I had a nice 5 day break for Labor Day. Breaks are good. Most breaks are to a good extent characterized by fun and frolic. Mine was mostly confusion and mayhem. However, it was interesting. In the end interesting is what matters.
On Friday evening flew into Rochester, NY to visit my friend Arrvindh. We planned to drive down (or rather up) to the Adirondacks for a spot of trekking. At the outset, our plan was quite ambitious. We would set out from Rochester on Sunday morning, reaching Lake George in the Adirondacks by lunch. We were to join KP and Rajesh, who were driving up from NYC, and who would be there at about the same time.
After a shockingly early (atleast by my standards) Saturday night we set out to Lake George at the unearthly hour of 7 in the morning. I get a call from the dynamic duo at 8:15 informing us that they have just woken up. They were supposed to have left a 8:00am, to compensate for the 60 less miles they were driving. So, we kill time at a gas station, getting breakfast and set out again. Then at 9:30am we get another call. The front wheels of their car had just decided to part ways with the main body. The car had ripped through some spikes on the road. They were stuck at the New Jersey turnpike, waiting for the tow van. At this point, we decided to stop waiting, and drive on straight to Black Mountain, the hill we planned to hike up. We reach there at 2pm. We wait till 3pm, and head out. We shorten our trek and come back by 6pm. We find out from the departure register that the other two had arrived at 3:10pm. Bad luck. Why couldn't they have arrived 10 minutes earlier? This little mishap unleashed a chain of events of such fury and complexity that in ancient times the skies would have parted and demon lords would have wreaked havoc across the lands.
Since they left 10 minutes after us, they should arrive 10 minutes after us, we think. We decided to wait. Most deceptively simple arithmetic in real life usually tends to be flagrantly wrong. There was no sign of them at 7pm..7:30pm..8pm. I tried to call. I heard a phone ringing behind me. KP had bravely decided to leave his phone and wallet behind in the car. Brilliant!
Finally at 8:30pm we get a call. For some completely incomprehensible reason, Rajesh's cell phones had found reception. It turned out that the two had made a wrong turn, and were stuck 6 miles away, in the woods, right by the Lake. Notice that these are two nice Brahmin boys (very marriagable, to any girls who are reading this) who do their Sandhis every morning and take their coffee hot every afternoon at 4 sharp. Snakes and bears? Ayyo ayyo. It began to get chilly. I wanted to suggest that the boistrous boys should kill a bear, eat its meat and wear its skin as a coat.
I was ahead of myself. It turned out that there were some boats by the Lake. Though the occupants were quite intoxicated, they were not sufficiently enough that they couldn't call the Rangers. Rangers ride (glide) to the rescue. The poonaled payyas were loaded onto the boat and duly tranported to the nearest spot of land not inhabited by bears and snakes. Unfortunately, this spot of land was 50 miles away, it was 11 in the night, and we were driving a 2 seater. We did what we had to do (not really, but since we did it, one might as well take the credit). The two were parcelled into the back seat. I suggested that the one who had forgotten his wallet and phone should be put into the trunk, but my friend Arrvindh had been weaned on the milk of kindness.
Now the keen observer would note that if the wallet and phone were in a parking lot 50 miles away, so would be the backpack and clothes. Thus not only was my evening ruined, but my clothes were too (due to forced donations). So concluded my Sunday.
Monday was spent driving to New York City with Rajesh and KP. Arrvindh had decided to return back to Rochester. Such is the busy schedule of a Ph.D. student.
As is life, troubles tend to multiply. In NYC, not one, not two, but three friends bailed out on me. Is there something about me that is intrinsically undesirable? One was busy with work, another had a gf's birthday and the third had to visit parents in New Jersey. My moping was partially saved by Rajesh, who offered to continue to tolerate my existence in his apartment. His roommate Arun I found interesting, mostly due to our shared interest in coffee and tennis.
I found NYC to be too crowded, expensive and noisy. However, I did fulfill my newly found interest in Finance by visiting (externally) the headquarters of every major financial institution - Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, Bear Stears, BlackRock, Citigroup, Bank of America etc. . The list is very long. Outside the Bear Stearns headquarters I tried to imagine which were traders who had lost a lot of money. Since I hadn't checked on the market that day, I let my mind run wild with all the things that might have happened. Maybe the market had crashed, and all these people were leaving, never to return. They looked that way anyway. I was to be disappointed, the market was up 20 points for the day. That was my Tuesday.
On Wednesday morning, after a late coffee (with Arun) and an even later lunch, I go down to Greenwich Village and Soho. Most overrated. I certainly wouldn't pay a million dollars for a 1 bedroom apartment there. I think NYC would be a good city to live in if you make a couple of bucks a year, and can afford a good standard of life. Otherwise it is all about small apartments, crowded trains, and long commutes.
What I do love about New York though is Central Park. It is the little patch of green and peace that counterbalances all the madness. All of New York comes there, be from Harlem or the Upper East Side. I saw Steven Tyler listen to a some roadside bums explain their decoration on a mosaic that said "Imagine", obviously a tribute to John Lennon. The running paths: I could run forever, what with the skyline in the background and endless stream of interesting people to look at. I wanted to run a quick 5 miles, but I hadn't brought along my athletic shoes.
I also love the Metropolitan Museum (Met). It is one of the most carefully designed museums I have been to, and trust me I have been to many. The arrangement of the Egyptian temple in real scale, as it would have been 4000 years ago, is something I have seen nowhere else. It also has a great collection of Roman and Greek artifacts. I was so enchanted that in my 5 hours there on Wednesday I barely managed to finish the Greek and Egyption sections. Very disappointing. It is something I have to get back at a later date.
Late on Wednesday, I take the bus out to La Guardia to catch the flight to Chicago. As luck would have it I forget the name of my flight, though I did remember the departure time. I have a harrowing and highly embarrassing time trying to figure out the name of the airline. Thus is too much choice. India is good that way - Air India and Indian Airlines. It was that way at least. Capitalism, competiation and choice have descended there as well.
I return home late Wednesday night, and head out to work on Thursday, my traditional hatred of Monday mornings temporarily shifted to Thursdays. All in all a good holiday, a lot to write home about.
