And the winner is...

This is the question i ve been asked by one and all - what's better London/New York?
hmmm...so here i am after spending almost 2 hours deciding whether London is better than New York or vice versa...and the winner is ....

the BIG APPLE :) applause!!!!

personally, I have had a partial view about London to start with, as that's the place which have had become like a second home outside India. Have had been so comfortable living in London, that the moment i landed in US, all i wanted was to somehow make all things work like that in London : from travel - to food - to mannerism - to shopping - to phone subscription and so on so far.... Even, i looked for the same grocery brands as ve been using in London. After a week's attempt to do everything Londonish :), the good for me that i realised that there's absolutely no point chasing up london in NYC, as both are poles apart.
Apart from the replacement of fish and chips with burgers and fries; marble architecture with skyscrappers, black cabs with yellow ones; green walking man icon with "WALK" signal; tube with subway; and obviously the Pound with the Dollar; the actual difference is that of the people and their attitude.
London is often grim...u may accept that grumpiness in people with time and start loving it without a choice...or you come to NY and experience the chirpiness and the cheerfulness in the aura.
Now, as i am writing this; don't think that i am loathing London :)... that still is one of the greatest cities to be in...the only thing which have changed is that New York now ranks higher than London :P

Coming back to the topic, one most important aspect why i ve been praising NY over London is that - London is a whinger's city. U ask a Londoner how's he been and 99% of the time the reply is gonna be "hmm, well, not too bad sighs !!!!" as compared to a new yorker who is so full of life and energy that his response would mostly be a broad smile with a big Hi! . There's something young about NY, something which is full of ambition and celebration. There's a general sense of enthusiasm, buzz and excitement in the city. There's a feeling that things can and will get done here. Anything is achievable and ambition is celebrated....and that's the reason i am totally in love with this place.

Another important thing is the "value for money" funda. London is damn expensive to live. I personally, like to spend my money on things other than the bare essentials..i love to spend my money on my home. Doing this in London would be a bit difficult. And not to forget the cost of electronics in UK... the thing u buy in NY in dollars, you end up sending the same number of pounds for that in London :( So it's way too easy to buy a home theater in NY than in London..and that's the second best reason i am loving it here :)

Another way in which New Yorkers demand, and get, more, is the service aspect of eating out: New York waiters are helpful, friendly, might even make you smile. There is little danger of that in London: here, waiters either make you feel uncomfortable ("Why are you interrupting my day?") or unworthy ("Really? You thought YOU were cool enough to eat HERE?") In New York people are treated more equally,the shlubby guy in the baseball cap and Converse who speaks with a bridge-and-tunnel accent could be the next Bill Gates or Spielberg or something. You never know!!

The last thing which comes to my mind is the freedom of colour out here in NY...not just the skin colour but also the colour of your clothes. You dare to wear anything other than black in London without feeling as if you are some hawaaien tourist lost it's way in the London crowd!! But that's not the case in NY...i feel so relieved to have some good nice colours back into my wardrobe!!

So, here i am reaching the end of my blog post...and am happy to say that my verdict definitely goes out for NY. London is a great place to be as a tourist, but when i think of settling down, NY is THE place to be :)

chao!