United Kingdom - a country under a cloud

For the last several months, all we have been hearing is bad news - bad news of the worst kind. First, there were the Manchester attacks, then the London Bridge attack, then the Grenfell Building fire, and now, an attack on London on innocent Muslims by a white man who muttered that he wanted to kill all Muslims.

Whatever is happening? I think there are rumours working overtime. Before the elections, I heard an Englishman say that the attack just before the elections at London Bridge was orchestrated by the sitting PM herself to garner more votes in the name of shock. After the elections, someone else said that the attacks were orchestrated by Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party. This confusion makes me realise that both contentions are wrong and that all these attacks are as proclaimed - either terrorist attacks or a grossly unfortunate accident (the building fire) or simply bad racism (the attack outside the mosque). 

I am certain more bad times are to follow. Economically, the UK is going through a bad patch as well. Brexit negotiations have begun today and the UK will have to give in on many issues, thanks to the lack of a clear parliamentary majority by Theresa May's Conservative (Tory) party.

Nothing much to add here. A reflection on the troublesome days is much in order.

#LondonAttacks

Once again, extremism has raised its ugly head and wiped away 7 lives, destroyed the hopes and aspirations of all those connected to them - and injured almost 50 others, at least a dozen of them critically. 

Three men, travelling in a large vehicle, first rammed this into a crowd of innocent pedestrians atop the London Bridge, then took the vehicle into a market area and, parking it, got off the vehicle and began to run around, randomly knifing people going about their usual lives. Within 8 minutes of the police receiving news of the attack, they were killed in an intense round of police fire. They were found to be wearing what seemed to be jackets rigged with explosives. However, the tin cans attached to their jackets proved to be fake ones. 

As I write this, the police investigation is ongoing. Patients are admitted to five hospitals in the vicinity, among them the King's College and the Guys and Thomas' Hospitals. Nearly a dozen of the injured victims are critical, while the rest are recuperating. 

Among those dead is a Canadian citizen, a New Zealander and two Frenchmen. 

A quick thought: this is the third attack by terrorists in three months in the U.K. The last attack was just 12 days ago in the Manchester Arena. What is happening? 

I was talking to a British lady today while walking in Stanley Park. We agreed that Britain was reaping the effects of what it was sowing all over the world, blindly following the United States of America. The picture of Theresa May being led by the hand by President Trump symbolises this more than anything else. 

May and Trump (click this link)

If only the U.K. government stops meddling in the affairs of the various countries it is engaged with, Islamic extremism will stop attacking it - at least this is my opinion. It has become almost impossible for terrorists to attack the U.S.A. That is why, they are now targetting the softer option - the United Kingdom. This is a war, and the U.K. should start protecting itself rather than try to "restore" peace, democracy etc. in other countries. 

The lady I was talking to is an ex-journalist who was shooting birds with her Canon camera. We both felt that the people of U.K. are becoming increasingly frustrated with the way things are going. Racism is making a comeback, she said. While she was putting this down to politics, I felt that people were basically relinquishing common sense and attacking anyone not their own without understanding that without immigrants, the U.K. would be finished as a world power. 

Back to the attacks: there will be a general election in the next four days' time. The Tories may well continue to be in power, and May will then have the power to negotiate hard with the European countries to retain its value in a post-Brexit world the way she wants to. Or, as a dark horse, the Labour Party may win and Jeremy Corbyn will be swept into power as the new Prime Minister.

Only time will tell - within a week, we will know the outcome.

The election comes at a time when the people will still be reflecting on the London Attacks. May the souls of those who died rest in Peace. Amen.

Sharing lots of news

Since I last wrote a post on the 27th of November, a lot of water has flown under the bridge. My appointment became formal from the 1st of December, and hopefully, my first salary should come in a few days before Christmas. That is one good news. The next one is that I have completed my health assessment and I should start my routine duties from the 15th of this month. That will definitely help me to start working with real patients, hands on. The third good news is that I have registered myself with the NHS (National Health Service) for my own health, and was able to get my medicines free of cost for the next entire month. This means that I will no longer have to lug a huge stock of medicines with me from India. 

I have also occupied myself with attending interesting talks. Yesterday, I went all the way to London, to the HQ of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, to hear the Annual Christmas Lecture by  Sir Micheal Marmot from the London College Hospital's Epidemiology Department. His talk was on "The Health Gap: Addressing inequalities in the delivery of Health care, and the Importance of Community Health care". It was a brilliant lecture indeed. However, more than the lecture, I enjoyed my one-afternoon trip to London very much. I met one Dr. Pradeep Sahare of Nagpur, who works as a Community Pediatrician in the UK. During my return journey, I met with and befriended a British woman, a struggling actor by profession, one Ms. Julie H.. as we were sitting across from each other on the long journey back from London. She turned out to be a very jovial and interesting woman indeed. As we parted at Warrington, a few stops before my own destination at Preston (where I would change to another train to take me back to my home town), we exchanged our contacts and promised to be in touch. You could say she is my first British acquaintance outside the setting of the Hospital.

Today, I attended one more interesting talk. It was a half-day workshop on Being Resilient. It was conducted by one Ms. Bec Howard, a life-style coach, and it was just super! The main message of the entire 3+ hours of learning was to dig in there, despite the ups and downs of life around you, and to retain your fresh attitude and persist in doing the right thing so as to emerge a winner and a leader that others around you can look up to. 

I am also due to appear for an interview before the Job centre in Preston in connection with my enrollment for a National Insurance number. This interview is scheduled for later this month. 

I am actually beginning to like my accommodation inside the hospital. I have made myself home here, and have organised my two rooms and the available storage in the kitchen to reflect my own needs. As I share the flat with another doctor (an Iraqui resident in Medicine), I have to respect his needs and space as well. On the whole, though, he and I live in quite different ways. He does not cook much, and gets all his food from the shops outside - but mostly from within the hospital, where we have two big brand shops, viz. M & S and W H Smith. Whereas I, with my genuine liking of cooking and self-cooked food, have expanded my larder by making lots of purchases from different places, supermarkets, malls and so on within Blackpool and from Preston, and even Manchester. I have all my needs met insofar as my kitchen is concerned. 

My family has couriered a lot of additional stuff, though, and pretty soon, when these things arrive, I will have no difficulty in living normally. 

Finally, My gymming and exercising has taken off in a good way. I am maintaining a record of the activities I do, with dates, calories burned (wherever I know it) and so on. It's too early to feel and weigh any different, but I am sure results will come soon. I am hoping to lose at least 3 kg by the year end. Let us see what happens.

Thank you for reading this entry and for your enthusiasm and for the encouragement you give me. I hope you are enjoying reading my blog entries as much as I am enjoying writing them.