New York City: An Unnoticed Beauty.

Living in America is a fantastic privilege, and living in New York City is further even better!

For about the tenth time in the morning before departing, I checked my house to make sure I dint leave anything essential behind. My stomach was doing all the flips as I arrived at the airport and made my way to the gate.  After a stretch of 14 hours, I watched through the window the runway nearing and all the buildings seemed bigger and bigger and as the plane gained gravity I felt excited that I have come to the most amazing city of the united states.. New York!

As I stood waiting for a taxi outside of the airport, I captured the first breath of city air and declared this is freedom! it was immediately apparent to me that New York City was not the same as India. It seemed like everyone there was in a hurry to get to another place. The constant sound of cars honking was heard through the entire trip. As I headed towards my house in flushing I noticed that it wasn’t just the cars that were in a hurry. Everyone in the streets was walking at a brisk pace that indicated a rush to be somewhere. The mobbed streets were filled with taxi cabs and cars going to and fro in numerous directions. As I progressed deeper into the inner city and de boarded my vehicle; the aroma of the restaurants passed through my nostrils giving me a craving for food. Further making my way down the street, I felt overwhelmed by looking at people walking and talking in scores of different languages, drinking Starbucks while enjoying the city. People are so full of life and encouragement.

  Standing on the middle of Seventh Avenue Street I couldn’t stop looking at the buildings that were astonishingly tall and eye catching. They encompassed the most distinctive architecture I have ever seen so far.

Here people follow fashion of any kind. Most of today’s new clothing styles are adopted from New York. No one judges the way you present yourself in this unrestricted environment.

After bustling for few hours in the streets.. I was awestruck as I went inside the empire state building and made my way towards the top.. I could hold the entire city in my hand from this view. The city never sleeps! I could see different kinds of lights illuminating the area, where people are seen partying having fun, shopping and enjoying life.

After spending the evening at Times Square Manhattan, I further made my way to the subway to see more of New York’s amazing places and the next place on my list was the Statue of Liberty. The subways are crazy and one of the oldest and also easiest forms of travelling and you never know you might share your ride with the next great musician.. as I travelled and enjoyed the different echoes of people whispering, suddenly I heard a saxophone paying right beside me in my compartment a melody which was making my feet tap to the rhythm of its music, I noticed all the people cheering and swaying to the music being played and then complimented with a tip… Any sort of work is respected and well appreciated by all.

I reached my destination but was just a few miles away from it. To see the Statue ferryboat rides were given to all the tourists there. All were excited to see it. Finally I saw the Crowned Lady spotted with dazzling lights around her, the famous Statue of Liberty symbolizing independence, friendship and democracy. The view of the harbor was spectacular. I got down the ferry and stood below the statue looking straight up wondering how real it looked… I climbed upstairs and captured a beautiful view of the entire island. The city was lit up with amazing lights and I also had a view of the Brooklyn bridge and the World Trade Center.

I returned home that night after believing of what all I had seen that day and waited for the next day. Next morning, I went to see Brooklyn Bridge. Again, I had to take a subway train which took approx. 45 minutes to reach there and had to walk for long. Finally after reaching the Bridge that was long in length and was located right above the waters. It was thrilling to walk on that Bridge and click pictures.

 The next destination was the famous World Trade Center which was on my bucket list. That place was the most crowded place as the security was tight and entry was given as per ticket passes shown. This place is now called Ground Zero. It is basically a museum where all the names and pictures of people who died during 9/11 were engraved and how the building was structured and designed were shown and also a documentary was shown. It was really touching to see this place enhanced with beauty. After spending the afternoon there, I had gone for a Broadway show in Times Square. It was really amazing to have an live experience of seeing musicals some of the shows include Rent, Chicago, Mamma Mia and Grease. People, from young children to elders, wait in endless lines to watch sold out shows. Times Square is the Heart of Theatre. Next, I went to see the famous Madame Tussauds, located on the 42^nd street. It is again a museum but a museum chain of life-size wax replicas of famous Americans and historic icons in themed galleries. I was excited as I entered inside the museum and saw so many wax statues displayed in a garden party setting where you can mingle with them. I had witnessed so many icons and legends of the American as well as some of our Indian industry icons.

I really had an amazing day again and was thrilled that this City had so much to offer to the tourists that arrived here.

After two weeks of exploring the city it was time to depart to the airport and leave back to India. As I had arrived at the IGI Airport New Delhi, I was back to the routine of college work and travelling in auto rickshaws and buses where everything seemed chaotic. I had an amazing trip and it is a place that I will visit, revisit and visit again.

Being in New York City you can live a really happening life and never get bored as you can make your way to the city on weekends and enjoy.

The things that you should be on your list are Times Square, Statue of Liberty, World Trade Center, Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park which are both public urban park and a green lung of New York City, Madison Square Garden and Empire State Building. Also, the Broadway shows are too good and will be worth everything.

These were some of the places I have been to and I feel like a New Yorker communicating and making new friends. This will be a really good trip for the people who dream of this City.