𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗨𝗣𝗢𝗡 𝗔 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗢𝗡

 

𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗨𝗣𝗢𝗡 𝗔 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗢𝗡

London has to be one of the most fascinating and enchanting cities in the world* (if you love Literature). Dickensian London, in particular - was a most fascinating realm wherein the luxurious trappings of tremendous wealth were on full display following the produce of industrial enterprise and the spoils of British colonialism in India and on the Islands... However, Victorian London was also a place where abject poverty and untold cruelty were not at all uncommon. The streets of London, some of which are still adorned with the antiquated yet elegant relics of a Victorian past, remains as beautiful and enchanting as they appear to have been on a fine autumn afternoon, when Charles Dickens was reported to have been talking his routine walk through the bustling streets of London as he absorbed the scent and aroma of freshly baked pastries coming out of the local bakeries intertwined with the sound of spirited merchants soliciting their clientele in the alleyways and cart ridden streets. London was a mélange of opulence and poverty, a time of great achievements and great tragedy. Dickens was a sharp and attentive social critic who advocated for the rights of London's most dispossessed and disadvantaged members including orphans, widows, women and the elderly. He wrote several novels and essays decrying the abuse and neglect directed towards such people, using his pen to champion the cause of the poor and needy. In the works of Dickens, we experience London's most elegant quarters and meet it's most affluent social milieus - however what marks Dickensian London apart from the depiction portrayed by several other Victorian authors and novelists is that Dickens also initiates us into the other side of London, it's dark and depressing quarters where we meet runaway orphans who are abducted and sold into manual labour, elderly widows forced to work in dark and freezing factories and paupers who have no option but to slave away at the infamous "Workhouses" in exchange for sloppy suppers and stiff beds, working tirelessly only to earn enough food to survive. In those days a "Working Woman" had very different connotations, it wasn't something to be envious or desirous of. Such women were at the mercy of the Workhouses and managers who drove the working classes to the limits of suffering and manual labour under the guise of "apprenticeships" (which the worker had to pay for, imagine that). Things were very different, yet we are only 125 years detached from that reality (yes, that only 3-4 generations ago ...Ibn Khaldun would have had a field day with this case study). Living and working in modern London can be a tremendous experience. My personal journeys through the capital's most historic streets and antiqued landmarks is always enchanting and mesmerising, especially in the golden hours of an autumn morning or on a calm summer afternoon when the marvellous glass buildings are glistening as they reflect the luminous rays of a splendid summer sun. You can still see London's fine display of horses as royal guards, police officers and young adults learning to ride their horses can be seen on their mounts traveling through Hyde Park and Marble Arch. If you are especially attentive, you can observe the relics, plaques and signs of Victorian memorabilia visible all over the city, in the train stations, on the buildings, the derelict factories and workhouses now converted into luxury apartments or art studios, the gourmet bakeries and library cafes that have been preserved as a testament to this city's eventful past - they all paint a vivid and rich set of portraits in the mind's eye and help contextualise the contemporary ease of living that many of us complain about on our daily commute in and out of the city. London, as they say - is too expensive, too strenuous and too noisy. London as we know it today is a paradise, compared to what it was a little over a century ago. Pick up a book 📖 The life you live in 2024 is far more enviable than that of the most privileged class of aristocrats back in 1875 when houses did not have indoor toilets and people bathed once or twice a week. The irony of travelling through the capital's financial district and seeing expensive cafés and eateries advertising their "Vegetarian" menus not realising that only 120 years ago, most Londoners were basically vegetarian - except on rare occasions such as Easter and Christmas when the working classes could look forward to a roast turkey or a leg of ham for once (often provided by the land owning elite to their workers). In fact, in Dickensian London- meat was such a luxury that there were investment clubs where workers could contribute small and steady amounts throughout the year in order to buy a goose for Christmas (because Turkeys were expensive). Imagine collecting money all year only to purchase a goose for your family as a "treat" once a year!! Yes. That was London in the 19th century. So put that in your salami sandwich and say AlhamdulillAh 😆 Another ironic fact is that the concept of "women in employment" (nothing against it) has been reinvented and rebranded as a form of empowerment, when the London of yesteryear was infamous for its cruel and relentless exploitation of widows, girls and elderly matrons who were confined to the Workhouses where they toiled in painful labour for their daily bread and board (they got paid in "slop" 🍲and a place to sleep at night)... Those were the times when being a "breadwinner " and "bringing home the bacon" meant exactly that. Payment wasn't always in currency form. How times have changed, but it helps us appreciate the luxuries we have today (and complain about so flippantly). If you are ever in need of adventure, motivation and gratitude - then consider picking up a book by Dickens and set an hour aside for yourself (and your children, they will love it) 📖☕....you will be transported into a mesmerising yet sobering realm where the little luxuries in life (such as eating food with spices and not just boiled slop) were never taken for granted and where 8 year old orphans lost their limbs (and occasionally their lives) cleaning chimneys for a living. History brings clarity. Learn about your environment and remain inquisitive. The world looks very different once we are acquainted with the past.