sonu kumar
Posted On: 09-04-2019
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Forty Two

Of course, my visit to Union Square proved useless. I didn’t have a
date or the exact location of the stall.
The farmer’s market is put up in the Union Square quadrangle, a
football-field sized area filled with over a hundred natural and
environment-friendly product stalls. A few stalls featured
performances ranging from juggling to music gigs. I passed organic
honey and fruit-based soap counters to reach the fair office.
‘Agents book the stalls. Then they call their own musicians on hire.
It’s quite impossible for us to trace them,’ a lady at the fair office told
me.
I took the subway back home. I felt stupid. I had wasted an
evening I could have spent with my friends. I reached the 86th Street
stop. I walked out to find the streets filled with snow. It was cold and
dark. Still, under the city lights, New York, with its historic
skyscrapers and modern neon lights, looked pretty. As I walked home,
I passed restaurants with cosy interiors. Beautiful people chatted and
laughed as they ate their dinner. I wondered if I would ever, even for
one day in my life, be carefree like them.
*
On my last Saturday in New York, I decided to visit the tourist
attractions. I spent my morning visiting the Rockefeller Center, the
Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty. In the afternoon, I
decided to splurge. I went to watch an NBA game.
‘One ticket for the Knicks game, please,’ I said at the ticket counter.
Madison Square Garden, also known as the MSG or simply the
Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in midtown Manhattan in
New York City. Located between Seventh and Eighth Avenues from
31st to 33rd Streets, it is situated atop Pennsylvania Station. I had
come to the Garden to watch a play-off game between the New York
Knicks and LA Lakers.
The Garden cost nearly a billion dollars to construct, making it oneof the most expensive stadiums in the world. I went inside, and was
astonished by what I saw. It was the best basketball court and spectator
stadium I had ever seen in my life.
The teams had towering players, many of them over six-and-a-half
feet tall. The Lakers wore yellow kits with a purple strip down die
side. The Knicks had on blue jerseys with an orange border.
I took my seat. It took me a minute to scan the huge arena and
figure out all the complicated scoreboards.The crowd of nearly twenty
thousand roared at every point scored.
I was in New York. However, I supported the LA Lakers. They had
Kobe Bryant, one of the worlds best basketball players and iny
favourite. He scored the most, over forty points in the game. I
wondered if an Indian player would ever join the NBA.
The game ended with the Lakers scoring an easy win. The crowd,
exhilarated from the game and the atmosphere, began to trickle out of
the stadium. I followed them to the exit.
*
As I came out of the MSG, I saw a couple of elderly people in
jackets with the New York City Tourism logo, waiting near the exit. An
elderly Hispanic woman walked slowly towards me.
‘Tourist?’ she said.
‘Yes, well, sort of,’ I said.
‘How your trip goes? Me Daisy, from the Senior Citizens for NYC
tourism. Sorry my English not good. I am Mexico originally.'
‘My trip is going quite well, thank you,’ I said. ‘And your English
is just fine.’
I could not believe I had commented on someone else’s English.
She held a bunch of brochures in her hand.
‘May I ask the favour? Will you practise English me five minutes?’
Daisy said.
I had to go home and pack. This was an unusual request anyway.
‘I join adult school to learn English.To practise I volunteer here
tourism department,’ Daisy persisted.‘I actually have to go home.’
The older man with her took me aside.
‘Hi, I am Doug, a supervisor for the senior citizens for NYC
volunteer programme.’
I shook hands with him.
‘Please spare five minutes for her. She lives alone. She needs to
practise her English,’ Doug said.
‘Sir, my English is not so good. I am from India.’
‘Indians speak good English.’
‘Not all. I am also learning it.’
‘You are speaking good English now.’
‘Well, thank you, sir.’
‘Someone must have taught you.’
I sighed.
‘Five minutes,’ Doug said.
I nodded.
Doug left me with Daisy.
‘Hello, Madam Daisy. What would you like to talk about?’
‘Would you like brochure? To see attractions of weekend?’
‘Actually, I don’t think so. I leave soon... ’ I said but she
interrupted tne.
‘They free. Have look. We have discounted Broadway shows, a
food festival, a jazz and music fest...’
‘I will correct you. Please say, “they are free, have a look”,’ I said.
‘Sorry, sorry. That I say.’
‘I leave Monday. So I am afraid I won’t be able to do much,’ I said.
She looked disappointed. I figured she had to do her tourism job,
too. She possibly had a quota of people she needed to distribute
brochures to every day.
‘Fine, I’ll take them.Thank you.’
‘Oh, thank you,’ she said and cheered up again. ‘You fill small
survey for me. Two minutes.’
I put the brochures in my jacket pocket. She gave me a formasking basic details about my visit and myself, ‘Can I leave now,
madam?’ I said, as politely as possible.
‘Enjoy rest of stay,’ she said and waved me goodbye.
‘Yes, yes.Thank you.’
I left the MSG compound and came to the street. Peak hours meant
cabs would be stuck in traffic forever. I checked the time. It was 7
p.m. I decided to walk the four-kilometre distance from Madison
Square Garden to Shailesh’s house.

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