WORTHING

Last evening the two of us had been to Worthing, another sea side resort about 26 Kms from here. The weather was typically English and the only hint of sunshine we had was during lunch, that is from 2 to 2.30 pm. It was nearly 3.30 pm when we hit the road and another 25 minutes later we reached the King Edward Leisure Centre on the coast. A minute past 4pm and true to form the coastal service bus 700 arrived and headed for Worthing. The driver, an enterprising fellow from the subcontinent, in his early thirties asked me in English if we were from India and I replied that we were from Calcutta. A smile crossed his face and he said he was from Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Although it was now drizzling outside, we found it warm and comfortable where we sat. The view throgh the window was simply majestic: an English picture postcard. The sea was to our left and the small villages to our right. Nearing a quarter to 5 we reached Worthing and the bus dropped us off near the Pier. It was almost sunset now and we headed for the Pier after a brief visit to the loo. It was high winds and a downpour that accompanied us all the way to the Pier and upto the Amusement Centre. The Amusement Centre was similar to the one we have here at Brighton Pier where umpteen gaming machines attracted the players. On the aisles the hard core anglers had set up their gears expecting a rich haul of cod and haddocks in this windy sea.

Spending an hour or so we came back to Hove by another 700 bus. By 6pm we were back home. To cap it all we had an excellent dinner comprising an English chicken roast washed down with red wine. BON APETIT!