Can a new place become something else? When does a new place become a place on its own? The journey to Nottingham began on a sunny day. The bus departed at 10:20 am. We passed a few towns along the way. But mostly it was the flat plains, with some low hills having gentle green slopes that extended long distance. Sheep dotted like cotton clouds in these plains. Sometimes the sun was caressing the window with much needed yellow shiny warmth.  We were almost reaching Nottingham as some windmills could be seen. Nottingham is a city of students. But it also reminded  me of Chandini Chowk on a 11 am winter morning of Saturday when many kinds of Delhi come to visit it as tourists into several of its lanes. As we deboarded from the bus and began walking downhill towards the market square, we saw many eateries. We speculated their inner world and the prices. We tried to watch out for traffic lights. We tried to ask each other if we would be able to remember the way back to the bus when...

Some snippets from a carol concert Was trying to capture the celebratory spirit inside and the outside greyness. Many trees on the campus have let go off their leaves. In the evening there was a Moon event, attended by lots of school children and their parents. Some of them designed their own projects using legos. We got to see some lunar and martian rocks. We also got to hear some talks and visit some labs where student and researchers work on space projects.  A scientist played some beautiful music while sharing how she named some of the craters on moon. One of the crater (towards the right) is named after the poet Robert Burns While returning from the event, I took a moment to pause how many of the houses had put the lights on. Interestingly, as compared to India, where I have seen pulling lights themselves, I still have not seen anyone putting lights. I am sure they do. But just the invisibility around it, gives the lights some kind of magical tone. This complemented with the d...