Heartwarming moments on Manhattan streets

Amidst the dazzle and razzmatazz of its luxury stores and the dizzying heights of its skyscrapers-- vignettes of warm human warmth touch your heart on the streets of Manhattan.

My favourites will of course be the colourful food trucks selling fruit juices, smoothies, milk shakes, ice creams and low priced snacks like pretzels, hamburgers and sandwiches. Many offer exclusively ‘halal’ meat preparations!

But the whole charm of these food trucks is their art work. They are no bigger perhaps than say 8 feet by 5 feet and are basically trailers, that can be easily pulled around by even a SUV.

The price list along with mouthwatering illustrations of the menu are painted all over the façade. A square cut-out on the street side of the truck, is from where your entire transaction happens. Most of the salespersons are immigrants who speak ‘broken’ English. Yet, I have managed good discussions on weather, politics, directions to a museum and got good advice on taking the right Subway train to a destination.

While you’re still talking —before you know, your order of a Vanilla shake or a chocolate ice cream or a smoothie made from a banana, pineapple and strawberries is all done—nice and cool. It’s amazing how fast the service is and low priced it is for its cooling invigorating magic for a foot-weary tourist, trudging the sidewalks on a hot humid August day.

The other engaging presence is of the fixed newspaper kiosks—that of course sell much more than just New York Times, Washington Post, Time or the New Yorker—but an array of small nuggets that a weary tourist or a commuter might need including umbrellas and chocolates or just a bottle of chilled water for 2 dollars. They are run mostly by Indian, Bangladeshi or Pakistani immigrants. If you’re confused which metro train to take to the Guggenheim museum or some such destination—they’re your best bet.

Talking of helpful people, my experience of asking anyone for directions in the midst of the frenzy of Subway stations in peak hours, is phenomenal.  Everyone is very helpful and will stop their mad rush, just to help you get a metro card from the confusing vending machine or guide you to the train number that will take you closest to your destination. Perhaps the sight of a hapless confused visitor, who can’t afford the high cab fares, evokes empathy and reminds them of their own struggling years.

Other sights like a street musician playing a soulful rendering on a Saxophone or a violin are as humanising and  reassuring  as the toll of bells from a nearby church!

Though every inch of space in Manhattan is a million-dollar pie of real estate, the large number of small handkerchief parks like the Washington Square, Union Square, Bryant Park and Madison Square are like oasis of tree-laden gardens with shaded places to have snacks and cold drinks or a chat over coffee. Some of them like the Union Square or Madison square have multiple tables of chess games in progress—reminding one so much of the Hollywood classic ‘Gambit Queen’.

The other quaint charm of Manhattan is that notwithstanding the presence of giant global designer stores, there is still the presence of shoe-repairers who offer multiple other services like lock smiths and umbrella repairs. The other ubiquitous sight of the city, are its famous yellow cabs. Rows and rows of them can be seen waiting near the Grand Central Station or near popular tourist spots like the big museums, Times Square or ferry cruise piers.

Another endearing human take-away in the juggernaut of life that rolls on the streets of Manhattan relentlessly, is that if you stop anyone and request for taking pictures of you posing against the backdrop of a city icon—they will only be too happy to give you a memorable Facebook moment. And mine in front of the UN Headquarters building was indeed memorable.

Besides the earthshaking momentous global conflict resolutions goings-on inside—the fact, that it’s the only building of Chandigarh’s planner Le Corbusier in New York, makes it so special. Though the building was not designed by him exclusively—he was very much a part of the international group of architects that designed it collectively. This interestingly also included Mathew Nowicki (the later on associate of Albert Mayer, the original architect-planner of Chandigarh).

As I scout around for a reliable unhurried face to approach, for the photo request, I espy a very Indian looking man with three women of varying age groups in tow. As I request him, he happily agrees to click some shots with my phone camera. As I give him precise directions for the camera angle –I justify my fuss, mentioning that being an architect from Chandigarh in India, I needed it to be really good.

“Don’t worry sir”, he promptly responds in chaste Punjabi, “Janab, assi vi Punjabi hange (Sir, we too are Punjabis).” As we exchange notes, he states that he is in fact a Pakistani from Sialkot region. And I tell him that our family too hailed from that city, but had to flee after partition. This opens up a floodgate of nostalgia, shared cultural heritage and the ever-present camararederie and brotherhood of a shared past.

Notwithstanding the nasty generals and politicians — the hearts are in the right place of people of both nations.

The photo shoot ends with bear-hugs between Javed Cahudhri Sahib of Sialkot and me –whose paternal grandfather too had a prominent haveli in the city way back. The UN Headquarters resolved at least one global misunderstanding and rancour. New York is a good place to begin with peace making task.