An interesting first person account of IPS officer Raju Bhargav's recent trip to UK for training.
The training at the National Police Academy was eagerly awaited as it would take us to London for a familiarisation and exposure to best practices adopted by the British police. After we landed at Heathrow we were driven to Birmingham with a stopover at Oxford Eating Joint. It was almost midnight and our hunger was testing us on top of the jet lag. For vegetarians it was an ordeal to figure out what to eat. I finally settled for French fries, potato patties and some hot coffee.
Our first week's stay at University of Birmingham rest house gave us a glimpse of student life in that country. In spite of the morning chill we were encouraged to walk around the picturesque lake occupied by ducks and cranes. The sports and cultural facilities were good and kept one occupied.
Professionally, we got a chance to look closely at the functioning of the Birmingham Police, their police station, patrolling cars, community support programme and how the community support officers work in liaison with communities, the control room and
fascinating close circuit TV network covering every nook and corner of Birmingham.
I also had the chance to visit the famous Aston Villa Football Club and Edgbaston cricket ground where not so long ago our cricket team was being pounded by the English team. Birmingham also has a sizeable Punjabi and Gujarati community. I had the pleasure to visit the Swaminarayan temple there and have a sumptuous Gujarati meal after almost a week.
The visits to London landmarks like Madame Tussauds museum, Big Ben and Westminister Parliament House was an exhilarating experience. One was a little disappointed to see the wax models of our icons like Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Salman Khan and even Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi. But, the museum has done a neat job of Shahrukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan.
The visit to Windsor Castle and Wimbledon centre court was unforgettable. How history has been preserved in a thousand-year-old castle has to be seen to be believed. One tower of the castle was razed down in a fire and was rebuilt.
It is hard to detect this unless you are told. The Wimbledon Tennis Centre holds its own 120 years of history. For all tennis lovers it is a dream come true to see it. You feel a part of a rich tradition to visit the museum with rare tennis artefacts from old rackets and trophies to clothing items.
London is a dream city with a number of museums including the Tower museum housing our Kohinoor diamond. I got to see Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, Oxford Street - the high fashion street - and not to forget Harrods!
I was also lucky to visit the London Olympic Park and get a glimpse of the planning going into preparing it for the mega event.
This reminded me of our own Commonwealth Games and the preparation that went into it. The visit to another education hub, Cambridge, was an interesting experience. Punting or boat ride on the river Cambridge flowing beside the temples of knowledge was enjoyable. There are around 31 colleges which constitute Cambridge University and some of the famous ones are Kings College, Trinity College and Emmanuel College. All have majestic buildings. Also, the student town of Cambridge is one of cyclists.
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