Roaming in and around London

KATHMANDU, Nov 9: Even the most hardcore atheist would agree that there is something in nature which he would like to believe in. The way a simple tree can inspire one’s consciousness is inexplicable, especially if it is a good-looking tree.



In London, besides the rivers and the earth-shattering effects of supreme architecture and engineering, one can see trees, and many systematically planted on small and wide open green spaces.[break]



Garden squares, parks and trees/bushes right beside, or on pitched roads, are a sight for sore eyes, for both the working class and people with wallets deeper than the Grand Canyon.



Just by traveling by bus that passes through Greenwich Park, one observes people flying kites that look like parachutes, or tired bodies basking in the sun on Sundays when the weather is good.



The Queen Mary’s Garden in Regent’s Park has a series of rose gardens. A traveler’s guidebook says it grows around 30,000 roses. The London Zoo itself is located in Regent’s Park. So, needless to say, the parks here may spread across many acres but still remains clean.



Self-analysis tells me that one game played in the larger parks has the potential of very well entering the circus, if not the Olympics next year: The mindless game of Rolling the Body over Sloping Planes. I had only seen a handful of people doing this in Tribhuvan Park.



So to see people out here roll their bodies over the slopes to see who rolled quicker, or more creatively, was nostalgic.



Other curious sightings that can be noticed in the Royal Parks include thin people jogging, mini forests, amateur tennis players, fountains, squirrels, Frisbee playing, joyous visitors merrily feeding the pelicans, and a sign that reads, “Please Do Not Feed The Pelicans.”



A slight observation in any tube station tells you that most people here like to stare and also need their privacy – which they might not receive in green spaces full of people.



Sometimes, the arrangements of the natural entities out here might even seem meticulously but unnaturally designed for sublime natural perfectionists.



The painstakingly accurate system – timely closings, exact degree of grass cut, etc – combined with the constant monitoring by the patrol officers, and the plethora of people in parks and gardens, will disappoint even vagabonds and super tramps.



Nevertheless, people visiting the parks don’t portray the characters of riot initiators, ill-tempered tourists, or selfish employers, either.



So the vibration of the environment is relatively more rejuvenating and free. There is always the strength of the clear high winds showing that nature battles with insouciance for what it is worth, making its presence felt, no matter where one is in the world. It is like what Laxmi Prasad Devkota said, ‘’Satya prakritik hunchha.’’



(The writer is a student at London School of Commerce.)

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