29TH June

Completed morning program. Told children news of the day among others : Terror police is alerted among fears of UK attack after killings in France, Tunisia and Kuwait; Greek banks are to close for one week as crisis looms; Labour backs online snooping power; Row on a shoestring turns police constable's 99p purchase into £1/2 million bill; Bibli Bobity Boo, a 3 inch Chihuahua, could be Britain's smallest dog. It likes to play hide and seek; Heathrow likely to have third runway; Sexist culture is curse of Campus life; Festival loos to supply with manure at Glastonbury festival, Somerset.
Hordes of men, women and children are seen coming to witness  Wimbledon matches which started today. As Pilku is going to Australia next day evening, I will go to see matches in Court number one on Saturday, the 4th July along with Amolikaa, who has picked up the game well.
Quotable Quotes : " If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.." Napoleon Bonaparte
Retired to sleep at about 10.30 pm.

28th June

Completed morning program. Posted the children with news of the day : Despite terrorist attack in Tunisia thousands of tourists stay put while many left; Armed Forces Day was celebrated in UK yesterday; Greece faced financial crisis and bail-out package by the Euro-nations are likely to be put to referendum; Labour has no thinkers,  until it does it will keep on losing; Some people are making fortune of Wimbledon; A cyclist died in a road accident; State owned broadcaster, Channel 4, is to sold off; O2 is likely to be sold off to Hutchinson of Hong Kong.
Quotable Quotes : " Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."Napoleon Bonaparte
Retired to sleep at about 11 pm.

27th June

Completed morning program.
Brriefed the children about the items of the news of the day among others : Three terror attacks one each in France, Kuwait and Tunisia fill the first three pages of the newspapers; Queen's visit to Belsen where over 70000 Jews are buried is a big news of the day; Activities of Islamic state of Iraq and Levant are highlighted.
Amolikaa won her singles league match. We saw Amolikaa with her school group in a song and dance sequence at a Fun-Fare. In the afternoon,went for a walk in a forested area of Wimbledon where wild rabbits move about in plenty. There is a lake and golf course inside it. It is a big area, good for long walks.
Quotable Quotes : "The best cure for the body is a quiet mind." Napoleon Bonaparte

Retired to sleep at about 10 pm.

26th June

Completed morning program.
Told the children news of the day among others : Research has shown that parrots have structured brain, bigger than other animals. That is why they repeat what we say; BBC is proposed to be brought under a regulatory authority; Photography including mobile photography is banned from this year during Wimbledon matches; Germans came out to see the British queen in big numbers forgetting the Nazi days; Free schools' performance was quite good this year; Faiths in Britain must celebrate the British values. Ruchi is member of all ladies 'Book club'. It met today at her place with 7 members in attendance. It discussed a best seller, Ruchi hosted dinner to the members. Dinner  was prepared by Venita.

Quotable Quotes : "You must learn to endure fleeting things, they come and go!"
Bhagavad-gita 2:14
Retired to sleep at about 11 pm.

25th June

Completed morning program.
Told the children main items of news of the day among others : Rotherham inquiry was conducted into a scandal that revealed up to1400 children were raped, trafficked and groomed  by mainly Asian gangs in the South Yorkshire town between 1997 and 2013; artificial red blood cells will be ready by 2017; British Queen says that division of Europe will be dangerous; daughters of working mothers more likely to get managerial jobs; Exams on sex ethics are being devised and may be introduced in next 2 years; tax credits by firms to workers won't be enough. There should be increase in their actual wages .
Venita went shopping. Attended Amolikaa's school function. Amolikaa played flute well.
Quotable Quotes : "Water is the elixir of life, water contain medicines." Atharva Veda
Retired to sleep at about 10.30 pm.
Retired to sleep at about 11 pm.

 

24th June

Completed morning program. I tried to understand Amolikaa's YouTube on Stampylong Nose Iballistic Sqvide. She said that she could not live without seeing it. She is always glued to it. I did not understand anything of it. I told her the news of the day : the new Spiderman will be black; child poverty is judged by family's income if it is 60% or less of the British average ; Google music is more popular than Apple's; Race horses are running faster because their breeding has improved; legal system has broken down; Parents must stop their children being narcissistic mini-me ; Britain will lose nothing if it left European Union, among others. She is more or less conversant with all news items.   I had told the news of the day to Abhishree and Amolicaa yesterday too. Abhishree was preoccupied with her home work today. We have discussed social media, climate change and other current topics also during last few days of our stay.. I am happy to write that their level of awareness and understanding of current affairs is quite good.
Quotable Quotes “Attractiveness and magnetism of man's personality is the result of his inner radiance.”  Yajur Veda
 Retired to sleep at about 10.30 pm

 

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23rd June

Completed morning program. Visited Amolikaa's tennis coaching centre. She serves well. In general she has picked up the game and should continue to practice  to perfect it.
Despite request and efforts by me from here and Neha at Delhi, Vodafone has not activated international roaming in my mobile phone. I cannot send even a sms to anyone of my friends, relations and children.
The weather is pleasant. Yesterday it was quite chilly in the afternoon. I had to use Pilku's  overcoat and muffler to go to watch the children competing in water sports. We had brought only a jacket and sweater from Delhi.
 

20 to 22nd June

20th
Left for London by  EMirates airlines at about 11am. At Dubai changed over to A 380. It is a double decker. It can accommodate over 500 passengers. Due to unavoidable delay, we reached London at about 8 pm. Had dinner along with children.
Retired to sleep at about midnight.
21st
Spent the day with children.
Retired to sleep at about 10 pm.
22nd
Watched children participating in water sports in Wimbledon lake.
Retired to sleep at about 10 pm.

19th June

Completed morning program. Packed throughout the day. We leave next day overseas at 11 am. I am not carrying my laptop. Amolikaa, my granddaughter, has permitted me to use hers. I took her consent. You cannot take anyone for granted in UK including your granddaughter. They are highly individualistic. Instead I am carrying Ipad, given by Pilku to her mother, my wife. He informed that you got WiFi in almost all the places.
Quotable Quotes:"The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax." Albert Einstein
Retired to  sleep at about 11 pm.

18th June

Completed morning program. Met Dr. Niranjan, E and T Specialist. To collect some foreign exchange visited SBI.The international roaming is not yet activated in my cell. I am still trying. I may have to take a prepaid phone at London if the same is not activated.
Quotable Quotes :" Let him who desires peace prepare for war." Vegetius
Retired to sleep at about 10.45 pm.

17th June

Completed morning program. Visited Vaidya in Ramdev's clinic at INA, CGHS and CSOI. A selfie  of Babloo. Neha and Akshat from the retreat in Nainital distt :

Received air tickets and medical insurance documents for our journey to UK. Pilku has paid airfare and I for insurance. We leave Delhi for London on 20th by Emirates.

Quotable Quotes: " Bureaucracy expands to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy." Oscar Wilde
Retired to sleep at about 11 pm.

16th June

Completed morning program. Venita went out shopping. Received British Visa. Requested the travel agent to book us to go on 21st June. A photograph of Babloo and family, received by us today from a retreat in Nainital distt. :

Quotable Quotes : " Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings-always darker, emptier, and simpler." Friedrich Nietzsche
Retired to sleep at about 11 pm.

15th JUNE

Completed morning program. Visited Safdarjang hospital and CGHS.
Attended dinner hosted by Lalit and Kanchan, cousins of Venita in celebration of their 50th marriage anniversary at Railway officers'club. About 100 guests, mostly retired Railway officers and mainly Lalit's colleagues joined in besides some close relatives like us..The grandchildren recited poetry and played violin in their honour. On 21st June, the anniversary date, a party is organized at Dalhousie in Himanchal Pradesh with about 28 close relations and friends in attendance. During ensuing visit to UK, i propose to request my British friends to make a  comparative study of the phenomena of 50th anniversary celebrations in UK and India and reasons behind more such celebrations in India than in UK.
Akshat snapped enjoying breakfast today at a retreat in Nainital distt:

Quotable Quotes : "Useful people who do useful things, don't mind being treated as useless." Paulo Coelho
Retired to sleep at aboutmidnight.

14th June

Completed morning program. Spent the day reading magazines and newspapers. Venita went out shopping. Unintended interruption in shopping yesterday made her jittery and caused headache.
Abhishree was born today on 14.06.2002 at 6.55 pm GMT (11.25 IST  ) at Wellington, South West London, UK, 13 years back. We prayed for a healthy, long and prosperous life to her. Venita did Puja and distributed 'halwa' to all. We dedicate the following photograph of Kanchenjunga peak of the great Himalayas to her on birthday, taken in Sikkim. Hope she would like it.
                                                     Kanchenjunga

Babloo/Neha went for a holiday to an interior area of Nainital distt. See Akshat relaxing in a net-swing :

Quotable Quotes : " The truly scary thing about undiscovered lies is that they have a greater capacity to diminish us than exposed ones. They erode our strength, our self esteem, our very foundation. " Cheryl Hughes, author.
Retired to sleep at about 11 pm.

13th June

Completed morning program. Spent the day reading newspapers and magazines.
Quotable Quotes : "One should always aspire for increment of strength, food and long life because each of them is dependent on the other."-Yajur Veda
Retired to sleep at about 11 pm.

12th June

Completed morning program. Spent the day reading magazines and newspapers.
Quotable Quotes : " Real happiness of life is in doing Karma. " Rigved
Retired to sleep at about 10.30 pm.

11th June

Completed morning program. Visited Safdurjung hospital and CGHS.
Quotable Quotes : " During times of universal deceit, the truth becomes a revolutionary act." George Orwell
Retired to sleep at about 10.30 pm.

10th June

Completed morning program. Spent the day reading newspapers and magazines.
Quotable Quotes : " You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself." Swami Dayanand
Retired to sleep at about 11 pm.

9th June

Completed morning program. Visited British High Commission and handed over application for Visa along with requisite documents. Hope to get it within a week.
Quotable Quotes : " The first sign of your becoming religious is that you are becoming cheerful." Swami Dayanand
Retired to sleep at about 11 pm.

8th June

Completed morning program. Visited CGHS and Safdarjung hospital along with Venita. Check-up is warranted before journey overseas. Due to dysfunction of some electrical gadgets/equipment, we experienced  some disruption in power supply for short times. It was quite a hot day.
Quotable Quotes : " There is poison in the fang of the serpent, in the mouth of the fly and in the sting of a scorpion; but the wicked man is saturated with it." Chanakya
Retired to sleep t about 11 pm.

7th June

Completed morning program. 
Westside Wimbledon (Amolikaa's club) beat Tennis Focus 5 - 1. Amolikaa won both her singles and doubles. Tennis Focus were a difficult club to beat. Westside has now won 5 out of the 5 matches played, Amolikaa has played in four. A second placed finish in the Surrey Box League is now assured. The final match is on 20th June  Amolikaa will play. Hope to see the final match.
A photo is given below.

Spent the day reading newspapers and magazines. 
Quotable Quotes :"Test a servant while in the discharge of his duty, a relative in difficulty, a friend in adversity, and a wife in misfortune."Chanakya
Retired to sleep at about 11 pm.

6th June

Completed morning program. Visited CGHS to collect additonal medicines for stay overseas by Venita. Spent the day reading newspapers and magazines.
Quotable Quotes :" The world's biggest power is the youth and beauty of woman." Chanakya
Retired to sleep at about 11 pm.

5th June

Completed morning program. Got hard copy of the application for UK Visa to be given to the British High Commission on 9th June at the time of appointment. Had to stop payment of a cheque, issued by me for payment of SBI credit card bill as i had put the earlier card number which had been cancelled. Its payment was stopped in the SBI computerized system. The SBI charged me Rs 51/-for the service. In CSOI for about an hour.
Qutable Quotes : "There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no friendship without self-interests. This is a bitter truth."Chanakya
Retired to sleep at about 11 pm.

4th June

Completed morning program. Filed application on line for UK Visa. The meeting with the British High Commission is fixed on 9th June for submission of signed Application form and other documents.
Visited Safdarjung hospital, CGHS and CSOI.
Quotable Quotes : "You cannot stop the waves but you can learn how to surf." Ton Kabat-Zinn ('is Professor of Medicine Emeritus and creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Kabat-Zinn was a student of Buddhist teachers such as Thich Nhat Hanh and Zen Master Seung Sahn and a founding member of Cambridge Zen Center. His practice of yoga and studies with Buddhist teachers led him to integrate their teachings with those of science. He teaches mindfulness, which he says can help people cope with stress, anxiety, pain, and illness. The stress reduction program created by Kabat-Zinn, called Mindfulness-based stress reduction, is offered by medical centers, hospitals, and health maintenance organizations.')

Retired to sleep at about 10 pm.

2nd June

Completed morning program. Spent the day reading newspapers and magazines.
Quotable Quotes : "Never make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such friendships will never give you any happiness." Chanakya
Retired to sleep at about 10.30 pm.

3rd June

Completed morning program. Pilku told Amolikaa , now 10 , that as he would be out of station, i would take her to Wimbledon tennis match on 3rd July instead. She said that she would rather take me and show the match. I liked her confidence. She preferred to take me to Wimbledon rather than being taken by me.
Attended a conference at Taj Mansingh with a client along with Advocate Atiar Singh Dey. Visited CGHS, SBI and CSOI.
Quotable Quotes : " I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies but not the madness of people.". Issac Newton.
Retired to sleep at about 10 pm.

1st June

Completed morning program. Visited CSOI, CGHS and SBI. The courts remain closed.
Quotable Quotes : "A good wife is one who serves her husband in the morning like a mother does, loves him in the day like a sister does and pleases him like a prostitute in the night."Chanakya
Retired to sleep at about 11.15 pm.