A little bit of Kerala in London

London is a melting pot for cultures. Being a host to multiple cultures would come easy to London. After all, London was the capital of an empire where the sun never set. I should have thought about this while going for the New Years Parade. There was a time in my life when I used to go to parades every weekend while in Paris. Then I became disillusioned by seeing the same performers in the parade. What is the fun when every parade is a slight variation of the previous one? Then I stopped going.

I decided to check out the New Years Parade in London. Unfortunately, I arrived at Westminster Abbey fashionably late and hence the parade was about to be over. In Paris, I used to come early to the starting point and left after the parade had commenced. Although I departed earlier from the venue, I would have a lot of shots to take home. This time, I was slow in taking pictures. I need to be quicker. More practice will make me faster.

The surprising factor was a Kerala segment in the New Years Parade; men wearing jubba and mundu and women in traditional Kerala saree. The weather was cold, and they were under-dressed for it. However, it pleased my mind to see those men and women giving Londoners a glimpse of chenda melam.

Tags: Travel,Kerala,London

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