It irks. It
really does when the only
writing you do every day is confined to your office mailbox.
Then of course,
there is work, work and more work,
accompanied by HBO 2, HBO
Signature, HBO HD, and not to mention “Free On Demand” seasons of Castle (yet
to be aired in most parts of the world!) to take away most of your precious time.
Now that I am forced to stay indoors while
nursing a bad cold in 12°C , the options are not many.
So, Anyhoo.
I landed in the city of
skyscrapers on a pleasant
Monday evening, around 34 days back. As the
plane began its descent, I was glued to the window to get a good look at one of
the most inimitable
cities on earth, beautifully spread out,
thousands of feet below. Naturally, an adrenaline rush for someone who has been
inside an aircraft for 22 hours!
Honestly, I was a bundle of
nerves when I stepped out of the aircraft. Voices rang in my head “Gosh, you are landing on 9/11!”; “if you mess up your
immigration check, blah blah, they will deport you, blah blah blah!” I don’t
how many of you have had horrific experiences, but the officer who I came face
to face with, was a man of very few words, “What is your last name Ma’am”;
“Next please”. I quickly
collected my bags before the police sniffer dog changed its mind and moved towards
exit. I was officially in the US of A, a shameless tourist in the making.
My first conversation with “the
American” was short and
very sweet indeed.
“Hey kid, you come to the
college here?!” Kid!!!!!!? Like, Really!? Ok, I LOVE this place!
“Nope, on business” I replied
with a big broad grin.
He guided me to a cab which
brought me to one of the nicest places in Jersey City- Candlewood Suites. Did I
tell u that I can see the Hudson river from my room? *Allow me to
gloat just a li'l bit puh-leeze* :)
But the
Hudson really didn’t help soothe my feelings then. While India was fast asleep, I was so many miles away,
across the oceans, all alone. My first time in a country not my own. I was not sure what was more unsettling, that
feeling of sudden loneliness or the horrible jet lag. To my relief, I
discovered that a good friend of A’s stayed just a few blocks away and he
offered to help me with my commute to Manhattan.
So there I was at the Newport
Path Station, at 10 pm, swiping
my card and staring at the vending machine for a
monthly pass!! Jet lagged and tired, I hit the sack only to wake up
every one hour. Grrr. And just like that the next morning arrived and I was all
ready to go to the 33rd street. My daily route in the days to come.
Call it my
poor observation skills, I could only see iPads, iPhones, and Kindle during the
short journey. How was I to blame when most faces were buried in ‘em? I decided
to carry a book from the next day onwards. The
commute took about 20-25 minutes and ended with the announcement “The next and
last stop is 33rd street”. After a li’l bit of asking around, I managed
to get out of the right exit! (I wonder why I did that back then,
when there were arrows right above my head that screamed EXIT loud and clear!)
One flight of stairs from the
subway and I came face to face to what we often hear – The
New York Minute. Caught right
in the middle of it!!
There I was,
awestruck, on 33rd street, 6th
Avenue, Manhattan amidst a sea of people, walking past me
hurriedly. Food carts selling
doughnuts and pretzels, and huge colorful hoardings met my eye inspite of the
sea of people. NYC yellow taxis whizzed by
and I looked around hoping to make sense of the sign boards. That’s when I saw
an NYPD car parked right across
the street.
In no state
of mind to hunt for a map, I walked up to
the uniformed officer who stood next to the car, his eyes fixed on the streets
and the moving traffic.
“Hi. I was wondering.. which way do I go for 31st & Park Ave…..”
Before I finished, he pointed a
finger to his right and said with a smile “Two blocks down Ma’am, and
this way to Park. Good
day.”
“Thank you. You too”
Lesson #1 . Use crisp sentences :-/
Exhaustion, yet excitement was
me. I brushed past a group of New Yorkers relishing their coffee and bagel, and
hurried to 460, Park Avenue.
My very own New York minute had
just begun.
