After a month n half of literally zero pedestrians, picture postcard landscapes and calm orderly traffic, New York was certainly a blast from the past! “Its just like Mumbai…you’d love it” Rajeev had said before I arrived…and I absolutely did. Same old traffic chaos, same old cabs cutting you off, same old crowd hustling to catch the train…reminded me of my good old Mumbai. The ‘cutting chai’ and ‘bhelpuri’ replaced by hotdogs and Starbucks…but I was completely at home!Wandering through the streets of Manhattan at night, standing atop the Empire state building, enjoying the sights and sounds of Christmas at the Rockefeller centre, sailing past the Statue of Liberty, walking through the Times square and ofcourse the World Trade centre memorial…and it wasn’t just the sights, but the sparkle and the energy of New York that utterly captivated me. Now I know why its called ‘the capital of the world’…Americans,‘desi’, Hispanics, Africans, Middle-easterns, Chinese, Japanese…I can go on and on…a blur of faces and ethnicities as they rush past you…
Going to New York in December, I was hoping to catch the first snow in New York (I know I cant take cold but if its going to be below freeing, I can atleast enjoy some snow right?), But the delayed winter in United States this time around and the fact that it would be crazy to drive in the chaos called traffic meant that we managed to get a healthy doze of freezing wind as we explored New York by foot. But believe it or not it was all absolutely worth it plus I did get to wear my new coat and gloves!