Life and Living in New York (In the Twenty-first Century)
We visited New York twice since September 11. Each time it was a different experience for us. We were apprehensive about our son, Jaideep, living in New York, who was an eyewitness to the events of September. In December, there were some trepidations and tensions that were palpable among New Yorkers. Spring of 2002 seemed to have changed all that and ostensibly there is little memory of the disaster of September 2001. The city has rejuvenated itself in the true spirit of spring. These are two accounts of our visits to New York in December 2001 and April 2002.
December to remember – Three months after the Attack
I tend to agree with the old cliché that there are these United States and then there is New York. It is a special place indeed. The life in the big city is as vibrant as ever. The events of September 11 seem to have been all but forgotten, at least on the surface to a casual observer. People, I am told, still tend to be nervous when some fire truck goes screeching down the street with sirens blowing. It surely reminds the residents of that day of infamy in their history. But life seems to have returned to a normal state, for the most part. William Shakespeare said that life was as tedious as a twice-told story. But he was not thinking of New York, where life is the life-blood of the city.
It is December in the Big Apple and there is no other city on the planet that is more beautiful in December. The colorful display of lighting in mid-town and the spruced up decorations of the shops are breathtaking sights. The weather during the first week of December was a complement to all the hustle and bustle of life in the city. Especially this year, the gods have to be smiling on the city. The New Yorkers need a break and even providence is aware of this.
In many respects it is the New York of the old. Masses of people everywhere. Crowds pushing their way through, for no apparent reason, always in a hurry to get somewhere, anywhere. With rudeness that comes so naturally to the impatient people, nothing has mellowed as I had foolishly expected, since the events of September 11. Where else would you see a runaway cart filled with store goods careening down the sidewalk and people dodging to avoid being run over? And the storekeeper calmly retrieves the cart without a word of apology! A dozen lemons slip out of their crates and roll on to the sidewalk and spread people helter-skelter. Again no apology from the owners. Hey, this is New York. When we tried our chance at getting tickets for a long running Broadway show, the petulant lady at the window sniggered and seemed to be saying (using an unmistakably New York word), “What a Shmuck! Doesn’t he know that OUR show is sold out for the next hundred years? He must be from out of town!” Irksome characters are to be expected in New York. On these respects, nothing much seemed to have changed in the city. Without these traits New York would lose its identity.
The city is bustling. Business is as usual. We were not able to see the skating rink at Rockefeller center because of the stifling crowds. We were satisfied with seeing the famous spruce tree lit with glorious colorful lights. The window dressings and the grandiose decorations were breathtaking. It was heartening to see parents with little children in strollers trying to maneuver the crowds. I, surprisingly, did not mind the crowd. Psychologically, it was an uplifting experience to see and mingle with the masses than to see empty streets. I felt a kind of camaraderie with the crowd. The restaurants were doing brisk business. Jaideep, our son has now moved to an apartment in the Upper East Side and here is where true New York action is, if one considers the number of restaurants and century old museums. Each block has three or four restaurants and they are of all ethnic background one can imagine. I saw three Indian restaurants in a row on one street! Business is brisk indeed. Every third store seemed to be a florist and garden shop showing off its ware of brightly colored flowers and bouquets. The museums are adjacent to central park, and are only a few blocks from Jaideep’s apartment.
The first night we landed in New York, we went to visit Jaideep in downtown at the place of his work. He works in the financial district and puts in many odd hours of work. I jokingly told Rathna that we perhaps lost our son to the dungeons of financial world in New York. By the time we left I believed my own joke. He certainly works many more hours than I did when I was a surgical intern in New York, a quarter century earlier. And that, I thought was inhumane and cruel. Anyway, we consoled ourselves that he is young and should be thankful for the opportunity to work as hard as he does. This can only bring good results in the future. Fortunately, he thinks so too and this makes work easier to endure.
We took the train, packed like sardines. Little did we know that we would surface on the corner of Fulton Street and Broadway, which is next to Ground Zero. The massive rubble that used to be World Trade Center is now a shrine. People come to see the sheer destruction and the colossal work in progress through day and night, under bright lights, and watch in awe. It is a tomb, perhaps ten stories high, where more than three thousand bodies are still buried. The most hardened and stoic person can expect to get emotional at the spectacle. An old church at the corner serves as a place where the loved ones leave pieces of memorabilia of the innocent people who lost their lives on that fateful day. This only adds to the sanctity of the shrine that used to be called World Trade Center. Life certainly is not normal here now. Half the apartments in the downtown area are empty and the businesses that were forced to close still have not returned. But it is only a matter of time before the so-called Ground Zero and the Battery Park City are rebuilt as monuments for all the lives lost. It reminded me of the old adage that life goes on within you or without you! Life must and will go on.
The Guggenheim museum had an exquisite exhibit of Norman Rockwell retrospective. It was a wonderful collection of his paintings that celebrates life and its little instances. Only a keen observer of such nuances like Rockwell could bring these emotions to life in life like paintings. It was fitting to see such a praise of life in the aftermath of such destruction and death. ‘What a fine comedy this world would be if one did not have to play a part in it’, wrote 18th century French writer Denis Diderot. Norman Rockwell seems to defy this and say that the little things in life with its little characters make life pleasant and bearable, even when one is forced to be a part of it. Rockwell proves that life is not a tragedy even when seen in close-up.
Yes, we did manage to see a Broadway show. We got great seats for the matinee and saw ‘Les Miserables’ (popularly called Le Miz). If you have not seen this show in New York, I urge you to do so. Make a special trip if you need to but please see it in New York. It is the heart-wrenching story of a convict who unfairly spent nineteen years in prison doing hard labor for a petty crime before the French Revolution. He had made up his mind to change his ways and love and help people around him. It is a celebration of goodness of life. ‘As our life is short, so it is miserable, and therefore it is well it is short’ wrote Jenny Taylor, the seventeenth century Anglican theologian. Le Miz shows one how to make the best use of the short life.
We are now back home and we are glad to be home. One may have vacationed in Paradise but is always happy to return home. But the experience in New York, despite the oddity of it all, was enchanting. I always had a soft corner for New York. Now I am convinced that New York is where life is celebrated at its best. The company of our friends, especially Marge and Phil Tassi from Flushing, makes New York a major attraction for us. Their grace, dignity and their infectious love of life are more reasons why our trip to the Big Apple was a worthwhile adventure at this time. With friends like these and our son living in there, New York beckons us again.
We visited New York twice since September 11. Each time it was a different experience for us. We were apprehensive about our son, Jaideep, living in New York, who was an eyewitness to the events of September. In December, there were some trepidations and tensions that were palpable among New Yorkers. Spring of 2002 seemed to have changed all that and ostensibly there is little memory of the disaster of September 2001. The city has rejuvenated itself in the true spirit of spring. These are two accounts of our visits to New York in December 2001 and April 2002.
December to remember – Three months after the Attack
I tend to agree with the old cliché that there are these United States and then there is New York. It is a special place indeed. The life in the big city is as vibrant as ever. The events of September 11 seem to have been all but forgotten, at least on the surface to a casual observer. People, I am told, still tend to be nervous when some fire truck goes screeching down the street with sirens blowing. It surely reminds the residents of that day of infamy in their history. But life seems to have returned to a normal state, for the most part. William Shakespeare said that life was as tedious as a twice-told story. But he was not thinking of New York, where life is the life-blood of the city.
It is December in the Big Apple and there is no other city on the planet that is more beautiful in December. The colorful display of lighting in mid-town and the spruced up decorations of the shops are breathtaking sights. The weather during the first week of December was a complement to all the hustle and bustle of life in the city. Especially this year, the gods have to be smiling on the city. The New Yorkers need a break and even providence is aware of this.
In many respects it is the New York of the old. Masses of people everywhere. Crowds pushing their way through, for no apparent reason, always in a hurry to get somewhere, anywhere. With rudeness that comes so naturally to the impatient people, nothing has mellowed as I had foolishly expected, since the events of September 11. Where else would you see a runaway cart filled with store goods careening down the sidewalk and people dodging to avoid being run over? And the storekeeper calmly retrieves the cart without a word of apology! A dozen lemons slip out of their crates and roll on to the sidewalk and spread people helter-skelter. Again no apology from the owners. Hey, this is New York. When we tried our chance at getting tickets for a long running Broadway show, the petulant lady at the window sniggered and seemed to be saying (using an unmistakably New York word), “What a Shmuck! Doesn’t he know that OUR show is sold out for the next hundred years? He must be from out of town!” Irksome characters are to be expected in New York. On these respects, nothing much seemed to have changed in the city. Without these traits New York would lose its identity.
The city is bustling. Business is as usual. We were not able to see the skating rink at Rockefeller center because of the stifling crowds. We were satisfied with seeing the famous spruce tree lit with glorious colorful lights. The window dressings and the grandiose decorations were breathtaking. It was heartening to see parents with little children in strollers trying to maneuver the crowds. I, surprisingly, did not mind the crowd. Psychologically, it was an uplifting experience to see and mingle with the masses than to see empty streets. I felt a kind of camaraderie with the crowd. The restaurants were doing brisk business. Jaideep, our son has now moved to an apartment in the Upper East Side and here is where true New York action is, if one considers the number of restaurants and century old museums. Each block has three or four restaurants and they are of all ethnic background one can imagine. I saw three Indian restaurants in a row on one street! Business is brisk indeed. Every third store seemed to be a florist and garden shop showing off its ware of brightly colored flowers and bouquets. The museums are adjacent to central park, and are only a few blocks from Jaideep’s apartment.
The first night we landed in New York, we went to visit Jaideep in downtown at the place of his work. He works in the financial district and puts in many odd hours of work. I jokingly told Rathna that we perhaps lost our son to the dungeons of financial world in New York. By the time we left I believed my own joke. He certainly works many more hours than I did when I was a surgical intern in New York, a quarter century earlier. And that, I thought was inhumane and cruel. Anyway, we consoled ourselves that he is young and should be thankful for the opportunity to work as hard as he does. This can only bring good results in the future. Fortunately, he thinks so too and this makes work easier to endure.
We took the train, packed like sardines. Little did we know that we would surface on the corner of Fulton Street and Broadway, which is next to Ground Zero. The massive rubble that used to be World Trade Center is now a shrine. People come to see the sheer destruction and the colossal work in progress through day and night, under bright lights, and watch in awe. It is a tomb, perhaps ten stories high, where more than three thousand bodies are still buried. The most hardened and stoic person can expect to get emotional at the spectacle. An old church at the corner serves as a place where the loved ones leave pieces of memorabilia of the innocent people who lost their lives on that fateful day. This only adds to the sanctity of the shrine that used to be called World Trade Center. Life certainly is not normal here now. Half the apartments in the downtown area are empty and the businesses that were forced to close still have not returned. But it is only a matter of time before the so-called Ground Zero and the Battery Park City are rebuilt as monuments for all the lives lost. It reminded me of the old adage that life goes on within you or without you! Life must and will go on.
The Guggenheim museum had an exquisite exhibit of Norman Rockwell retrospective. It was a wonderful collection of his paintings that celebrates life and its little instances. Only a keen observer of such nuances like Rockwell could bring these emotions to life in life like paintings. It was fitting to see such a praise of life in the aftermath of such destruction and death. ‘What a fine comedy this world would be if one did not have to play a part in it’, wrote 18th century French writer Denis Diderot. Norman Rockwell seems to defy this and say that the little things in life with its little characters make life pleasant and bearable, even when one is forced to be a part of it. Rockwell proves that life is not a tragedy even when seen in close-up.
Yes, we did manage to see a Broadway show. We got great seats for the matinee and saw ‘Les Miserables’ (popularly called Le Miz). If you have not seen this show in New York, I urge you to do so. Make a special trip if you need to but please see it in New York. It is the heart-wrenching story of a convict who unfairly spent nineteen years in prison doing hard labor for a petty crime before the French Revolution. He had made up his mind to change his ways and love and help people around him. It is a celebration of goodness of life. ‘As our life is short, so it is miserable, and therefore it is well it is short’ wrote Jenny Taylor, the seventeenth century Anglican theologian. Le Miz shows one how to make the best use of the short life.
We are now back home and we are glad to be home. One may have vacationed in Paradise but is always happy to return home. But the experience in New York, despite the oddity of it all, was enchanting. I always had a soft corner for New York. Now I am convinced that New York is where life is celebrated at its best. The company of our friends, especially Marge and Phil Tassi from Flushing, makes New York a major attraction for us. Their grace, dignity and their infectious love of life are more reasons why our trip to the Big Apple was a worthwhile adventure at this time. With friends like these and our son living in there, New York beckons us again.
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