London is second home for many Indians. So while the swish set sway between the two countries, to catch up with friends, summer sales or just be, there might be a dampener to your trip.
Many have been forced by the pandemic to stay away from travel for the past couple of years.
Now that commercial travel has resumed, and the travel budget of the last couple of years has been saved, it’s the end of the compulsory travel sabbatical and time to rekindle travel ties.
With the endemic in sight, almost all bans lifted for travel in and out of countries worldwide, the United Kingdom (UK) being the pioneer to remove all testing, vaccine and mask restrictions and asking their people to treat Covid-19 like the usual flu, everyone is ready with a boarding pass in hand to resume life.
Human beings are truly a resilient bunch. We definitely do not waste time bouncing back. And get dolled up for luncheons and dinners, wedding banter or even the premier show of JugJugg Jeeyo. The blind side of the matter is that with the pandemic, a lot of people lost their jobs. Retail or small businesses went bankrupt, loans or mortgages could not be paid, even securing the roof above your head was tough for many, no surprises here for the rise in crime.
Economies have crashed, the Russia-Ukraine war has left the world to sink further and the struggle has grown deeper.
The pandemic has left many —
- Depressed and unable to get back on their feet to work and earn again,
- Embracing a solitary lifestyle due to the shift to the “work from home” concept.
- Finding that getting back into the buzz of the corporate competition is difficult.
- Lazy and work-shirkers as they got a taste of free money dished out by governments for unemployment.
Yes, the situation for 80% of the world is grim.
While the well-heeled are unaffected, the rest of the world who sees them, definitely want a piece of this free pie.
How are they going to get that iPhone 13, or a limited edition bag or the most coveted prize: a wad of cash?
Where do the homeless, the immigrants living in shelters or just the jobless get their daily bread?
They form gangs,
They train to be suave pickpockets, bold muggers and daylight thieves and excellent bikers.
They survey the posh (supposedly safe) areas, the restaurants, the shops, and the houses in which the swish set hang.
The crime rate is at its peak and expected to peak further later this year.
A couple of my friends have been targeted by this crime and have relayed a first-hand account of either getting pickpocketed in a restaurant, mugged or home theft.
So, the family was at a restaurant in the heart of London, Al Hambra in Mayfair to be precise, police cars lurking around the safe area. The restaurant has just three tables waited upon, not full at all. They order, they dine and in between a flower seller places a rose on the table, just like he did on the other tables and comes back for the two pounds, when she returns the rose saying ‘no, thank you’ he takes it and leaves. Nothing unusual.
It’s time to pay the bill, my friend reaches for her big handbag which she had slung on the backrest of her chair, only to find the handles and no bag attached to it. She immediately raised an alarm, asked for the restaurant manager who shrugged his shoulders. They went outside to report to the police who were hovering around only to get a response that this is a very common thing and they would need to go to the police station and file a complaint, which could take any number of days, months or even years. Leave alone the unhelpfulness of the restaurant staff, the police, the trauma of dealing with cancellation of all credit cards, cash gone, expensive bag gone or remembering what else was in the bag? Plus having to reach home without a pound on you. It’s out of your control.
Lesson learnt: carry a bag that will fit on your lap, under your dinner napkin. Do not carry important documents like your passport, ID. Limit the cash you carry around and stick to one credit card, maybe two as a backup.
As recent as three weeks ago, another group of friends were returning home from an evening show at the cinema. Just a 15-minute walk to home, the crisp weather and saving on the exorbitant Uber cab ride. The chatty group embarked on their short trip home. Suddenly a biker slowed down near them, yanked the phone out of the trouser pocket of one of the guys and sped off. In a flash of a moment, it was all over, before he could even react, the biker was long gone.
Lesson learnt: stay far away from the kerb or road and more towards the buildings when walking on the footpath.
Take brightly lit main roads versus bylanes or park fronts.
If it is a face-to-face mugging, often at knifepoint, give in without a fight.
If you are on your phone, they will snatch it off your hand and zoom away either on a skateboard or in a waiting car.
Again, carry extra money in your socks, just in case your phone is not the only target for the mugger.
Homes of the rich are also a target. This is usually an inside job with the help of your cleaning staff, gardener or handyman. Here is how it happens: husband off to work, wife in the kitchen, cleaning staff doing her usual, lets in the seasoned house thief, who walks into the bedroom closet and neatly removes the entire safe and quietly exits the home. Nothing unusual noticed until you go to your closet and look at the vacant spot of the safe in disbelief. The whole process of lodging a complaint and even remembering the contents of the safe is unnerving.
Lesson learnt: Important documents like your passport and ID cards should be kept in a drawer. The burglar has no interest in them. It’s the jewels, the cash and easily saleable stuff that they are after. Have multiple drawers with locks to keep your precious stuff. Never open the drawers in front of your staff, as honest as they are, it takes that one time of open temptation and desperation for money to do the deed.
It’s Friday night, three youngsters in their 30s returning home from dinner in London’s posh Mayfair district. The time is 1.30am, not at all late by London standards. They have reached their place of stay, Arlington House Apartments. Just outside the door, two men completely masked attack one of the youngsters – a boy. Within 30 seconds, the masked men pushed him to the ground and removed his Rolex watch. To get into Arlington House, you have to use your keycard, which they did.
The apartments did not have security and to everyone’s horror, the CCTV camera outside the hotel was not working. All that the camera recorded was the feet of the burglars. This was under the awning of Arlington House, a bar on the opposite side of the road actually caught this entire incident. When this matter was reported to the apartment authorities, a senior officer from Arlington House advised, “don’t dress rich”. Unless you are rich, you can’t afford to stay in Arlington House (these apartments cost 1000 pounds a night). What is surprising is the completely callous attitude of Arlington House’s authority who made every effort to wash their hands off this incident saying that it was on the road and even though it was under the awning of Arlington house it was not their responsibility.
Lesson learnt: London can be an unsafe place. Indians are a target. It is suspected that Uber drivers often inform these gangs of the rich and where they stay. While it is unfortunate that this incident happened outside Arlington House, it could have happened anywhere, what is more unfortunate is that Arlington House couldn’t give a damn.
