Oct 07, 2007 12:24 AM
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(Updated Oct 07, 2007 01:02 PM)
Incredible India@60 NEW YORK CITY. India is celebrating sixty years of freedom and has organized dance drama music and meetings in New York City (NYC). We have seen Glimpses of this on TV channels. Some of the best known names in Indian Industry are there in the Big Apple to participate in the celebrations and partake of some of the US business inputs and successes. Incredible India@60 has Nandan Nilekani of Infosys Technologies, Sunil Mittal of Bharti Group, Deepak Parekh of HDFC, Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra, Vijay Mallaya of United Breweries and more. India’s growth is fast and remarkable so the wizards of financial world are keen to invest in India and reap the benefits. It appears New Yorkers are upbeat about India and want to invest in its stock market. New York is a great place to be in to celebrate and enjoy. I visited many well known cities; Chicago and San Francisco in US itself, and London, Paris, Zurich, Copenhagen, Prague, Munich, Amsterdam, Athens, great cities in other countries. But New York is different. It is adorable what with its ‘world’ population. The UN Headquarters are not just lifeless concrete structures but New York in reality is the entire world.
The big Apple is as inviting, friendly and lovable as no other city is. New York is one long Island (not to be confused with Long Island) South to North, East to West the width is very small. East side has the east river and running parallel to the river is a road drive named after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. One enters NYC through a tunnel under the Hudson River and the first impression is one of wonder, the skyline. On the west side is the Hudson River. One can take a boat trip and go round the island. You see the New York skyline as you travel in the boat. The boat trip is interesting most of the part but tends to be tiring because it is too long. Besides the famous land marks, one sees the Yankee Stadium, Tennis centre and business Parks, Industrial establishments. Actually it is only the Manhattan part of New York that one hears and talks about so much. But New York is much more than that. New York City is constituted by five Burroughs viz. Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten Island. Staten Island is in the South and the others are in the east of Manhattan and appear bigger in size than Manhattan. The Brooklyn Bridge is an engineering marvel and connects Manhattan with Brooklyn.
Manhattan is well laid out and easy to go around. The south-north direction roads are Avenues and are named 1 to 12 except for a couple of them which also have names. Like the Avenue of Americas, Park Avenue. East to west roads are streets which are numbered starting from the south, not extreme, and go to about 215 in the north beyond the Harlem area. The streets are named as east and west, thus you have E 35 Street and W 35 Street and so on. Perhaps the Avenue of Americas divides the streets into East and West. As perhaps in any big city the older side, south side, is not so orderly and the streets have names not numbers. Thus you have Wall Street in the Financial District of NY, south Manhattan, the seat of the Stock Exchanges as we have Dalal Street in South Mumbai again the seat of the oldest Stock Exchange in India. Wall Street is located at Broad Street and is fabled by a grandiose sculptor of a raging Bull of Bulls and Bears of the Stock Market. This stock exchange is world famous and attracts players fro the world over. Also there is Canal Street to remind you of MusafirKhana. Though all this not in terms of cleanliness and the crowds. Further down to South Ferry and Battery Park, near the NY harbour, one boards the ferry to go visit the Statue of Liberty (presented to the USA by the French Govt.) on the Liberty Island as well as the museum of Immigrants to USA (decades ago) on Ellis Island. One can also take a cruise to tour the New York harbour. The lady of the statue is a memento item and a must carry to remind you have your visit to New York.
Usually the island city is described as the Financial District, Down Town, Mid Town and Uptown. There are many other famous landmarks starting with the UN building down South. You are privileged to have a conducted tour of UNO and it is worthwhile to see the work places of different organs of the United Nations. The now lost World Trade Towers were in South Manhattan very much downtown. The Avenue Broadway running south-north is the entertainment district where theatres are located. Lincoln Center is another place where many concerts and other functions are held. I attended a Sitar recital there.
Tourist guides and pamphlets suggest a walking tour which takes you to midtown Manhattan. You see the famous and glittering Times Square, 42nd street and a plethora of movie theaters and touts. This area is not to be missed and memories are to be cherished for ever. Pavement stalls and all kinds of merchandise on sale here. It is really fascinating to walk around Times Square. I have walked this area both in day time and at night. Once walked the streets in winter and had my nose turned into hard stone and feet frozen and dissociated from the rest of me!
A walk on the Fifth Avenue from Central Park to the Times Square is a beautiful, memorable experience rewarding in its own way. Fourth Avenue or Park Avenue is the high end, fashionable and expensive side of NYC. It’s a treat for the eyes to look at the stores and the crowd there. You see the glitter of NY, beautiful shops, beautiful people, and beautiful dresses all presenting an eyeful of nazara. Central Park itself is one big park with changing view scope, shops and local regulars and visitors. It was created and is beautifully landscaped and has evolved over the years with almost every facility: lake, thousands of trees provide lush green vegetation, meandering paths, thousands of nice benches, recreation center and more and at any time of the day one can see locals and visitors to the park partaking of its luxurious natural offerings. Walking through Central Park is very pleasant times spend of lasting memory.
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