The sound of people talking, a train storming through the subway station, the ambiance of the city lights, the howling winds over the shoulders, the smell of Gucci, Ralph Lauren heels striking the floor, scenes of urban traffic, the distant saxophone on the street and the madness. I could not stop these even in my sleep. For a guy who saw everything in black and white and grey, it's been months since I wished that I could use some magic in life. Nothing else mattered.
Road to Runway:
I was slowly but steadily taking control over my life after the recovery. Stating that these times were very much eventful would be an understatement. Although I joined late in the race of who gets the summer internship insanity fest, I tried the best I could. I got interview calls from companies like Dow Jones (Wall Street Journal), Fidelity Investments, etc. Getting calls were a big deal that time. By the beginning of this year, almost all the firms in the US had my résumé, knew that I'm not a disabled person, not a protected veteran and my entire goddamn history. I think I'm gonna spare you from the trouble of listening to this sob story.
Moving on to stuff. As soon as I got off the crutches and the braces, I volunteered at my university's English language institute to teach and help learn the language for struggling international students. They assigned me a chef from Italy. No she doesn't smell like pizza. A 22 year old girl with a growing passion to establish her own pastry restaurant and with a pair of glowing eyes towards life. Eccentric yet fashionable. Well let's just say that she's everything I would consider my type and man-oh-man, she's an amazing cook. I was floored by her Coffee Tiramisu and Cheese Capsicum Risotto. We were kindred spirits. It was no shocker that she would eventually go back to her home country and so we agreed to keep it casual and short. We used to have meeting sessions for English and as well as cooking lessons at our places. She stayed at her brother's place quite far away from mine. While we used translator apps for conveying words with difficult meanings, we were pretty good at showering feelings at each other. Gainesville was awfully cold that time. Trust me, Florida gets cold too. I took strolls in the moonlight with her, held her when she's cold, spooned on the couch with her, painted galaxies on her bare back. We woke up together and felt the sunshine on the face. Our last memorable night was my birthday when I took her to a Pink Floyd listening and laser party. The scenes of the night were perfectly camouflaged under a starry sky. She left to Italy without a goodbye and that's how I wanted it to end as well. I made up my mind not to make a big deal out of this.
I was quietly going insane. The job hunt crashed and burned my hope of pulling myself together. It was actually all about getting my life back after the injury and the happenings. My uncle called me one morning to tell me that he is gonna tour the US & Canada with his family and would like me to join them. He gave me three choices or locations to do it. California, Canada and New York. I booked off the tickets without having afterthoughts about it. I realized I needed to disengage and wander off for a while so that I can focus on the things to come. Since I had already visited California and Canadian visa will take some time to get processed, I decided to go to NYC.
The Insignificance of Existence:
Times Square, Midtown Manhattan
Times Square, Midtown Manhattan
05/22/2016
Track: Closed Shades by Crozet
With a lot of hassle to reach the Orlando airport, I arrived Newark after a rather very short flight. The pizza I ordered in as soon as I checked in to the hotel was surprisingly delicious for a cheap hotel. I had told my friend earlier that I always wanted to rent a rusty apartment with a table and chair adjacent to the windows that offered spectacular view on the bustling streets of NYC and that I would spend the evening with a book and coffee vapors. May be next time. Since taking the NJ Transit train from Newark to NYC seemed like the quickest commute, I reckoned to take the AirTrain from the airport to the train station. With Times Square as the only place in my agenda, I set foot outside of Pennsylvania station at 1700 hrs. As soon as I was out on the streets, I was overwhelmed by tall buildings till the horizon, lights dazzling everywhere the eyes could see and the crowd far from nonchalance. The Empire State Building ruled the skies from afar as I walked past the majestic New York Times building towards the intersection touted as 'The Crossroads of the World'. Over 330,000 people approximately pass the Times Square daily on an average. Serving as the hub of the infamous Broadway Theater District, it's buildings are decorated with brightest high-definition billboards that attract tourists from all over the world. I was spellbound at the sight of the scene. "I'm just getting started!!", I thought as I stood there in between the river of people flowing in and out of the 42nd street and 7th Avenue. The problems, the depressed life, my shattered will, the very existence of my life in this universe, were all a minuscule fragment compared to the colossal proportions of the place. I took the Northeast Corridor train back to Newark that travelled under the Hudson River to New Jersey. I patted myself on the back for making the most efficient and cheaper way to visit NY and at the same time stay in a cheaper place. The journey commenced with a pink twilight reflecting on Hackensack and Passaic rivers in New Jersey. I turned on the TV to watch the unraveling of one of most devastating Game of Thrones episodes, 'Hold the Door'.
Mysteries of the Universe:
American Museum of Natural History, Upper East Manhattan
05/23/2016
Track: All Time Low's Missing You
I took the entire morning to narrow down the places that I would be visiting that day and as I wasn't into visiting mundane tourist spots, finalizing the places took a lot of time. I carefully planned my meal times in between to avoid any potential delays. My uncle pushed me to visit the Museum of Natural History while I was skeptical about it. I wasn't a museum bloke any more. All I enjoyed were summer sunsets, cold beach water on the toes and eternal starlight. Convincing myself to visit the museum was a very hard thing to do. I picked up all the powerbanks that I plugged in the night before and ate hashbrowns and toast for breakfast.
I reached New York by noon. I reached in for my earpods to listen to All Time Low's Missing You and it went,
"Hold on tight,
This ride is a wild one,
......
....
With so much left to do
You'll be missing out, and we'll be missing you"
By the time I reached American Museum of Natural History, my nerd self was alive and kicking. I had already purchased the admission online to avoid the queue there. However I had to buy tickets for the IMAX screenings at the Hayden Planetarium Space Theater and Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Theater. The girl at the counter made me walk unnecessarily to the theater with just the admission tickets and I went back to buy the IMAX tickets frustrated. She gave me the tickets for free after apologizing a million times. Welcome to America! The first showing was the 'Dark Universe' which was all about how scientists developed techniques to identify observable distant galaxies which later was instrumental to pave way for The Big Bang Theory. Narrated elegantly by Neil Degrasse Tyson, we were venturing into the unknown dark side of the universe, billions of light-years away. Perhaps the most interesting concept in cosmology that I learnt was calculating the inter-planetary distances using red and blue wavelengths emitted by the revolving planets themselves. The show was spectacular shaking me to the core of my perceptions. The day before, I was feeling tiny in Times Square but now. How far does the universe stretch ? Is there anybody else out there? Are we destined to go beyond to the dark side of the universe? Questions circled around me like black clouds. Somewhere in the hoardings, I read, 'Earth is the cradle for humanity but one cannot stay in the cradle forever'. I was reminded of our drinking sessions which have been about space travel and interstellar communication lately. Thanks to my good friend, Mohan. We would go all night on and on about it. With Hans Zimmer's Interstellar soundtrack in the background, we felt as though as we poured a shot of the sky in our glasses with the stars dazzling in the drink that re-establishes our connection to ancestors and the seat of our souls. We're ridiculously high pretending like astronomers.
I quickly ran through all the exhibits before my next show. Some of the highlights were, the first meteorite that hit the Earth, the mighty 122-foot long Titanosaur larger than any known dinosaur, hall of gems and minerals and hall of origins and cultures.
'National Parks Adventure' was the next documentary screened. This one narrated by Robert Redford, followed a family visiting all the infamous American national parks and how Teddy Roosevelt decided to establish them by a collaborative effort to preserve nature. I've always wanted to hike all the national parks someday.
I was overwhelmed and breathless when I exited the museum. Light rain greeted me on Columbus Avenue where I decided to break from schedule for lunch. With no second thoughts I ordered biriyani and kadai paneer at an Indian restaurant, Saffron. Reasonable yet exquisite, the side of the restaurant facing the street was fully made of glass walls and windows. I leaned back to enjoy the panoramic view of the street, parallel buildings and the busy pedestrians. Every one of them who passed by me had a different story to tell. Each person showing different signs of emotions and levels of energy. Humans fascinate me and are just as mystical as the universe itself. New York is known for quite a lot of things. It's multi-cultural and ethnic people are renowned. The rain brushed the windows with falling droplets while although my view was obstructed, the sight was astounding. I turned around to see the waiter seeing me as I enjoyed my lunch and the view. He was amazed to see me getting lost in my own world. It was 5 PM and rather an odd timing to have lunch. So, I had the whole restaurant to myself.
Hues of Hoboken:
The High Line, Western Manhattan.
Track: Now That I've Found You by Martin Garrix
I packed some of the leftovers for dinner as I couldn't eat the whole biriyani. This time I had very little songs in my playlist and I made sure that I was able to listen to them in loop. Some of them were mind-blowing. From alt-j to Nothing but Thieves, the songs were completely different genres. Sometimes I let the ambiance take over by pausing the music.
I realized that I had little time to spare till the evening journey back to Newark. The only place I could visit was the High Line, a 1.45 mile long park built on a elevated rail road that stretched throughout Western Manhattan. I figured it was a best place to catch the sunset considering the position and height of the place. Offering the most beautiful view of the city and roads, the abandoned railroad re-purposed into a park, went through tall buildings giving you a sight that you simply cannot forget for a lifetime as though you're walking on air.
And I'd walked a long distance after my surgery for the first time. Felt so good to be back on my feet again. It felt as though I was walking on a long ledge and I'd stagger. I found strength to walk further to the end of the line. Something mystical was devouring me with distant calls from afar and it was getting louder and louder. I stopped for a moment to take in all the breath I needed. What was in front of me was the setting sun behind a 180-degrees view of the Hoboken skyline painted on a pinkish violet canvas of the sky just above the Hudson river. I realized that I breath and live for moments like these. My ever-monochrome life was hit with shots of color the very second I reached the end of High Line.
A feeling came to my senses that I was very far away from where I started that paralleled my journey from catharsis back in 2012. I had made calculative decisions from then on, patiently waited to move a step ahead, planted my foot so firm to get it all under control. After 4 years, I felt that whatever I had, slipped through my hands. I no longer controlled my outcomes and the decisions I took rippled catastrophic repercussions throughout my world and the people in it. Praying in vain for a chance to relive it all once again, I started walking back towards the historic New Yorker hotel.
I reached New York by noon. I reached in for my earpods to listen to All Time Low's Missing You and it went,
"Hold on tight,
This ride is a wild one,
......
....
With so much left to do
You'll be missing out, and we'll be missing you"
By the time I reached American Museum of Natural History, my nerd self was alive and kicking. I had already purchased the admission online to avoid the queue there. However I had to buy tickets for the IMAX screenings at the Hayden Planetarium Space Theater and Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Theater. The girl at the counter made me walk unnecessarily to the theater with just the admission tickets and I went back to buy the IMAX tickets frustrated. She gave me the tickets for free after apologizing a million times. Welcome to America! The first showing was the 'Dark Universe' which was all about how scientists developed techniques to identify observable distant galaxies which later was instrumental to pave way for The Big Bang Theory. Narrated elegantly by Neil Degrasse Tyson, we were venturing into the unknown dark side of the universe, billions of light-years away. Perhaps the most interesting concept in cosmology that I learnt was calculating the inter-planetary distances using red and blue wavelengths emitted by the revolving planets themselves. The show was spectacular shaking me to the core of my perceptions. The day before, I was feeling tiny in Times Square but now. How far does the universe stretch ? Is there anybody else out there? Are we destined to go beyond to the dark side of the universe? Questions circled around me like black clouds. Somewhere in the hoardings, I read, 'Earth is the cradle for humanity but one cannot stay in the cradle forever'. I was reminded of our drinking sessions which have been about space travel and interstellar communication lately. Thanks to my good friend, Mohan. We would go all night on and on about it. With Hans Zimmer's Interstellar soundtrack in the background, we felt as though as we poured a shot of the sky in our glasses with the stars dazzling in the drink that re-establishes our connection to ancestors and the seat of our souls. We're ridiculously high pretending like astronomers.
I quickly ran through all the exhibits before my next show. Some of the highlights were, the first meteorite that hit the Earth, the mighty 122-foot long Titanosaur larger than any known dinosaur, hall of gems and minerals and hall of origins and cultures.
'National Parks Adventure' was the next documentary screened. This one narrated by Robert Redford, followed a family visiting all the infamous American national parks and how Teddy Roosevelt decided to establish them by a collaborative effort to preserve nature. I've always wanted to hike all the national parks someday.
I was overwhelmed and breathless when I exited the museum. Light rain greeted me on Columbus Avenue where I decided to break from schedule for lunch. With no second thoughts I ordered biriyani and kadai paneer at an Indian restaurant, Saffron. Reasonable yet exquisite, the side of the restaurant facing the street was fully made of glass walls and windows. I leaned back to enjoy the panoramic view of the street, parallel buildings and the busy pedestrians. Every one of them who passed by me had a different story to tell. Each person showing different signs of emotions and levels of energy. Humans fascinate me and are just as mystical as the universe itself. New York is known for quite a lot of things. It's multi-cultural and ethnic people are renowned. The rain brushed the windows with falling droplets while although my view was obstructed, the sight was astounding. I turned around to see the waiter seeing me as I enjoyed my lunch and the view. He was amazed to see me getting lost in my own world. It was 5 PM and rather an odd timing to have lunch. So, I had the whole restaurant to myself.
Hues of Hoboken:
The High Line, Western Manhattan.
Track: Now That I've Found You by Martin Garrix
I packed some of the leftovers for dinner as I couldn't eat the whole biriyani. This time I had very little songs in my playlist and I made sure that I was able to listen to them in loop. Some of them were mind-blowing. From alt-j to Nothing but Thieves, the songs were completely different genres. Sometimes I let the ambiance take over by pausing the music.
I realized that I had little time to spare till the evening journey back to Newark. The only place I could visit was the High Line, a 1.45 mile long park built on a elevated rail road that stretched throughout Western Manhattan. I figured it was a best place to catch the sunset considering the position and height of the place. Offering the most beautiful view of the city and roads, the abandoned railroad re-purposed into a park, went through tall buildings giving you a sight that you simply cannot forget for a lifetime as though you're walking on air.
"Some say you can never go back
To the city built for dreamers
But I know we can find it on our own
The one shot that we fire at the sky
But this time we are together
We're right here in this moment where we belong"
A feeling came to my senses that I was very far away from where I started that paralleled my journey from catharsis back in 2012. I had made calculative decisions from then on, patiently waited to move a step ahead, planted my foot so firm to get it all under control. After 4 years, I felt that whatever I had, slipped through my hands. I no longer controlled my outcomes and the decisions I took rippled catastrophic repercussions throughout my world and the people in it. Praying in vain for a chance to relive it all once again, I started walking back towards the historic New Yorker hotel.
