Summer Fling

I have a friend who spends a month in London in the summer every single year. What do you do there,why not travel somewhere new within England itself,I’ve asked her several times. She explains that London is her summer abode — great weather and atmosphere with dappled sunlight till 10 at night. She has no interest in exploring the cathedrals and cobbled paths in the rest of Europe. Unlike regular tourists,she feels no pressure to either check out the latest wax installations at Madame Tussaud’s or go to the Tower of London to see the Kohinoor. Or even to see performances at Covent Garden. Her day is spent between Hyde Park,Portobello Road and catching up with friends in the evenings at Audley Pub,the hang out of many Indians from Delhi and Bombay in June.

London boasts more Michelin-starred restaurants than Paris and more bookshops than New York City but I don’t think that’s why Indians have this peculiar affinity to the city. Maybe it has something to do with the British ruling us for 300 years or even our reading habits — as a student,on my first trip to London,my first tourist stop was 221B Baker Street. I’m told kids these days want to go to King’s Cross station,to platform 9 and three-quarters,from where Hogwarts Express departs in the Harry Potter series. If you’ve grown up reading Agatha Christie,Georgette Heyer,Sherlock Holmes and PG Wodehouse,you feel you know the city already. Besides,every second Bollywood film is shot there. When Delhiites are forced into exile,their first preferred option is London. Think Lalit Modi or ex-real estate magnates,who’ve made the city their base in recent years. Of late,it’s a little infra dig to show this penchant for London in the summer,since it indicates a lack of adventure; everybody goes there. But it is still a mortifying blow,that to travel to the UK,Indians will have to deposit a staggering cash bond of 3000 pounds per visa (over Rs 2.5 lakh).

In 2012,Great Britain had over 31 million visitors,of which approximately one-fifth were Indians. In recent years,Indian tourists have outspent the Japanese. England ranks as a preferred destination for first-time travellers from India. But Britain’s stern attempts to restrain immigration have caused turmoil among tourists and students. British education leaders have been campaigning to revise the definitions of international migration to exclude those on student visas,since the number of applicants from the subcontinent have already begun declining. If,for a family of four,you need to deposit over Rs 10 lakh as a cash bond,Indians are going to have to look for a new summer abode real fast. Paris,perhaps?