hall for dining, a chapel, a library, a college bar, senior, middle (postgraduate) and junior common rooms, rooms for 200-400 undergraduates as well as lodgings for the head of the college and other staff. Not much of it can be seen from the streets as the colleges appeared to be fortified..complete with massive wooden gates and a gatehouse overlooking it ! It was only later that we came to know why.

Our tour guide, Brian (oh yes we had a guided tour later in the day) explained that in mediveal times the students who came to study at Oxford were usually wealthy and young, while the general population outside in the streets were poor . This apart from other reasons like the growing power and autonomy of universities and a difference in dialects and language set up a social gap between the town and the gown (students). This led to rioting and trouble between the two groups and as a result colleges were fortified to keep the students in and the townsfolk out! Infact the rioting in Oxford got so bad that a few students and staff got fed up left Oxford to set up a new univeristy elsewhere..which is now called Cambridge!!

The rioting was not the only infamous act that occured in Oxford. The city has always been a active part of Britain`s changing relegious ideology and has had to pay the price for it. Apparently more than one Bishop, cardinal or priest was dragged out onto the street and burnt alive during the turbulent reformation that occured in britain. ( all that catholic - protestant stuff! )

We were lucky to be able to go inside and view one or two chapels and halls of the colleges. Infact, Hidden inside the chapels are some of the best stain glass windows in the whole of England!

I wont bother boring you all with too much detail..after all this is no history class...but just to provide some interesting titbits and snaps...

This is the Radcliffe camera (camera = room in latin) one of the most distinctive buildings in Oxford,and is a reading room.

The Bridge of sighs ..reminiscent of a similar bridge in Venice.

The Sheldonian theatre - used as the university`s hall for concerts and public lectures.

The univeristy church of St Mary the virgin , the oldest university building in the world.

The world famous Bodlein Library - the main research library of the university.

And of course the All souls college..in which one cannot apply to study...you can get in only if they invite you to study there ...and for that you have to be truly among the best of the best in the world! (so then I wonder what you would study!)

To sum up....about oxford....and its impact on the world ..i quote this paragraph from else where:

Oxford has had a role in educating four British, and at least eight foreign kings, 47 Nobel prize-winners, three Fields medallists, 25 British Prime Ministers, 28 foreign presidents and prime ministers, seven saints, 86 archbishops, 18 cardinals, and one pope. Seven of the last eleven British Prime Ministers have been Oxford graduates. Amongst the University's old members are many widely influential scientists, artists and other prominent figures. Contemporary scientists include Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins and Nobel prize-winner Anthony James Leggett, and Tim Berners Lee, co-inventor of the world wide web. Actors Hugh Grant, Kate Beckinsale, Dudley Moore, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Richard Burton studied at the University, as did film-maker Ken Loach. Amongst the long list of writers associated with Oxford are Evelyn Waugh, Lewis Carroll, Aldous Huxley, Oscar Wilde, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Phillip Pullman and Vikram Seth, the poets Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Donne, A. E. Housman, W. H. Auden, and Philip Larkin, and Poets Laureate Thomas Warton, Henry James Pye, Robert Southey, Robert Bridges, Cecil Day-Lewis, Sir John Betjeman, and Andrew Motion. Lawrence of Arabia was both a student and a don at Oxford, while other illustrious members have ranged from the explorer, courtier, and man of letters Sir Walter Raleigh to the media magnate Rupert Murdoch.

- Wiki

Wow....I feel honoured to have walked the same streets as such illustrious people. Perhaps one day I will make it big too and someone will say.."Thomas Vattakaven..the great ...(blah blah) once walked this streets with jaws wide open drooling at these beautiful buildings and lost in fantasy about the history it conceals!

Home sweet home

Hi folks… sorry for the delay in this update, Many of you have written in demanding the latest update and its good to know that my soap opera life story is still in demand.
Anyhow, for those who have been oblivious to it, I’ve just managed to sneak in a vacation to India and return. As you would be aware from my last update, my PhD has forced me to renew my visa and complicated circumstances demanded that I do it from India. So quite happily, after almost exactly a two year gap, I headed back to India, my India, and my home.
For those who have been away from home for long, you will know the anxiety and curiosity it arouses when heading back. A lot of questions thronged my head. How had India and Kerala changed since I left? Would I still be able to recognise the place? How apparent would the contrast in lifestyles and cultures be? Have I myself been changed much by the two years abroad? I had to wait till I got back to answer these.
After a “not as bad as I expected” but lengthy journey from Plymouth via Bristol and London Paddington. I caught my Air India flight from Heathrow, towards Cochin via Mumbai. It was 3:00 AM when, after the never ending journey, I finally emerged in Cochin to meet my expectant family.

Although the weather was a stark contrast to that in U.K I soon got used to the humidity, heat and pounding monsoonal rainfall. On my Journey home I strained through the dark to check out the changes even though it was still dark.


At home I was pleasantly surprised by a newly renovated kitchen, but the rest of my home (sweet home!) remained much the same.
As I chatted away the dawn and the light emerged, I suddenly became aware of the greenery and natural beauty of Kerala that surrounded me.
Realising that I only had three weeks in which to fill my senses with as much of the amazing sights and sounds at home, I rushed about with my camera, clicking away at anything and everything that seemed remotely different! This was to continue for the rest of the time at home.

I expected home food to be a lot spicier, owing to the two year lay off from spicy food in the U.K, but as I gorged down upon the long lost delicacies, my senses reoriented itself with the wonderful flavours of India. I had often dreamt of home food while I was in the U.K and I wanted to fill in as much variety as possible before heading back. Unfortunately time flew by so fast that my list couldn’t even begin to take off!
One thing that struck me, sitting at home was how slow everything (but time) went, and that included the internet! Everything had a waiting period before it got done in India! Be it an application for a visa, posting a letter, or getting a mobile connection! However, things are fast speeding up and the incredible differences between cities and villages are narrowing down.
Talking about cities and towns, Indian roads and traffic is a subject of fascination to the external world, so let me write a little more on it. I`m lucky not to have driven while I was in the U.K or else I would have found it impossible to drive in India. Indian Roads must be among the most entertaining roads in the world. Its quite impossible to fall asleep while driving on these roads as they alternate with amazing frequency between the smooth to ones that have potholes so deep that you could easily get lost for a day if you fell in one! Add to it every known animal from cows and dogs to elephants and crazy people, toss in auto-rickshaws and two wheelers that over take you from left and right and through that narrow gap you didn’t even realise existed! …and of course the trucks and over speeding buses that drive down the wrong side of the road that makes you wonder which the right side is!
Night driving is a horror, as in addition to all the above people don’t dim their lights and one is forced to do guesswork in driving as he is blinded by oncoming traffic.
Apart from all these ills, there is so much colour and life on Indian roads.
The common man makes his living along the edges of these roads, whether it be a shop or a home. Children play on and off it, cows make it their abode and vehicles are parked wherever it is convenient. The patterns arrangements and colour along these roads is a sight to behold in itself, whether it be formed by the indispensable Ambassador cars or the ever so useful rickshaws or the amazing hoardings, cinema posters and other advertisements that fill the place… exciting life surrounds it! Oh yes, not to mention the most crucial component of an Indian drivers car... the Horn! Even if he doesn’t have an engine he will have a horn and wont be miserly with its use. Without a horn you get nowhere! In spite of all this, it is a sad truth that the Indian driver still manages to fall asleep!
Traffic lights do exist, but they are a law unto themselves. Traffic police will flag you down in the middle of the highway, only to harass you for a bribe. Road and road sides are dug up all the time in the name of maintenance and open manholes and gutters are just as common. Safety is the last precaution and eluding these traps is the responsibility of the driver! All these combine to make driving in India one of the most difficult and exciting in the world. Yet I must say that the system still works. Like everything else in India, there is order amidst the chaos. Everybody understands the disorder and acts accordingly, and thus life moves on smoothly.
The natural beauty of Kerala is another aspect which struck me. Called as “gods own country” Kerala is blessed with a natural beauty to rival any place in the world. Just walking around the backyard and fields at home made me notice how much I missed all this.
The rubber trees, the coconut trees, the streams in which I had played in as a child and the pond from which I had caught my first fish. memories came flooding back.
One place that I didn’t want to miss going to before I headed back was the Thommenkuthu waterfalls. For those who know me, I’m sure I wouldn’t have missed an opportunity to tell you about this place. Let me have a go again. Situated just 12 kms from my home, Thommenkuthu is a series of 7 waterfalls along a stream that is interspersed along a length of nearly 12 – 15 kms heading down a mountain all the way from Idukki. It takes a 3 day trek through the forests to cover all the 7 waterfalls…and if one does it lodging has to be in one of the several caves along the way.
The first time I saw the place I fell in love with it and didn’t want to come away. I’ve been there on numerous occasions since and the same thing happens every single time. Apart from the breathtaking views and calm atmosphere there is something about the place that keeps me coming back. While in summers the place is ideal for a dip, the monsoons make it spectacular and dangerous with the stream in full flow . One has to be careful not just of the annoying leeches but also of the unlikely bear, or elephant and not to mention, the slippery rocks which have claimed several lives in the past. Lately the government has taken more of an interest in developing the place into an ecotourism hotspot and has implemented several safety measures including blockading the dangerous areas and implementing entry fees. My views on these are mixed and i wouldnt want to discuss that here. Oh yeah nature takes her own due on the adventurous visitors through the leeches!
Anyhow, brief as it was I am glad I got an opportunity to visit this beloved hot spot once again.
Amidst a harrowing visa application process, which took nearly two weeks of the three, and visiting relatives , time passed so fast that I almost didn’t realise the date of my return. I owe an apology to many of you back in India with whom I didn’t get in touch with while I was there. It was in my intentions to do so, but half my plans remained as mere plans owing to the short duration and multitude of things to do. Sorry.
I won’t be stretching this update much further as it has already exceeded the average length that I allow myself. I have returned here to the U.k and i`m sorely going to miss India, Kerala, my family and my home...but life has to go on and there`s miles to go before I sleep.I will be starting a new chapter of my life in the coming week, beginning my PhD here at Bristol. I ask for your well wishes as I embark on this journey. Do keep in touch; replies are assured so keep the mails coming!