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Anuj woke up to a bright and balmy morning the next day. He was surprised to see a deep blue autumn sky. The sun shone brightly and made the leaves look a bright yellow. After taking a shower and breakfast, he moved out of Netherhall House with Fr. Williams.
The air was cold and crisp, the kind Anuj liked. He wore a light black sweater on his grey cargo trousers. Fr. Williams looked so big without his robe, in a black shirt and black trousers.
Together they started climbing down the hill. When they reached Finchley Road, Anuj was startled to see the hustle and bustle all around. It was a different world from the quiet environs of Nutley Terrace. Cars zipped past. Most of the shops had opened up. Anuj saw a white building with a big logo in orange saying “Sainsbury’s,” and was happy to see the branch of one of the biggest supermarket chains in the UK functioning right there.
They turned left and kept walking on the wet pavement till Anuj could see a big signboard saying “Underground” and “Finchley Road Station” on the other side of the road. They walked down the stairs and passed through an underground passageway to cross the road. Soon they entered the Finchley Road tube station.
“You’ll need to buy a ticket from there,” said Fr. Williams pointing to the counter at the station.
“Tell them you need to travel to Euston Square. As a student, you are entitled to some concessions while travelling on London transport anywhere. So do get yourself a Student Oyster card and then you’ll be able to save some money while travelling on the tube or buses,” said Fr. Williams.
Anuj nodded and stood in the queue. After two minutes, his turn came.
“How may I help you, sir,” said a man’s voice.
“I need a ticket to travel to Euston Square,” said Anuj.
“No problem. Is it one-way?” said the man.
“No return, please,” said Anuj.
The man punched a few keys on his keyboard.
“That’ll be four pounds,” said the man.
Four pounds? That’s so damn expensive, thought Anuj. Four pounds converted to nearly 350-400 Indian rupees depending on the conversion rate of the day. For that amount, Anuj could have bought a metro pass for 15 days back home! What’s wrong with this place?
Anuj took out a few coins adding up to four pounds and the man at the counter handed him a ticket along with a map of the London underground.
“In future you may even use one of the machines there to buy your ticket. But today I didn’t want to complicate your life,” smiled Fr. Williams.
Fr. Williams took out his travel card and scanned. The fare gate opened, and he passed through it. It was now Anuj’s turn. He tried to swipe his ticket but nothing happened. It was not the usual “travel card” and not, therefore, “scannable.”
“You’ll need to insert your ticket in the fare gate. You’ll notice a place,” said Fr. Williams.
Anuj looked around but couldn’t find the slot right away. It was the morning rush, and lots of people were scanning their travel cards and passing through rows of fare gates. The fare gates constantly beeped and opened and closed with a THUD.
The floors of the station vibrated vigorously due to the movement of the trains causing a mild earthquake. Constantly. Anuj heard some of the trains making a screeching noise as they departed from the platform.
Anuj knew he was blocking the way which further added to the confusion. And the more confused Anuj became, the less his mind worked.
A security guard was standing near the fare gate. He took Anuj’s ticket and inserted it in a small hole. The ticket immediately disappeared and appeared on the other side of the fare gate. The gate opened and Anuj passed through with a sigh.
He saw two signboards in different directions—Northbound and Southbound.
“Do we take the northbound train or the southbound?” asked Anuj.
“The southbound one,” said Fr. Williams.
They walked down the stairs, past the “Southbound” signboard on their right and emerged onto the platform. There were two more signboards. “Metropolitan Line” on the right-hand side and Jubilee Line on the left-hand side.
There were two display boards as well—one saying “Aldgate—4 mins” and the other one saying “Stratford–2 mins.”
“Which train do we board?” asked Anuj.
“Metropolitan Line one to Aldgate,” said Fr. Williams.
Anuj’s head was spinning. Northbound. Southbound. Metropolitan Line. Jubilee Line. Aldgate or Stratford. 4 minutes or 2 minutes.
This was definitely some information overload. It was too much for one day.
Anuj noticed an Aldgate train approaching, and both boarded the train after all passengers had alighted.
***
Within 15 minutes, they had reached Euston Square. They alighted from the train and walked up the stairs. And then there were those dreadful fare gates again. Fr. Williams scanned his travel card and Anuj had to insert his ticket. Without any hiccups, they could move out of the fare gate and climbed up a few more stairs.
Anuj saw light coming out of the exit of the tube station. He was greeted by a cold breeze that ruffled his hair. Anuj had finally made it to Euston Square.
Welcome to Central London!
The street was extremely busy. Everybody seemed to be in a hurry. He saw students hurriedly crossing the road and cars zipping past them as if they didn’t care if someone got hit. UCL was supposed to be on the same street but there was no sign showing its exact location.
Anuj kept on following Fr. Williams. They turned left and moved straight. Anuj saw black brick Victorian style houses on the other side of the road. They kept moving for a few hundred meters (or yards) till Fr. Williams pointed left and wished Anuj good luck.
“I’ve to attend a seminar nearby,” said Fr. Williams and disappeared.
Anuj turned left and let out a gasp.
This was the scene he was waiting for. The mighty college building stared at Anuj. It looked like it had appeared straight out of a Roman movie. Or transported from Ancient Greece. The building had a small dome over its triangular roof which was supported by columns underneath. There was a staircase leading to the main entrance of the building. The deep blue sky and the sunlight made the building look so bright. And sparkling white.
The mighty building smiled at Anuj. It was more beautiful than the pictures he’d seen.
“Yes, that’s me. You do know me from the pictures on our college brochure, don’t you,” said the building.
Anuj entered the premises, lost in his thoughts and admiring the architecture. He soon saw a banner saying “International Students–Orientation Programme Here” and moved towards it.
A tall thin woman with blonde hair was standing holding a piece of paper. Her attention turned towards Anuj.
“Are you here for the Orientation Programme?” asked the woman.
“Yes, I am,” replied Anuj.
“Your name?” asked the woman.
“Anuj Kaul.”
The woman stared at her list which looked like it was alphabetically arranged.
“Ah there you are,” said the woman and put a tick against Anuj’s name on the list.
“Okay, please stand in the queue there,” said the woman.
Anuj nodded and joined the queue.
Suddenly there was a lot of commotion.
“Okay, guys and gals, listen,” shouted the woman.
Everyone quietened down.
“Hi everyone. I’m Carol and welcome to UCL. Every year UCL attracts thousands of applicants worldwide but only a few make it. So congratulations for becoming a part of the UCL community.”
Carol smiled. Everyone smiled back.
“But first let me explain a bit of history. Ooohhhh—I know some of you will find it boring. But let me promise I’ll keep it short and sweet. And of course interesting,” said Carol.
Anuj thought that the girl spoke a lot without speaking much. Too many words but too little content. Typical extrovert who smiled a lot but just couldn’t come to the point. May be that’s why she was hired. She was good for a walking tour.
“Okay—everyone. Are you in with me?”
“Yes,” said everyone in a chorus.
“Right. The college was founded in 1826 and was considered the third oldest college in England after Oxford and Cambridge. Yeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh,” informed Carol.
Everyone laughed.
“Jeremy Bentham was the founder of UCL. Does everyone know Jeremy? Jeremy—the famous Utilitarian philosopher?”
Some nodded their head enthusiastically.
“In the early 1800s, God forbid if you were a Catholic, Muslim, Jew, Hindu or a woman. Worse—if you were a Scot or an Irishman. Do you know why?”
There was silence all around.
“Because you could never go to college. Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh. All universities in England including Oxford and Cambridge were only open to MEN and members of the Anglican Church. How annoying!”
Students were amazed.
“Well Jeremy tried to change that ‘tradition.’ So he founded a new university, where you are standing now, that gave admission to—basically everyone—of all faiths and traditions and nationalities and gender.”
“So ladies and gentlemen—UCL was one of the first secular university in the UK, and probably in the world. Drumrolls please...”
Anuj saw everyone clapping and smiling with pride.
“Now let me tell you some really weird stuff. When Jeremy was on his deathbed, he wrote a will to his friend desiring that his body be preserved and kept within the premises of his beloved college. Yiiiiiiikkkkkkeeeeeeeesssssss,” exclaimed Carol.
Anuj was horrified.
“Yes, you’ll soon see his body behind a wooden cabinet when we move to the South Cloisters,” said Carol.
“Anyways— as per the will, his internal organs were removed and his body was stuffed with straw. Unfortunately during the process of desiccation, Jeremy’s head got messed up. So, his real head had to be replaced by a wax head. And here comes the creepy part. His real head, with its glass eyes, reposed on the floor between his legs for quite some time.
The King of England was upset that UCL was giving admission to everyone. So three years later, in 1829, he founded another college that was known as KCL or King’s College London. KCL was created as a typical ‘traditional college’ open only to men and members of the Anglican Church.
Now let me tell you some interesting stuff. In 1975, some students from KCL stole Jeremy’s head and demanded a ransom of £100 for its return that was to be paid to the charity Shelter. UCL finally agreed to pay a ransom of £10 and the head was returned.
According to another legend, Jeremy’s head, once again stolen by KCL students, was eventually found in a luggage locker at a Scottish Station, in Aberdeen. After this incident of 1975, Jeremy’s head was relocated to the Conservation Safe in the Institute of Archaeology. It was finally labelled as a ‘human remain,’ and deemed inappropriate for public display,” said Carol.
There was a pin-drop silence.
“Okay, enough of gory stuff. Now follow me in.”
Carol led the group inside the building. Anuj was impressed by the interior beauty of the building—those grand arches, huge round glass windows and the spacious corridor. Carol’s voice was now echoing.
The group passed through the corridor to the southern part of the building. And there Anuj met Jeremy Bentham.
Behind a wooden cabinet. Dressed in a dark coat, Victorian collar shirt and a black vest. He wore a round brown hat and gloves. Thankfully he didn’t look creepy.
Anuj expected the body to look somewhat like that psychopath’s dead mother in the movie “Psycho.” But Jeremy looked less like a dead body and more like a wax statue, similar to the ones he’d seen in Madame Tussauds when he’d visited London the last time with his parents.
Jeremy sat in an upright position and had a philosophical look on his face. A copy of his will was attached to the wooden cabinet that read:
“My body I give to my dear friend Doctor Southwood Smith to be disposed of in a manner hereinafter mentioned, and I direct ... he will take my body under his charge and take the requisite and appropriate measures for the disposal and preservation of the several parts of my bodily frame in the manner expressed in the paper annexed to this my will and at the top of which I have written Auto Icon. The skeleton he will cause to be put together in such a manner as that the whole figure may be seated in a chair usually occupied by me when living, in the attitude in which I am sitting when engaged in thought in the course of time employed in writing. I direct that the body thus prepared shall be transferred to my executor...”
Anuj’s eyes skimmed through the other parts of the will. But it all left him quite amused. He’d never seen a will like that in his life.
“Thank you so much for making me a part of your community,” muttered Anuj under his breath to Jeremy Bentham.
The rest of the day remained quite hectic. Anuj moved from one queue to the other—first to get his identity card made with an instant photo that made him look like a vampire with red eyes (this time he didn’t thankfully look obese) and then a library card. Ah—he also got hold of a form for Oyster Card.
He then figured out the Laws Faculty where his law classes would be held. Interestingly Jeremy Bentham too was a lawyer and the name of the Laws Faculty building—you would have guessed by now—was, therefore, “Bentham House.”
The day left Anuj tired. He wasn’t too keen for the scheduled “pub crawl” in the evening. But he thought it could be an excellent opportunity to meet his fellow law students and seniors, and so stayed on.
