United States of America!!! Vini Vidi Vici!!! Thats exactly what describes this blog the best. I dare did not conquer America...God forbid, I am not the fortunate Hussain to have the light of my life getting extinguished in the land of the omnipotents.But I surely did conquer something in America, something much greater than conquering America herself.
Exactly three months earlier, August 5th, 2007, 00:30 hrs. I was all out alone on a road in some corner of Manhattan, NY, trying to figure out a Gas station to purchase a few things.
It was a quite eventful journey to the USA. My first eleven hour international flight to London in Boeing 777, jet lag in the British Airways liner, touching down NY JFK at night, missing my connecting flight to Raleigh and then staying overnight in NY, and then losing my luggage and tracing them again the next day in Raleigh...It was too much like a Bollywood flick in a day.
And here I was out of the hotel on road of NY at midnight. I finally traced a gas station. There was a big fat Pakistani guy inside the store with a scary beard and mustache. He stared at me as if I was some Madam Tassaud's idol...Indian meets a Paki in NY...Oh God...this was too much for me to digest.
To my surprise the Paki was more than happy to meet me. He was elated at the fact that I spoke his language. I got the first hint of what this nation can do to people.
While walking on the street that night, I had a weird thought going on my mind. Back in India, there have been numerous occasions that I have roamed out alone, strolling in streets like a dog. But this was very different. I was at the No. 1 city of the world, a city that I had seen only on the tv. The two pillars had crumbled down in this same city few years back like some teaser shot of Armageddon movie. This is the same city that boasts of the world's largest number of skyscrapers. This is the same city where Karan Johar shoots all his movies for his overseas viewers with Sharukh Khan clad in a overcoat, running around on pavements to bridges to railway platforms.
New York city gave me the first throttle of a feel good factor in Columbus's land. I knew that I was now in United States of America!!! Dream or reality!!! One small make-out with NY was enough to build up a relation with the place on my first visit.
I had read a book quite recently which was all about the best journeys that bring you back to home. The book said that once you land in the US, you should owe allegiance to the Stars and Stripes. Over the last three months, I could sense the truth of this discernment.
August 15, 14:30 hrs...I woke up an hour before getting ready for some stupid function at our college. I was 14.5 hrs late for my nation's independence. The celebration of independence finds justice in India where one's independence is curbed every second, but in the US, you are a free man. Its a land of independence, a soil of liberation. The air around is of absolute liberty and hence waking up 14:3 hrs late really didn't pinch my conscience at all.
I had perhaps silently started abiding by what the book said - owing allegiance to the Stars and Stripes and consequently, the tricolor had taken a back seat without a slightest inkling.
....to be continued..
