Losing my Baggage Tags ------

The Joy of being a S##%#% #@#%# - in NYC.

It should read, the Joys of being a Stereotypical Tourist in NYC.

Visiting the Big Apple, the first thing I noticed was the look of unhesitating scorn that seemed to be there to greet me every time I side stepped a local. The first few times were unnerving, but slowly, surely, I warmed up to it. 

There really isn't any point in being a tourist in the City that never sleeps and not bump into someone who's in a hurry, because the only ones who are figuring their way out, the only ones who are ok with being a little late, the only ones who are ok with stopping a bit for the sights are the ones who don't belong here. I started to look forward to that gaze, I felt comfortable being quietly mocked for being a misplacement, for being recognized as a temporary presence. It is a strange re assurance when you get treated the way you expect to be treated, even if it isn't pleasant.

But then like with any other truly great city, and this one, probably is the City of Cities, the borough to emulate, the street to follow, the park to recreate, there is a transformation. Towards the end of my first week being here, the scowl that unnerved me starts to appear on a face that I know well, my own!!!!! 

As I get accustomed to being here, to be pushed into the subway in morning rush hour, to talk to the varied accents that line up all the " May I help you " counters all across the Manhattan and the Subways, to truly appreciate the maddening adrenaline that seems to be self-generated at the Crossroads of the World, I also start seeing in me, a mutation,

A mutation, of sorts, that is, I am no longer, the smiling, greeting, in my “30s” young - ish man from anywhere but here, I am become Hostility Itself,

I no longer, have a pleasing smile on my face as I enter or exit an elevator, just the condescending glance at all those who alight in floors lower than my own accompanies me everywhere.

And not all is bad, I have a sense of purpose to myself, I walk with a clear sense of objective, from getting groceries to coffee to attending an all-important meeting, I walk everywhere with piercing precision. I've become an expert at hailing cabs, a skill that will serve me well, everywhere from Singapore to London, from Bangkok to Berlin.

From those days when looking at everyone around was my favourite way of killing time while traveling in a bus, a train or any other public transport, I've now been trained to avoid eye contact all together. It’s amazing, New Yorkers excel in avoiding eye contact in public and possessing a laser like focussed gaze in private, multi - skilled, you asked ?

I learn, I learn, at about the end of my second week, I am all set, I now, have initiated my journey to be a true member of the Big "A" and like then the expected happens, I need to go back !!!!!!

Sigh.....let’s start unlearning (bits of it at least).