Some more random thoughts on Life in the UK

I had the chance to talk to this elderly White Brit neighbor, who I used to see occasionally in the summer cycling outdoors on his bike. He  was apparently what I term a "gold digger" for the reasons coming next. He lived on a UK pension (and maybe his retirement savings) but spent time in countries such as Sri Lanka and other South East Asian nations, where obviously his pounds got more bang for his buck and he could live a much more comfortable life than he could expect to in costly UK. He excitedly told me why he liked Sri Lanka so much and how he managed to deal with the hot weather there. There are quite a few people like this in the West - modern day hippies, who prefer to stay outside their country of citizenship to live a modestly luxurious life in a country where the purchasing power parity is more favorable. Notably the backpackers who you will see in places such as Goa, Dharamshala and of course, Kerala..

The UK media I noticed is heavily biased, almost similar to the Indian media. Prince Harry is universally despised and after his misadventure, Prince Andrew has also fallen into the bad books. The Queen (and the other immediate royals) are held in high regard and every small action of theirs (including body language) was noted, analyzed, praised to the skies and glorified. Speaking against the monarchy is akin to treachery, though though a minority of modern Brits, do not believe in the continuation of the monarchy. The press is prejudiced in some way similar to India and are sometimes have a parochial outlook, which actually surprised me as I expected the media to be more liberal and open minded in what is considered a developed country..

There are a lot of homeless people in the UK as well. You will find them huddled in a jacket and a blanket on a cold winter evening by the street curb. They are not as despised or looked down upon as you would expect in India or in fact the US. They are the street clowns. When begging, they will request you in very polite English for a few pennies. And they are always in a mood to haves some silly banter with passersby. Some of the regular small town people are familiar with these homeless and are actually on first name terms with some of them. I even saw one shabby beggar come for a regular checkup at the NHS, because health care is universal in the UK under the NHS. It seems that the general public decided that these people have chosen that particular way of life of their own choice and there is nothing more to it..

In certain shabbier areas parts of town you will find drunk tramps, some of them quite young chaps asking if you could spare a few pennies, because their "mother just died. You know my  mother, she died!".

There is a special tax on products containing sugar in a bid to combat obesity which is pandemic in the UK. So you will find that the can of beer you just bought from the corner store is only slightly expensive than the Coca Cola can you bought instead..