I am still alluring over my New York days. I miss Manhattan. I wish Columbia had accepted me when I applied two years ago. Now why all these thoughts? Simple, I was in Mid town for the weekend.
When I was flying back, my flight mate was giving a friendly look clearly dropping me a hint that he wants to talk to me. So as I was cracking and grinding Lays Potato chips, he looked at me for one more time and told me- 'You can make all the noise you want- I don't care'! (Now, I did not ask him for his permission, Did I?). He was flying to New Hampshire. His wife/partner and children are sitting in the front row. He told me about his past with IBM and that he is retired now. He also mentioned he was flying from Dominican Republic. I was least interested in what he was talking. But he did tell me something that piqued my interest. He used to live in Manhattan before he moved to New Hampshire. He told me that the block he lived was the city itself for him. He told me about the grocery store who did free delivery whenever he called them, his favorite dry cleaner and so on. He also told me how he was ill one day and that his neighborhood coffee shop hand delivered a coffee for him.
Before I came to America, I lived in a city similar to Manhattan. We had shopkeepers who delivered us Quboos (Pita bread), Yoghurt, Leban Up right at the tip of a phone call from my mom. They even recognized our entire family members voice. My flight acquaintance definitely made me nostalgic. I remembered my good old days. Good old days, where everyone around you knew who you are. But then, I landed in California one day. That was the end to my manhattan style of living. My new friends were highway 280 and 101. My tailor, designers, favorite shop keepers who gave me warm greetings and who saved the new designs for me was replaced by Macy's, Kohls, Ross and so on. The store keepers who recognized my voice even before I had to say the building name and flat number was replaced by Safeways and Seven elevens. Everything seems huge. Similar looking concrete blocks everywhere- they called it- Best buy, Safe way etc. There was so much silence.... Anyways, enough for now :).
Lets toast to my flight stranger, whom I probably will never meet again....
When I was flying back, my flight mate was giving a friendly look clearly dropping me a hint that he wants to talk to me. So as I was cracking and grinding Lays Potato chips, he looked at me for one more time and told me- 'You can make all the noise you want- I don't care'! (Now, I did not ask him for his permission, Did I?). He was flying to New Hampshire. His wife/partner and children are sitting in the front row. He told me about his past with IBM and that he is retired now. He also mentioned he was flying from Dominican Republic. I was least interested in what he was talking. But he did tell me something that piqued my interest. He used to live in Manhattan before he moved to New Hampshire. He told me that the block he lived was the city itself for him. He told me about the grocery store who did free delivery whenever he called them, his favorite dry cleaner and so on. He also told me how he was ill one day and that his neighborhood coffee shop hand delivered a coffee for him.
Before I came to America, I lived in a city similar to Manhattan. We had shopkeepers who delivered us Quboos (Pita bread), Yoghurt, Leban Up right at the tip of a phone call from my mom. They even recognized our entire family members voice. My flight acquaintance definitely made me nostalgic. I remembered my good old days. Good old days, where everyone around you knew who you are. But then, I landed in California one day. That was the end to my manhattan style of living. My new friends were highway 280 and 101. My tailor, designers, favorite shop keepers who gave me warm greetings and who saved the new designs for me was replaced by Macy's, Kohls, Ross and so on. The store keepers who recognized my voice even before I had to say the building name and flat number was replaced by Safeways and Seven elevens. Everything seems huge. Similar looking concrete blocks everywhere- they called it- Best buy, Safe way etc. There was so much silence.... Anyways, enough for now :).
Lets toast to my flight stranger, whom I probably will never meet again....
0 comments:
Post a Comment