Life's Like This (based on true stories) :: Nike+ Human Race wearing Reeboks :: Part III

First time visitors to this blog please read through the post before this to fully comprehend this one...

Just to make sure that the our location (at 5 P.M.) and destination (to be reached before 6 P.M.) with respect to geography are crystal clear, we were at the south-most end of Manhattan and to catch the bus that would take us to the Race venue, we had to traverse almost the whole of Manhattan and end up at its north-most east-most corner!

I proudly took out my Motorola Q11 (It’s a smartphone and I worked on it as a developer), turned on the GPS (for the non-geeks Global Positioning System. If it still does not ring a bell up there, please see wiki), located THE Subway station and asked him to follow me. It seemed that the misery was finally going to get over.

As I said, it seemed...

As some of you would remember from Part I, the Subway Authority was carrying maintenance work on some of the Subways and as luck would have it, had also temporarily closed THE station.

Being resourceful, I found an NYPD (New York Police Department... don’t you watch Hollywood action flicks?) cop (they are found at every step in Manhattan) and asked him with all the politeness I could gather as to how to reach 125th Street (the north-most east-most corner). He was kind enough to explain that we needed to walk about 5 more minutes to the next station, catch a different Subway and change mid-way to another one (Hold your thoughts! We would do that by getting down from the first and then by getting on the second, not by jumping from one’s window to another’s). We thanked him and started running (again). The hope was back. I tried to cheer him up by saying, “It’s a good warm-up!” But I guess by that time he was so drained to even give me the look!

The Subway car was almost empty with only one aunty sitting a few seats away. I suggested we better change into our running gear. He opined that changing the shirt will be ok but how would we change from the jeans we were wearing to the running shorts. As we dwelled on this, the Subway stopped at the next station and a huge swarm of people entered and consequentially the discussion ended. At the mid-way station we found out the right directions and reached the over-bridge which on descending would lead us to the final Subway’s platform. Now, the layout of the staircase, which was to be used for descending, is very important.

It was a normal staircase with a partition in-between running through its length so as to separate people going on different platforms. Midway through the partition there was a gap so that people who had gone the wrong side could change over to the right one. This is what we thought it was for.

So back to us, approaching the top of the staircase. As we did, I saw the Subway we were supposed to get into, waiting with its door open on the left-side platform. I screamed, “Run” (again). This was the second ‘Matrix’ moment...

Everything became slow (for the extent of slowness please again see the famous Matrix’s Bullet sequence), the eye contact (like trained commandos), he going down the right-side of the staircase. I through the left-side one. I screaming again, “Take left through the partition opening!” He conforming and thus, due to the shift in momentum, trailing behind me. I entering the train, turning. Doors closing. He anlaysing, realizing he would not make it, front on, jumping sideways into the Subway car. The doors closing behind him.

For a second it felt like the world had fallen silent except for the sound of my heart pounding in my chest and his panting. And then suddenly applause started. All the people in the car started clapping at the heroics of my friend. (We realized that the gap in the partition was just a design. Both the sides of the staircase would have brought us on the same platform, but then Keanu Reeves would not have had competition). We smiled at each other and the energy, the hope and the excitement were back!

We reached the designated point at 5:45 P.M. And as soon as we got out from the underground station we saw the bus which we were supposed to take to the Race venue. We decided to board it immediately but were stopped half-way by a security guard who said, “Please be in line”. I looked left, saw nothing, looked right saw 4-5 people standing till the edge of the block. I asked, “That way?” He nodded. I turned back to my friend and was half-way through my sentence that, “All Americans are punctual except for these 4-5”, when we turned the corner and stopped.

It was like we had been frozen in time. The line stretched for 2 more blocks!

A neat, straight line of people, all wearing the bright red Nike T-shirt, some standing still, some warming up. I looked sideways at my friend. The look was back! We joined the line at its end.

One of the volunteers started announcing that it was to cost us 2$ each to board the bus and that the bus conductor will accept only loose change. Instinctively everyone started diving into their pockets. My friend anyways had just a 100$ note and I a 10$ one. I gave him the 10$ and told him to get change from the shop nearby, as I stood in line. We got to discover another important difference between India and the US. The US shopkeepers have a ‘no change giving policy’! He came back empty handed. It was now 5:55 P.M. and the volunteers started announcing that the next bus will take time to come so if we have our own transportation, we should use it to reach the Race venue.

It had come to this! The hope of starting the Race on time was receding fast. The afterburner coughed up one last brainwave and died.

I saw few people hailing a taxi. I also decided to flag one down. The taxi driver somehow already knew where I wanted to go (as usually taxi drivers do). He said he would take 5 people for 5$ each. I stood there, clutching the taxi door and screamed the same to other people (felt like I was back in India). Apart from my friend, another guy came and sat along with the driver. We waited for a minute or two, saw no one else coming, got in the back seat and then peppered the poor guy to start driving.

With my afterburner dead, next to have a brainwave was my friend.

We decided to change in the car. I got the feeling that we would be enacting a Govinda (Bollywood actor) scene from a Bollywood flick. Now again, the positions are important.

I was on the left (again!) and he on the right.

He was already in his vest and was half-way through taking off his jeans. I had just started taking off mine after changing into the bright red T-shirt, when the cab stopped at a traffic light. An American aunty, in a big SUV, stopped next to us and seeing my bright red T-shirt asked if the marathon was over.

My friend froze! The SUV was taller than our sedan and thus she could practically see everything inside! And frankly in America, it would look and mean something really else with he in his undergarments and me half-way getting there. I decided to stick my head in the window so all the view shall be blocked, gave a big smile and answered, “No. We are actually going there.” She said, “Oh! When is it going to start?” (As if she would leave the SUV there and then and start running) I looked at my watch (it was 6:02 P.M.) and said, “Well it already did!” The light became green and we went back to changing. By the time we reached the Race venue it was 6:15 P.M...

But the Race hadn’t started yet! Some guy kept on giving a speech till 6:45 P.M. (I realized Manhattan politicians are not much different from ours. Time is of no value. Though I was thanking him in my heart)

And then it started with a bang. We did run (I jogged, he walked) and finish the Nike+ Human 10K Race. I clocked 77 minutes, both according to my watch and officially. My friend exceeded 90 minutes as per my watch, but clocked 45 minutes officially. Yes! Even the timing chip that they gave him was screwed.

But we were happy and content (I got to know the official timings much later).

We decided to leave with another of my friends (Sarab... I did mention you) who also ran in the Race. The only hurdle - Sarab had only one ticket (for himself) for the ride back. My friend after initially saying no to travelling without tickets (remember, a BIG believer of following the ‘right’ path) finally agreed and both of us got on and travelled without tickets in Manhattan.

P.S. Both of us were wearing Reeboks. Not because we are against Nike but because Reeboks are within our budget.

Life's Like This (based on true stories) :: Nike+ Human Race wearing Reeboks :: Part II

First time visitors to this blog please read through the post before this, to fully comprehend this one...

Battery Park is basically a park on the southern tip of Manhattan with a view of the Liberty Island (on which the Statue of Liberty stands) and a lot of water in-between. That’s why the need for ferries. After alighting from the bus we saw a ferry looming in the distance and quickened our pace. Nearing it we realized there was no activity on or around it. My friend pointed out to another one on the right, a bit farther away hidden by a big white tent, with some activity going on. I thanked God and said, “Cool! Not many tourists”.

I guess, that day, something was jinxed about me saying positive hopeful things.

We crossed the tent and adjusted our eyes to take in the huge swarm of people snaking in queues. It felt like all the tourists visiting Manhattan that day had decided to visit the Statue. I saw an almost empty row, thought why people not getting in this one and then decided to take my chances, when an overly helpful Indian uncle stopped us and offered free advice (as is so common with NRI uncles), “Son, first you have to get tickets”. I waved my printed online tickets proudly. “No, no! You have to use those to get the actual tickets from there”, he said pointing towards a small building a bit farther away swarming with a bigger number of snaky queues!

My friend gave a look of exasperation which said, “What was the point of printing? How can the system and you be so dumb” (booking online had also attracted an extra convenience charge). I almost agreed with him when I spotted a steward. I decided to try my luck again with the ‘American Way’.

I showed him the printed online tickets and he welcomed us in the empty row explaining that we had fast track tickets and that was the row for the same and that they encourage people to buy them! With the trust in the ‘American Way’ restored, both of us gave the ‘you are the one who is dumb’ look to the uncle and moved on.

After about 30 minutes of standing in the queue being roasted in the sun we finally entered the tent. And as was happening with other things we were in for a surprise!

It was like all the security apparatus from the JFK airport had been put in there. We waited in line with Homeland Security watching over us, passed through with belts and shoes off and came out the other side with a sigh of relief. We didn’t have anything to hide but feeling the presence of Big Daddy does inculcate a bit of fear. After the security check there was another 30 minute wait for the ferry to dock and let us board, then a big rush to actually board it (being trained in India we were among the first boarders), then wait for the others to board (that was the consequence of the previous bracket). Phew! Finally it undocked and we were away, amazed instantly seeing the famed Manhattan skyline which we have watched in so many Bollywood flicks. The optimism was rising like a Phoenix from the ashes.

By the time we reached the Liberty Island our stomachs were making growling noises as a result of all the running and waiting around. We got off the ferry and were surprised to see some of the people staying behind on it (Well, only if we would have read the blogs before). Anyways, we scrambled for food and ended up eating apples and oranges (Yes! Apart from being a BIG miser he is also a BIG pure vegetarian)! But by that point, I had stopped complaining about things.

According to the revised schedule (which I made during the fruit lunch), we had about 10 minutes to roam around. The Phoenix was spreading its wings. The first thing we noticed was people sitting in what seemed like a queue.

God gives warnings but we mortals can be quite dumb at times.

In about 5 minutes we realized why people stayed back on the ferry, as the only other worthwhile thing to do on the Island apart from going up the Statue (for which we did not have tickets) was to click the Statue from behind. It felt funny and strange because I had always wanted a photograph of me with the Statue behind me. What I got was me and the Statue’s behind, behind me!

The 10 minutes were up and a ferry was getting docked. We decided to catch it and thus went to the boarding point.

Here was when the reality dawned on us and the Phoenix started to get reduced to ashes again.

We were told to go back to the end of the queue by a steward near the boarding point. I was puzzled and thought, “What queue?” As I turned to see where the steward was pointing I saw a lot of commotion due to people getting up from their sitting positions and forming a huge queue that stretched till my eyes could see and eventually disappeared behind the Statue!

I apologize for stating the obvious but all the people who were sitting in what seemed like a queue 10 minutes ago were actually in a queue! We were done! My friend decided to finally lose all hope. I could see that in his face and drooping of the shoulders. But there I was, somehow thinking (the afterburner had started) of applying the things that I learned at Delhi College of Engineering (DCE, as we call it, the college from where I did my Undergrad). One of them was, getting out of extremely tough situations (like being unprepared for a viva-voce or an unfinished assignment or project) with a lot of lateral and shrewd thinking and as Hindi language eloquently describes as, “Jugaad”.

I told him the ‘Plan’, but he argued that it was not the right thing to do (apart from being a BIG miser, a pure vegetarian, he is also a BIG believer of following the ‘right’ path). I said either this or no marathon, (and added a bit subtly with a sad face) for which I have spent so much (well, a miser can only be coerced using money). He had no choice left.

I looked up and down the queue and chose a point strategically far from the boarding point (people are usually very attentive at the beginning of the queue) and in the middle part of the queue (we did not have much time). People in the queue were popping out to click photos and then merging back in. On cue my friend started clicking photos of me as I scrutinized the people in the queue, moving in front of me. I was looking for a medium-built single American male.

The reasons:

Medium built so that even if he decided to attack us, we could tackle him. Single because he would not be concerned about other family members pestering him for getting late. American because, well, Asians are very vigilant about who is in front of them (it comes naturally to us as we have been standing in lines throughout our lives with people barging in). And finally a male, because being screamed at, by a female would definitely not be nice. About 5 minutes later I was rewarded with an Indian family being followed by my target. I let half of the family to pass by us and then casually called to my friend, “Let’s get back in line. It’s moving.” And without any drama we joined the queue in front of the American.

My heart was pounding ferociously as the initial moments are the most critical (though I did have my friend in-between me and the American). Sometimes people much behind in the queue can also cause a stir. I waited, but nothing happened. We had done it again! The 'Plan' had worked.

I felt immensely proud to be an Indian and a DCEite all in a span of few hours!

We still had to wait for 2 ferries to pass by before we could get on board and when we did, we just collapsed on the floor. We were exhausted and there were no seats available. The captain announced that the next stop was Ellis Island, where we would not have gotten down from the ferry even if the US Government had offered us $s. (Ok! Maybe if the $ amount was decent we would have).

We got back on the Manhattan Island at 5 P.M. We were late but through the map I found the Subway which would take us direct to our next stop. The Subway station was a 2 minute walk away from the Ferry de-boarding point.

To be continued...

Life's Like This (based on true stories) :: Nike+ Human Race wearing Reeboks :: Part I

We got up early (we being me and one of my friends who had come to meet me and sight-see Manhattan, New York City. Being a miser he is a devotee of the ‘one arrow two targets’ concept) as today evening at 6 P.M. was the Nike+ Human 10K Race (aliens were specifically barred). I had gotten him also enlisted as one of the runners, with my name already being in the list.

Little did we realize, that today, even reaching the Race venue would become a race in itself...

First stop of the day was Wal-Mart. Of all the things that you can buy from there, we had come for a very specific item. The 4$ running shorts. Hold your thoughts!

The race organizers had given us all bright red Nike T-shirts with the badge number printed on them. Last night as my friend was sorting out stuff to carry today, I saw him place his running shorts next to his red T-shirt. This was no ordinary running shorts. This was BRIGHT silver in colour and SHONE and SPARKLED in light (Hindi language awesomely and precisely describes such items as “chamko” and “chatak”). Controlling the dilemma created by my angelic side (of helping my friend) and the devil inside (of seeing him become a laughing stock), I took the middle path and casually suggested him to wear the combo once and see himself in the mirror. The reaction brought us running to Wal-Mart in the morning.

By the time he got it billed, I called for a cab to the NJT (for the uninitiated, New Jersey Transit, a train service servicing the NJ-NY area). Well we were in South Plainfield, NJ and the NJT runs straight to New York Penn Station, NY.

Our Third stop was going to be the Statue of Liberty for which we had already booked tickets online. The cab was 10 minutes late and I knew it would be touch and go at the station. As soon as we got in the cab, I did the famous Indian trick. I announced I shall pay the cab driver a hefty tip if he could transform himself into Schumacher. He obliged and I told my friend to run for the train as soon as the cab stops. The reply was, “Wouldn’t it cost extra if we did not buy tickets before hand?” (as already mentioned he is a BIG miser). Thankfully I was not able to answer, as we had arrived in the station’s parking lot and the train was already there, a few metres away, with its doors open, about to leave. I screamed, “Run”. That was the first ‘Matrix’ moment...

Everything became slow (for the extent of slowness please see the famous Matrix’s Bullet sequence), he getting out, running. Me getting out, following. Across the parking lot, up the steps, onto the platform, in the compartment through the half closing doors.

We were IN! Through the glass window I saw later that even the cab driver had gotten out to see what would happen! (we did pay 5$ extra each as fine for not buying the tickets before boarding the train. But I paid, so my friend was smug)

At the New York Penn Station, we had to change to Subway 1, which was going to take us straight to the Ferry boarding point (Battery Park) and I had bragged a lot about the Swiss like precision of the Manhattan Subways’ timings. We were waiting with a bunch of Mexicans on the platform, when Subway 1 came, to the platform opposite us, and went by. The Mexicans decided that the next will also come there. We followed but in the middle of crossing over to the opposite platform, I asked my friend, “Would you follow them or follow the great American signages which are never wrong?” We decided to follow the latter. By the time we got back, an NRI girl (there are telltale signs) and her mom were found standing at the same platform and they confirmed that if the Americans had written it, then it was written on stone. Subway 2 came and went (they usually come in cyclic order, Subway 1, then 2 then 3).

Again Subway 1 came and it brought along smug expressions on all the Mexicans’ faces. It had come again on the opposite platform. My friend looked at me and trust me if looks could kill I would not have been able to write this. I somehow overcame the dread and screamed, “Run”, for the second time. We did, but it was gone.

A while later another Subway 2 came. This would have taken us half-way and he suggested we get into it. I explained it will take the same time, as from the half-way point we would have to again wait for Subway 1. We let it go. Subway 1 came. This time on our platform. We got in and I thought that everything would be fine now. The precision of Manhattan Subways’ timings had been reinstated.

I had thought just a wee bit soon.

The train driver announced that the half-way point was going to be the last stop for all the trains including ours (as it had been since yesterday night) due to maintenance and we were supposed to exit the station and take a bus from upstairs. There went the precision and timings in different directions. He looked at me and trust me (again), if looks could kill an ‘already been tried to kill’ man, I would...

In the bus, I tried to cheer him up by saying, “Wow! We are roaming Manhattan in a bus and that too for free! (atleast the Subway Authority had been kind enough to let use the already bought Subway tickets in the bus)”, but alas! The only effect it had was to scare a kid who had been looking at my friend’s face.

We reached Battery Park from where we just had to board the Ferry but soon realized this was going to be our Second stop instead of a transit point.

By the way, the tickets announced the Ferry boarding time of 1:30 P.M. Our watches had already gone past that, when we were in the Subway 1.

To be continued...