Saturday, February 21, 2009

Getting Frozen at Tussauds !

Note: The same blog can be accessed at http://travelog.faaiztameem.com/

London - 22nd May, 2005

The visit to Tussauds was immaculately planned. My friend who is a good researcher when it comes to saving money had found a cheaper and a smarter way of visiting Tussauds. We reached Madam Tussauds on Baker Street at exactly 4:45 PM. and waited patiently to enter it once the clock struck 5. Well the entry ticket to Madam Tussauds was a cool 22 Pounds and post 5’o Clock; it was 14 pounds. So we had no choice but to wait. In fact the saving of 8 pounds saved meant 8*80 = 640 rupees which meant a monster amount in India and for this amount I could have waited an hour extra, so 20 minutes wasn’t a big deal at all. Conversion came naturally to me, as it was just my second day abroad on my first client visit. Although I was paying in pounds my internal accounting was all in rupees. We entered the museum at exactly 5’o Clock and the moment we entered it, all the volunteer's were egging us on to rush quickly, at one point it seemed we were catching a moving train. As we moved to the main gallery on level 1, via the lift we were greeted by a big commotion and clicking of photographs by the paparazzi. It took me about half a minute to realize that it was all automated. The photographers were a huge size print with the noise of clicking and shouting adding to the background score. Indeed this was Madam Tussauds’ way of greeting visitors. When you are abroad, you always carry an excess baggage of representing your country and your skin colour makes sure that you can’t escape identification. So all your movements are watched closely and in case you falter there are negative points added to the already dwindling score of your country. So we were trying to be extra courteous in our behaviour. We were glad to give way to people and wait in queue. Hold the door if there were people following on, basic courtesies which we conveniently forget back home. Well back to Tussauds. I quickly realised that Madam Tussauds was more about clicking photographs and showing off with them rather than anything else. Some of the statues are so real that you just gasp in awe whereas some of them are simply unimpressive especially the Indians, Amitabh Bachhan and Aishwarya Rai. And the best part about Madam Tussauds, you can touch the statues in any way you feel like and that gives you a feeling of getting your money worth. The first hall was full of Hollywood celebrities, some we knew but pretended we knew all of them. The room was dimly lit adding to the party like ambience of post Oscar Night celebration. Tom Cruise, Jennifer Aniston, and Angelina Jolie all seemed normal human beings so easily accessible in one place But one statue I wanted to get myself clicked with, was Penelope Cruz. Not because of her link-up with Tom Cruise but the statue is almost real and then a photograph with Penelope would be a prized weapon to show off to some of my innocent friends. Keeping the courtesy factor in mind, I waited about 10 meters away from the statue, as there was a girl who was clicking Penelope. The girl seemed to be a professional photographer which could be inferred from the camera she was using. However, she was unstoppable. She was clicking photographs continuously and it looked like Penelope was enjoying her celebrity status. It was almost 6-7 minutes and I was getting impatient at her mean behaviour and showing us no courtesy at all. Suddenly, another girl, a white, came from behind and said "Are you waiting to get yourself clicked with Penelope?”. “Yes”, both me and my friend replied in unison. "And, are you waiting for the lady to stop clicking Penelope?", she said. “Yes”, was again my answer. “Well, she is also a statue" said the white girl as she left with a big smile on her face. Well, Madam Tussauds had fooled us and this time completely. It left us embarrassed but at the same time we had a difficult time controlling our laughter. So I did get myself clicked with Penelope and it still remains a prized possession, more so because of the fact that I used it to fool my best friend that I indeed attended a party where Penelope was present. Getting into Tussauds after 5 also meant we had to rush and wrap up as the Museum closed at 7. So we took photographs and manhandled the statues as much as we could. We saw them all, from the father of the Nation, Gandhiji to Superstar of Millennium, Amitabh Bachhan, Richard Branson, Yasser Arafat, Princess Diana, Saddam Hussein. We even addressed the UN General Assembly from the podium amidst George Bush and Tony Blair by our side. And if this was not all we even endorsed Hillary Clinton as our choice for the next US Presidency. As we moved closer to the gallery where world leaders are put up, my friend (and his devilish ideas) came up with an idea to get ourselves photographed alongside the queen and show it back home that we were invited by the queen. We were not dressed up according to the protocol but I guess having our ‘Blazers On’ was enough. So there we were, standing besides the Queen and Prince Charles with our hands folded down (we needed to fake at least some protocol). We took not one but five photographs just in case We also befriended Einstein and clicked him with my hands on his shoulder as if we were long lost friends and tried fingering the nostrils of a man who till now intrigues the world. I never felt so powerful in a matter of an hour and few minutes. As we were wrapping up our visit, my friend touched a statue of a white woman (dressed in all white) from behind, and was about to get more closer when the statue turned back with a look enough to scare you away. This time the reverse had happened, the white woman was no statue and she was for real. My friend blushed and almost transcended into a different world, when words came out naturally from him, "I thought you were a statue". And before the white woman could react he just ran and disappeared into the next hall. As for me I just froze and at that time could well be easily mistaken for another statue.