QUOTE

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way-things I had no words for." ~ Georgia O'Keeffe


Friday, November 07, 2014

Remembrance

On Sunday we  went to London it was my husband's treat for my birthday so we decided to have a meal out there. The traffic was so bad that our lunch got very delayed. We were hoping to see the poppies in the Tower of London. It was too late to do it so got back home. We had our lunch here in Canary Wharf. It is all changed so much. Once on a time it was a very dilapidated area now it is all posh offices and shopes.


Had a lovely view of the Shard in the evening light.


Today I had to go into London and after I finished my work I decided to go and see the poppies at the Tower. The day was fairly bright even though a bit blustery.


There were lots of people around and once I got there the sight really caught my breath and brought a lump to my throat.




My parents always called me Pappy when I was a kid. One day I asked my mum how it would be spelt and she said Poppy! So I said to her it is poppy not pappy so she said it is pappy  and again with the aa in it. I guess she just could not pronounce it correctly as in Tamil language the 'O' sound is not common. In fact I don't know if it is there. So she always called me pappy even though it was meant to be poppy. I asked her to say Doll and she would say Dall:-)  anyway the point I was trying to make was that perhaps they called me that because of Remembrance Day was close to my birthday. Dad would always listen avidly to the Remembrance Day ceremony broadcast by bbc worldservice and tell us what it all meant. He would always get dewy eyed because he was in the then RAF( now IAF) during the WW11. Even though he was not in the front line he had many friends who were and probably did not come back.
So I am glad that I went.

9 comments:

  1. very jealous, would love to see it. the photos are breathtaking, can't imagine it in person

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am glad you managed to get there. Would have loved to see this inspiring sight.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I so enjoyed these photos! A part of the world I'll never see in person. Happy Birthday by the way. My dad's was on the 6th. So you are a Scorpio - very deep...

    Love your childhood nick name - and just found your story so cute - how your mom would call you pappy but it meant poppy. Adorable.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh I don't know about being deep but I do love nature and find a lot of inspiration from it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Sashi, you made it – well done! Your photos are lovely, thank you for sharing them. Its ages since we visited Canary Wharf. Maybe we need to make that our next trip. I love days in London, but it is tiring so we tend to only go three or four times a year.
    Poppy is such a pretty name. My family called me Bobbie (because as a baby, I looked like a boy!) I like the name but over the years it got shortened to Bob, and that is what stuck.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Barbara it is very tiring to walk in any city, but you must go to Canary Wharf sometime in the summer when it is pleasant to walk. Otherwise it can be a bit blustery and cold to hang around near the docks. We drove down there and it was very confusing to find parking because of road blocks and road works. At one point we had to stop at the police check point, they asked me if I knew where I was going had to say yes even though I had no clue where I was going. Soon after that I came to a dead end so had to turn round. I hoped I would pass the same check point otherwise the policeman would have thought I was upto no good going round and round:-)

      Delete
  6. Hi Shashi..The pics are lovely and I knew about this 'Poopy sea' through the Indian Media and the lovely Barbara's beautiful blog.
    I am glad you visited. It must be an emotional experience for you and all those who were connected to the WWII in one way or another as I, who do not have any direct connection to it feel moved every time I see the images... Real Heroes and a real good remembrance.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting my blog and for your support. Your comments are much appreciated.