I guess I'd never get over my hate towards the inefficiency of huge organizations and tall organizational structures. Lot of things would be more efficient if we just cut down the levels and increase the effectiveness of the communication system. Well, why am I cribbing so much. That's because, due to this inefficiency, I had to travel all way back to India and then back to London within a short period ( it would have been a lot easier for me to have stayed here and completed my job once for all before returning ). And, now, my stay has been extended by two more weeks. Had I known this earlier, I could have atleast been well prepared. ( Actually, I should feel happy that this time I did not have to go to Bangalore and then come back ;) ).

Well, life here is not bad at all. I am having a good time here. Going to my brother in law's place everry evening and cook and eat dinner. Surfing net for some nice looking counties and dragging my cousin over the weekend for a drive to these places. I am enjoying life here !

The brits culture seem to be so different from the Americans'. They don't seem to be aggressive ( I don't know if it's really the case, or it's just the stereotype that's stuck into my mind ). And, there seems to be a greater degree of politics running than Americans. I now understand why India is like this.

One of the observations I made was that, they don't like to be held responsible for their work. If the work finishes, it is done, and if not, they don't care. They like using 'we' more than 'I' or 'you'. Kind of reduces the burden of responsibility by making it collective. If an American faces an external hurdle in the work assigned to him, he'd do his best and make it a point to get past the hurdle and finish the work. In case of a brit, he'd not try as hard to get past the hurle, and would not finish his work. I see the same kind of mentality with Indians too. Worse, an Indian would just not do his work at all, and would be very happy if an external hurdle comes by his way, so that he can blame that as the reason.

Well, all these come with the standard disclaimer: 'These are just my personal opinions and does not reflect anything else, and my sample set is very small, and my opinion is prone to changes as well'. All said, I still like the brits the most for their culturedness.

I am safe here, at London. I came to office earlier for a release and was held up in that, and did not even manage to track the happenings. And, as dumb as I am, did not remember to convey my well being to friends and family. On a later thought, I realised how important it was, and how stupid I had been, to have forgetten it. I guess, I would have stayed late in office irrespective of the situation outside, to finish up the release if it had got delayed further. I definitely have my priorities set wrong.

On the incident as such, I was amazed at the efficiency of the emergency services and sensibility of the prople here. There could have been more casualities due to panic and stampede. I cannot imagine myself being stuck in an underground tube with smoke surrounding me. I'd defenitely have panicked. But, the effect is defenitely seen here. The crowd on the tubes have decreased. A friday night tube looks almost empty ! Guess, it will take a couple of days / weeks for people to come back to their normal state.