Pizza overdose and California Trip
I had to make a short trip out to California this week and departed JFK on Monday afternoon. Sandhya said she would back some sandwiches for me to eat on the flight, but something came up and she forgot to do it. I picked up a slice of pizza at the airport and ate it on my way to SFO. I borrowed a friend's car and drove down to my cousin’s place in Cupertino. Funnily, they had ordered pizza for dinner and so I went through another round of pizza there. After my meeting the next day, my colleagues and I were looking for a place to have lunch in Mountain View, and the only place we found was an Italian restaurant. I thought I would have pasta, but since they had large pizzas which all of us could share, my colleagues insisted on us sharing a pizza -- that was number three. At the end of our meal, there were a few slices leftover, and since I had a flight back to New York, I packed them and carried them with me -- meal number four! I had truly overdosed on pizza by the end of that trip.
I arrived back at JFK at close to 10 PM and decided to brave public transport instead of taking a taxi. Unfortunately, the first air train that came by took me to the Howard Beach station, instead of Jamaica. The Howard Beach station is only served by the 'A' line, whereas the Jamaica station is served by three lines -- E, J and Z. at the time of the evening, I had to wait for almost 25 minutes before a train came along, and I reached home only close to midnight. Serves me right for not listening to Google maps public transit feature, which suggested going to Jamaica.
Visitors galore
On Wednesday evening, we had a good friend from Fremont, Srinivas Vijayaraghavan stop by for dinner. His Facebook status had read that he was going to be and he was wondering whether his ex-Fremont hillbillies (that would be us) would have time to meet with him. As is her wont, Sandhya had prepared a pretty exhaustive spread and I hope Srini was happy with the reception that he got.
On Friday afternoon, Sameer Nori, a childhood friend, and his wife Ramya stopped in on their way back from Boston to Washington DC, where they live. They stayed with us through Sunday morning.
And when it rains, it pours – a friend from the Bay Area who is visiting business schools on the East Coast came home on Sunday morning – he had come in on the red-eye and it was way too early for him to drop in on any of his friends – anything before 11 AM on a Sunday morning is too early for 20-somethings. On the other hand we were up and about at 7 AM.
40th birthday party
On Friday evening, Sonia celebrated her 40th birthday, which was last week. The do was at a really smart nightclub in the ultra-chic meatpacking district. Sandhya and I left Dhruv with a babysitter at a friend’s place in Building 10. They have two children who are about the same age and the three of them enjoy each other's company.
We arrived at the nightclub at close to 9 PM, to find that the party was just getting started. It was in a private room in the basement – a bar on one side, a and had a very cool blue hue all around. There were a lot of beautiful women, and smartly dressed young men. A really top class DJ belted out a mix of songs from the 70s and the 80s (the sort of music all of us grew up on) and remixes of the latest Bollywood numbers. Someone whispered that the DJ worked at a hedge fund as his day-job.
We didn't know a lot of people there, but that didn't really matter -- we made several new friends and generally let our hair down with some really vigorous dancing. The bartender was mixing some really good mojitos (so Sandhya tells me) and everyone was in high spirits. Close to midnight, they brought out a big cake, which Sonia cut and in true Desi style proceeded to try to smear on everybody who was within reach.
At one point in the evening, I don't know why I checked my Blackberry -- and found an e-mail that needed an urgent response. I found a quiet corner and after banging out a response, began to take a few notes on the party so that I would remember the details when it came to writing this blog post.
"Are you working in a party?" I suddenly heard a female voice in my ear.
"No, I'm just making notes for a post on a blog that I write each week from my experiences in New York." I replied, looking up. She was short, fair and quite pretty. I had noticed her earlier but hadn't been introduced.
"You have to let me read whatever you’re writing." She said. "That's a New York rule. Anybody who looks at his Black Berry in a party has to show everybody whatever is there on it."
I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I definitely didn't want her to read the urgent e-mail that I just replied to.
"You should read the post when it's finished." I said. "Give me your e-mail address, and I'll send you a link to the blog."
That seemed to mollify her -- and she gave me her e-mail address. We then got chatting and discovered we had several friends in common. A close shave indeed.
An active Saturday
On Saturday afternoon, we gave Sameer and Ramya a quick tour of the Met – given the time that we had, we focused on the usual suspects -- the Egyptian section and the Impressionists. However, this time, we also ventured into the Modern Art section, where I enjoyed an excellent Rockwell and lots of O’Keefe.
It was almost 3 PM by the time we finished, and I was really famished. I really felt like one of those excellent Falafel sandwiches you find at every street corner in New York. But when you need something really badly, you never find one – we walked several blocks on a cold and very windy day before we gave up and jumped into a cab. A few minutes later we were at (where else?) Kathi Roll Company in Midtown. Gluttony overtook us and we walked a few blocks North to Sukhadia‘s for Chaat, but were really disappointed in the quality.
We then took Sameer and Ramya through Times Square and then down Broadway to Herald Square. The streets were really crowded with Tourists – if it’s like this at this time of the year and in this weather, I dread to think what it will be like when school’s out and the summer’s here!!
On Saturday evening, we spoke to my parents over Skype – they are visiting a cousin in Singapore. Both Dhruv and I played the piano for them over Skype and I think they enjoyed it.
Visiting the Intrepid
On Sunday morning, after all our guests had left, we took a bus across town to visit the Intrepid Air and Space Museum. The USS Intrepid is a de-commissioned aircraft carrier anchored on the Hudson in Midtown West, and has been converted to a Museum. It saw action in World War II and Vietnam, and was also a recovery ship for some Mercury and Gemini missions. It was fascinating to stand on the deck and imagine Kamikaze planes slamming into the island (Intrepid was hit 5 times), or to imagine Gus Grissom landing on the deck and taking a call from President Kennedy after his ill-fated loss of the Mercury capsule.
Dhruv and I enjoyed sitting in an A-8 simulator and trying to land on a carrier. We came in a bit too fast, and missed the arrestor wires.
The Intrepid museum also has a Concorde parked alongside, and we walked through it for a quick peek. It is surprisingly small and cramped – a result of the need to maintain a narrow cross-section for supersonic flight.
The “Growler” – a submarine that’s part of the same complex – was undergoing renovations and closed when we visited.
I don’t know if the museum was worth the relatively steep entry ($20 each – it would have been $55 for the three of us). It was free for us because we are Bank of America customers, and under their “Museums on Us” program, entry is free on the first weekend of every month.
“Good Enough” Parenting
After the Intrepid, we caught a bus and walked to Central Park, where Dhruv spent time climbing around the rocks. Sandhya and I watched from a distance, and there were times when he was out of sight. The place was really crowded with hundreds of Children and Adults. Sandhya occasionally panicked when she couldn’t see him for an extended period of time, and I fought hard to keep from panicking. I am a big fan of what Psychotherapist Mark Epstein calls “Good Enough Parenting” – the ability to allow a child a full range of experiences to allow them to develop fully. Parents should intervene only when a child is doing something that is likely to cause serious or permanent harm. I find that as I get older, my ability to keep mind from racing (and therefore my pulse) diminishes. When Dhruv is standing close to the curb, for example -- dancing around as he often does – it takes a lot of self-control to keep myself from taking his hand and holding him firmly away from the traffic. He now knows that when a Subway is pulling into the station he has to stay at least 4 rows of tiles away from it – and he listens. But I still take his hand to make sure. I have to work harder at keeping my cool – that’s the only way he’ll develop the responsibility and judgment that will stand him in good stead as he grows up.
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