Friday, July 3, 2009:
London and Isle of Sheppey, Kent
It has turned frightfully warm and I am very grateful for the little table fan I bought way back in September last year which is keeping me cool through these boiling nights. I awoke at 7.00 am—never expected I’d be waking up so late in the summer—and went straight in for a shower. Then, ate my breakfast (cereal and milk) and remembered to shut the boiler off (as I will be away for the weekend).
Back in my room, I did my packing for my stay in Kent with my cousin Cheryl and her husband David who live on the Isle of Sheppey almost by the waterside in the small settlement of Minster. I remembered to take some gifts for them: dark chocolate covered ginger biscuits by Border and a box of Cadbury’s Roses as well as the Bottle of Buck’s Fizz that I am presenting to Mike for his birthday—I will be going to his birthday party on Sunday directly from Victoria Station on my return from Kent. I also had to pack my laptop as I was heading out the door to the British Library where I intended to spend the morning and part of the afternoon checking documents associated with Anglo-Indian settlement in Great Britain.
Checking Documents at the British Library:
When I was all set (my backpack got really heavy with my laptop and my camera and both chargers), I left my flat and took the 63 bus to the British Library. After I stashed my backpack in the lockers on the Lower Ground floor, I took my laptop upstairs together with the Bibliography that I had created. Upstairs in the Asian and African Studies Section, I met a very nice assistant named John who helped me access the manuscripts I wanted through the Advanced Search functions for this specialized catalogue is not available online and I wasn’t able to access it at home. The computer informed me that it would take 70 minutes before my material was ready to be released to me. This gave me time to take the bus back home and pick up my adaptor plug which I had left at home. Without it, my laptop and charger will be useless on the weekend in Kent where I intend to get some writing done.
So, an hour later, with my adaptor plug in my possession and my tube of Moov ointment which I was also silly to leave at home, I re-entered the British Library and went up to the Asia and African Section on the third floor, where I spent the next few hours looking at documents both on the microfilm machines (they tended to give me a huge headache) and then at the documents themselves. I had a particular kick reading the typewritten manuscript of an Anglo-Indian woman dating from 1926, which came with an accompanying album full of photographs from those glory days of the Edwardian Raj.
Unfortunately, I could not finish reading all of it before I had to leave to get to Victoria to catch my train to Sittingbourne, which was scheduled to leave at 4. 42 pm. I did make headway with two major documents, however, and was able to get some extracts from them on my PC. Then, after I had ensured that the rest of the documents would be held for me for the next three days (I intend to get back there on Monday to look at the rest), I was off. It had been a very fruitful and fulfilling morning at the British and I was glad I managed to get so much work done. If I am able to work steadily in this way for the next few days. I would have accomplished my documents checking at the British Library, which is also such an important part of my work and one of my chief reasons for being here in London.
Off to Kent by Train:
I took the No. 73 Bendy bus from opposite the British Library directly to Victoria and was there sooner than I expected. I bought my return ticket (22 pounds—rather more pricey than the National Express Bus which goes only as far as Gillingham) and spend a while at the station eating my Sainsbury’s pilaf lunch (which I had carried with me).
At 4. 30, I boarded my train and was at Sittingbourne at exactly 5.45 pm. David was supposed to pick me up from the station and he arrived in about 10 minutes and drove me off to his home at Minster (a journey of about twenty minutes). Cherry, my cousin, looking really exhausted from all the freelance invigilation work she had done all week, opened the door to welcome me and then went all out for the next 48 hours to give me a truly memorable time at their place.
Dinner at Cherry and David's:
We spent much of the evening just catching up and sipping a glass of red wine and then enjoying the dinner Cherry had prepared for she is a very good and very adventurous chef. She rustled up a pullao, which she served with egg curry and fish and crab cakes—all very homely and very delicious. For dessert, she had taken the trouble to make me profiteroles, which she knows are one of my favorite desserts—well filled with fresh cream, topped with melted chocolate and served with chocolate sauce—just heavenly!
I retired for the evening at about 11. 00 pm as I was suddenly really tired and sleepy.
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