A day that changed the way I shall look at this world

Yesterday afternoon I took the tube from holborn station(central line) to lamberth north (bakerloo line). My friend Nicole and I were going to the war museum. Lamberth north was a beautiful area , quite laid back and at ease. We entered the war museum , a truly magnificient architectural building. We went into the holocaust museum which is located in the same building. As i walked through thr halls, I realized the magnitude of what had happened over 70 years ago.
I had read about it and talked about it, but seeing the pictures and hearing people talk about their experiences as children during the holocaust overwhelmed me. The jews of germany were treated worse than low lying worms. They were humiliated, disgraced , torchered and massacered simply because they were followers of Judaism.
I thought what is it that perpetuates such hate and despise in human beings. Why did the nazis deplore the jews with such a vehemance that they took upon the horrendous task of trying to wipe them off the face of this earth.
I saw a documentary where hitler and others talked about the purity of the aryan race and that any contact with the jews was defiling the blood of their noble ancestery.
what kind of nobility is this? And it wasnt just the men , nazi women also relished at the chance of ordering death sentences and torcher.
That shook me. I could not believe the pictures I saw in front of me , where bodies were piled in mass burial grounds and were being checked for hidden valuables before they would be plowed with mud to cover them up.
The inhumanity of the entire period made me stop and think.
I was here now , I was lucky to be born in a particular family , in a particular country , in a perticular time.
I could not begin to digest what those people must have felt.
So many pictures , so many lives, so many unfulfilled desires and wishes.........
Every photograph had a story of human suffering. Every photograph was a testament to the fact that a family had suffered , that a child had lost his / her innocence in that cruel time.
My heart broke for those innocent children who suffered.
What had they done to deserve this? I heard a story where jewish people were supposed to step out of the way of nazi soldiers. One child of 6 didnt move away fast enough. The nazi soldier pulled out his gun and shot her through her head...........................................
Was her crime so huge? Then WHY?
I had always blistered over the fact that the Hindu symbol of swastika was banned through out Europe. I still dont accept it but now I understand why.......
It was a symbol of nazi cruelty, of death and destruction, of a malaise in the society that took the lives of over 6 million innocent people.
By the time I stepped out of the holocaust musuem , I was shaken and wished to the almighty that those poor souls had found some peace in their passing..................

london eye

first experience of a british pub - shakespere's pub. I thought it would be appropriate to start from this pub because i love shakespere.
it wasnt as fancy as i thought it would be. was actually quite laid back and fun. not pricey either and in central london quite a find!It is located on kingsway which goes from holborn tube station to aldwych in the camden borough of central london.
This place was packed to the hilt with people and to my annoyance SMOKE.
I have noticed one thing about Europeans in generalis that they smoke cigarette which is like in tons. I think the people here pollute the air more than the vehicles do. I sincerely felt that the congestion tax levied on the vehicles should have been renamed as pollution tax and should have been instead levied on people. So more revenue or less smoke. Either way a win win situation.
People here are really like chimneys. I completely fail to see tha appeal in smoking away your hard earned money as well as your health.
The British people are also very wierd.It is a normal custom in India and also USA ( American friends confirrmed this ) that if you see some one on the road you recognize by face you give them a smile/ nod of acknowledgement. here if you do that, people look at you as if you are deranged. My My My these brits are a funny stock.
okay back on the subject of pubs......... veggies beware.........double check everything before you dig in . the selection of veg dishes is normally measly. but still choosing from 3 dishes took me so long. It was ridiculous................
In the end , i ordered a dish called the panini- which is a baguette sandwichwith tomatoes, mozarella cheese and pesto sauce. It wsa super duper fantabulously delicious. I even tried the treacle tart. It was a drop of heaven. Pure unimagined delight.
we must have been the first customers of the club since its opening to walk upto the bar and order water. We received many a funny stares.
The meal cost us 3:25 sterling pounds which is pretty decent in central london.
later we walked down to the tate museum on the bankside. went a little crazy doing the touristy things. My room-mate shashi and I must have clicked a zillion snaps of anything right from the light bulbs which were hung from the trees to the promenade that along the thames.
In the tate museum, I had my first glimpse of a Monet original. Was so awed by it that for the first time during the length of the entire evening I was speechless.
"The waterlilies" - my favourite painting was in front of my eyes. I must have gazed at it with adoration for 30 minutes before the guard asked us to leaveas it was the closing time.
with a last glance and a promise that I would return all of us resumed the freezing journey back home.........................................................