A memorable flight

This has got to be the most beautiful sights I have ever seen! No second thoughts whatsoever.

So I miss my friends in NY and not yet full used to my life in Seattle - so to get a taste of how life was, back in NY, I am traveling there this weekend. Right now I am about 30 min away from Seattle - wait, that's flight time - so it should be around 300 miles (since an Airbus A320 travels around 560-620 mph in good weather conditions and I cannot say there is even a small blemish in the clouds today!
So I must be flying over the Rockies right now - seems like it anyway - Maybe the gorges that I am seeing are parts of the Bryce Canion.

I wish I was a an artist - I wish I could draw this thing - but only if wishes were horses :-)
Maybe even the best artist cannot draw this beauty in a physical medium - you have to experience it.

This is my 5th cross-country flight - Coast-to-coast non-stop and I always liked the flights.

At the east coast nothing can beat the majestic show of pomp that NYC skyline is - if you land/take off at night. Oh I don't know if you'll get a more engrossing skyline anywhere else in the world - you just have to see the skyscrapers of midtown and downtown rise out (as you descend) of the vast see of light that is the tri-state metropolitan area (NY, NJ and PA).
If you fly to NY from inside the US, you'll get to see the orange glow of NYC about half an hour before you are anywhere near it. Then you'll see the sea of light and then in the last moments of your flight you'll see the Grand NYC skyline emerge from there! It's like a Hollywood movie - I have to tell you.

On the other hand, if you land/take-off from Seattle during the day - that's another sight. It's not called Emerald or Green City for nothing. Seattle is an isthmus surrounded by quite a few water bodies and mountain ranges.
It's between the Lake Washington and Pudget Sound (which connects to the Pacific ocean about 50 miles west of Seattle) and surrounded by modern satellite cities like Redmond (Microsoft), Kirkland (Google) and Tacoma/Renton (Boeing), Bellevue (residential area).

And the whole area is so beautiful - you have to see it once in the summer - if you are in the USA.

But tonight's experience is quite different from these sights - tonight is the first time I am flying out of Seattle at night. And I thought why do they brag that Seattle is the west coast;s 2nd largest city. Well I live and work in the heart of Seattle - and I always got the impression that it's s small city (maybe 10 miles by 10 miles). Now when we took off - I saw that the story is indeed like the tri-state area - vast sea of lights!!! No doubt I am a prouder Seattlite (is that what we are called?) now!
That's nowhere near the best part thought...

I always say and believe that man can never meet nature's beauty.

So right now - I am over the Rockies. It's 30 min pat midnight. And a few days after a full-moon (I think 2-3 days). For the record, it's 2 days after the lunar eclipse that I saw while playing tennis!
There is a bit of cloud in the sky - more like a mist coat strewn here and there.

And the mountains below me are full of snow.

You can guess what I am about to say - Soft moonlight falling on the deep gorges and peaks on the mountains below me - strikingly highlighting the ravines and the whole terrain. And the misty clouds diffusing the moonlight in a dreamy sort of way!

Oh man - I really have never seen anything like this - Is this what you call ghastly beautiful?

There is not a single sign of humanity as far as I can see - only white snowy mountains and deep gorges - shining off the moonlight. Brings a mixture of feelings - lonely, scared and hauntingly beautiful. yes even though it's so haunting - it's so beautiful!

If you are reading this blog - please do take a flight out of Seattle at night - on a clear night - with abundant moonlight around. Well yeah - you are right - you need luck to see things - and I guess some people have all the luck! heh heh heh...

As for me, my colleague was talking of a hiking trip to the Bryce Canion sometime this summer - now I have to do it!

Good night - see you tomorrow at NY!

Lunchtime, Soup and a crying beggar

Have you ever seen a grown-up man cry? I've seen myself a few times... But that never invokes the kind of emotion that I experienced today...

I was stuck in office and had almost forgotten about lunch. I noticed around 2 PM and since this-thing-I-was-doing was interesting enough, I thought about getting a quick soup from Specialty's (it's one of the 15+ cafe/restaurants near my office) - and when I am in a hurry and not very hungry, I go there... Nice thick soups for around $3-5.

Anyway, so I was just outside when I saw a beggar (it's usual to see one in Seattle - and IMHO, more so in Seattle than in NYC). On an average, I usually see 1 beggar in a day (maybe because I travel back home around 9 or 10 at night? Maybe my opinion would have changed if I went home earlier, or if I was out around this time more regularly in NYC)
It has become so regular that my instinct has been honed to murmur something like "I am only carrying cards - no cash" with a sad-smile and walk away. I won't be lying if I say that I really don't have any cash on me 99% of the time.

But this guy was different - most guys are used to such a reply and give a damn about it. This guy asked me again, "Please if you have any part of a dollar - even a penny" and I could see the pain or the need in his eyes... But I was walking away so fast - my brain could not catch up to my heart.

Once I got the soup I saw this guy again from the window - he was crying now - and I could see the pain in his eyes now again, only much worse. I checked my wallet but I really did not have any cash at all. And I had just paid for the soup with my card. I wanted to help him but did not know how... Anyway, I was still not so emotionally charged as I would be 2 minutes from then and so, started back to the office...

Just when I was about to enter through the door, I HEARD him cry... yes - he was crying loudly now... I felt so bad I stopped and looked back... I felt like giving him the soup I had with me... But before I realized he was already walking away.

Once in the elevator, I felt this sudden depressive emotion - man it was an awful feeling. I wish you never have to see that face or hear that cry/sob - of a grown man in real (emotional) pain.

I remember giving away $20 to a stranger in Jersey City one day - and earning a lot of flak from my friends... But I said it then, and I say it now, this guy looked like he needed the soup/$20 much more than I did.

I know (or at least, I perceive, like most of us) that most of the beggars are well-capable of acting. But what if this guy was not acting?

All this happened in a matter of 4-5 min, but left a lasting sad feeling in me. I know I cannot do anything for that man now but maybe putting this down in a blog will make me feel less guilty?

And a very un-important question - what the hell do I do with this soup now?

My First Blog - An unforgettable experience

I had written my first blog almost a year ago - August'06. I did have the pleasure of one person reading it too (thank Anurag!!!). And like most other things (people too? :-)) I did manage to loose it somewhere (the internet is getting too big I guess). Don't laugh... I manage to do that often (especially with people, again)...

Now that I am about to start off a (yet another?) new life, I am pledging to myself that I will do it better this time!!! So here goes the first one...

Anyway, I somehow dug it up and hence you can yourself immensely fortunate to read it once again (I wish I could do that with people, again!!! Ok I'll shut up now)...

Here you go:

My first blog is going to be about an unforgettable experience: The Kite Runner...

I am not an avid reader but I do read books & frequently get immersed in the characters...

Well I got this book just for a train journey... a journey from Bangalore to Chennai, lasts usually 6 hours... I was going for my VISA interview had this as a gift for Lavanya... her birthday had just passed...

I was told to read my petition papers & prepare for the interview... but a few moments with Amir & Hassan wrecked all that... n gave me one of the most moving books I have read... Call me a cry-baby or whatever, but I was (almost, this word added just to save my skin) moved to tears in the train... people were giving me such looks... as if they thought someone died...

I'm not going to (and I sincerely do not have the literary capability to) try to explain the book here... only advise: if you really want to know how hard life can be and how, after facing so much, you still can win, read this one...