NY Blitz

I was still in India. I had accepted a position in NY, and was winding down my operations in Delhi, when I got the call.

"We need you to come to NY for a meeting. " "How many days should I plan on ?" "Just 1". And just like that I joined the ranks of the people that spend 20 hours travelling to a place to spend just 20 hours in another place, and travel another 20 to return home.

Fortunately for me - flight schedules beign what they are , I was scheduled to spend 2 nights in NY.

I took the non-stop from Delhi to Chicago - hoping to be in NY by 9am. The flight was late - very late - I reached NY at 1:30pm. Quick shower, and I rushed to the office to be briefed on the morning's meeting.

Delhi had been burning - about 120 degrees. New York was a perfect 72.

I had a leisurely dinner at a peaceful little Italian restaurant - no crowds, no hustle - a stark contrast to Gurgaon.

Next morning it was raining hard - now who would have expected rain...I bought an umbrella on the street and continued on to the client meeting - at 1 NY Plaza. A gorgeous building that had views of the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Staten Island Ferry and NJ all from the 1 room.

Meeting went well. We finished our post mortem.

And I returned to the hotel around 3pm - I had to buy a wallet for my niece. That was the only remaining errand before I caught the flight out the next morning.

In my room, I sat on the bed - just for a minute - when I woke up it was 2am and everything around was closed.

I was also starving.

I waited till 6am and walked over to Ellen's Stardust diner - opens at 8 for breakfast !!!! so I walked around - I saw people lining up to get into the studios of the various morning shows - the city was slowly coming awake.

Finally found a diner that would serve me breakfast - was done by 7am. 2 hours to go before i had to leave... I walked, I shopped. it started to rain. None of the hawkers were going to show up today. So I returned to my room at 8am and napped for an hour.

Back to the airport and to Delhi. 44 hours after I had arrived in the city on my NY Blitz - refreshed, energized and ready to return.