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| by Amita Murray |
She’s staring at the reflection of herself
in those large glass panes. This sleek, postmodern architectural edifice, the
fittingly imposing headquarters of Fraser & Partners here in the middle of
Battersea, a building she worked in for so many years. She can see herself, now
so different from who she was then.
It was all
so different when she rocked up to their offices on Great
Portland street back in 1991, straight off the plane, jet-lagged weary, but so
eager to start her new life here in London. You could shower straight off the
plane back then, those showers at Heathrow airport offering the promise of
fresh new starts for countless new arrivals. She had checked her luggage at
Victoria station, carefully removing her pristine A4 sized portfolio, her
ticket she hoped to a career in architecture in London.
Standing here now, staring at her reflection
in those glass panes, she caught a glimpse of herself approaching the sliding
glass doors of the old Great Portland Street office 24 years ago, Fraser
Associates as it was back then. She was perhaps naïve, perhaps too innocent,
but she somehow had a firm belief, a conviction, that rocking up at the Fraser
Associates studio, clutching the one existing hard copy of her architect’s
portfolio would be her ticket to a new life here in London. She remembers
vividly, even today, that split second 24 years ago just before those glass
doors opened when she saw herself reflected. Exuberant, hopeful enthusiasm
tinted by a concealed tiredness faintly visible to only those who knew her
intimately. But no one here did. The glass doors opened. Her new life began.
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