London – Clowning Around
It was really funny I was with my friend Jo having a look around London. I used to live here so it was like going home. Anyway, I am in a coffee shop and having a chat with the guy serving us. He won’t tell me where he is from, I said I don’t mind where you are from, ‘I am a universal person’ and smiled. Then this voice pipes up and says ‘I am universal too’. I laughed and said well you had better sit with us. So we sat and talked and it turns out she always wanted to be a clown. So I invite her to come the next day. She comes I make her up. As we are walking this guy on a bike comes up and I act like I am hitching a ride. Anyway he speaks Hindi to my friend and turns out he wants to be a clown. So we told him to have a shower (phew) and dressed him up and the three musketeers head off. We had a great day and met so many people. Clowning is a wonderful way to gauge people. Always on public transport people are quiet. That is a phenomenon across the world. People don’t feel the small tribe, they feel lost in a sea of people and they feel afraid or suspicious of strangers. So we try and connect but it can be challenging sometimes. Some cultures are less open than others, I find western cultures less open, those in the developing world are very open. We had fun.