Lord Mayor, Her armour & The Shereiff

Today was our first official day and we had a meeting in the lord mayors office in the city hall. The lord mayor is a lady this time and she is the 100th lord mayor and it was a very nice time meeting the lord mayor and also the shereiff. Councillor Evelyn Collishaw welcomed us in to her chamber which almost overlooks the whole city and they were in their official attire which comprises of a golden chain which is more than a kilogram in weight!! And this dates back to 1760s and they have been preserving this from ever since.

The mayors term is about to end in a months time and there is going to be a handing over ceremony which we understand is quite a program to watch. They will go on a horse carriage to the cathedral and the handing over ceremony happens there. She would officially carry the sword and would pass it on to the successor. She did explain to us that it is a ceremonial post (like our governer) and she took us to the committee hall where in we had a chance to see the place where the politicians meet once a month. We were taken to the dias where she sits and was a privilege for all of us. I am sure this would have never happened but for the rotary and we are very much impressed by the influence the Rotarians carry here in this country too.

The shereiff, professor Tim O` Riordan is a specialist on the carbon emissions and he was very happy to explain to us how the whole carbon emission thing is causing serious danger to the environment. HE did appreciate the efforts Indian universities are taking in the methane mitigation projects and we were quite happy when we heard about Bangalore university contribution from his end.

Jarrolds is a very popular shopping destination in Norwich and is owned by a Rotarian who is hosting arathi. This is the place where sampath is going for his vocational visit too. Passing that, we went to the cathedral which is the second tallest in the country. We met Rotarian Allen who was our guide. He must be more than 75 years old but the energy he carries and the interest he had in showing and explaining us the cathedral was a message to the lazy minds we have sometimes back home. This cathedral is a huge construction which was first built in the year 1096 by bishop of lozinga. There are some interesting stories about this person and this cathedral has both Norman and Gothic architecture in it. What we understand with Norman is that it has circular arches but the gothic one has pointed arches. Norman is French architecture but gothic if I am not wrong is german.

This cathedral was burnt down twice and was rebuilt. But still this place has been able to retain some of the wonderful paintings which was originally done through which we can imagine how beautiful the cathedral was then….

We had a great chance to meet the old Rotarians (one of them so old that he needs support to sit) and they were all game to receive us and they were quite happy to host us for lunch. Brian, the secretary of this club welcomed us and hosted us a wonderful lunch. We had quite nice interaction with them and exchanged flags.

Had a very nice boat ride on the river Wensum and Yare organised by Collin (who hosts shruti) which added flavour to the afternoon. Tomorrow is our first vocational visit and we are longing for that.