A boy was sitting there on one of the beautiful benches of the beautiful central park in New York. He was fresh off the boat in this wonderful city. Of Course! He was exited and happy. He was loving the way people walk to go to work in Manhattan, the way he could sit in the open park restaurants and drink coffee while listening to others’ conversations and also the sirens of NYPD trucks, the way some couple would ask him to click a picture of them and he will happily and proudly do so, the way he was riding sub-ways and buses to go to places, the way he was managing to expend limited dollars he had, the way he was making plans to visit every part of the Big Apple, the way a complete stranger will say Hi to him and he will smile and respond with hello. There was something new, something different about this time of his life. After all, it was his very first time when he had come so far from his country and that too he came to America and that too to New York. That night when he stood at the top of the empire state, he was surely the king of the world. When a long lost friend from his country met him in New York and he spent a few hours with her, he was breathing happiness. For him life couldn’t be better as he walked and walked to every bit of Manhattan while asking strangers for directions and with the aid of the map he had.
So one day he was again roaming here and there admiring every thing around him, and then thought of resting for sometime and thus walked into the Central Park. A bit hungry he was, so he bought a Coke, which the Americans call soda, and he bought a hot dog without the meat part i.e. just bread and then walked into the park, settled on a bench and started eating the bread while watching what other people were doing. People were in jolly mood, they were walking around, some old people were reading news papers, and some kids were running around, the guitar player was there playing guitar as people walked by putting some one dollar or so in his guitar case. It was time of the late afternoon and the breeze was gentle and the time was splendid. Having finished his bread, he started drinking his coke with all the peace of mind and relaxed his body by half lying on the bench. He was just enjoying the exquisite time with his eyes almost closed.
“Hello, may I sit here?” came the feminine voice. The boy surprisingly looked above and saw a young girl asking that. With a bit of stammer he replied, “Oh Yes! Of Course Please” while coming to the sitting position from the half lying one and narrowing his New York Times pages which were occupying other half of the bench. And there she sat sharing the bench with him. Oh God!! What is this; the boy thought as she was unbelievably beautiful and looked charming. Sitting with still stranger girl, his peace of mind vanished and he could not still believe that a beautiful New York girl asked to sit beside him. While it may be very normal for people to ask to sit on the same bench you are sitting already, but it was not normal for that boy as he was still just a boy. Well, as it was, the boy regained his confidence and sat properly thinking what to do next. While pretending to read the newspaper, he looked at the girl again and she looked at him and gave a welcoming smile. As he saw her properly, she was wearing a jeans and top and a distinguishably noticeable chain around her neck. All in all she was pretty. And she was carrying a small dog with her.
So, having nice time hah.. said the girl.
His heart had pounded again, but he was ready to converse. Oh yes! Very nice time, I am loving it. Your city is great… said the boy.
Your city, what do u mean, is this not your city too?
Oh no, I am new, infact this is my first week in New York and first week in America.
Oh really… I see… where are you from?
From India… I guess you must have heard about it.
Oh yes I have… I have heard so much about India and you know I always want to go there... let’ see when I go.
Yeahh…. hmmmm…. Yes I guess every body has heard something about India.
So, you visiting states for??????
Oh I am attending a seminar in Boston, and I had some good friends in New York, so thought of living in this city too.
Oh great! Where are you living in New York?
In Queens… you know the silent part of New York… the boy said smilingly.
Oh yes I know… well... I live in Manhattan… but go there sometimes.
By the way my name is_________ said the girl offering her hand
Oh my name is__________ said the boy with a warm handshake.
So for many days are you here…
Ahhh… 15 more days... I have lots of time to pass in your city…. said the boy with laughter.
Oh great!!! That’s wonderful... have you seen this..? have you seen that…? the conversation went about the different parts of New York the boy has not seen yet and the girl went on narrating about them and telling him about them, ways and directions to visit them. The boy was not listening to her. The boy was deep into the way she was speaking, noticing her hands, her eyes, her lips and every thing about her.
Well…the girl stopped speaking after some time and she started to feed her puppy while kissing him frequently. Oh! Thought the boy, the sweet conversation has stopped. But! Boy wanted to talk more, wanted to listen more.
So he said... did your grandparents also come from some foreign country or you are purely an American, I have read that America is clearly a land of migrants and the toiling of these migrants have made this country great. Having seen the immigration museum at the Ellis Island two days ago, this was the only a bit philosophical and deep question he could come up with.
Ahhha… the conversation resumed, as the girl found it interesting to talk on this subject and to reveal about her family lineage.
My grandfather came from Turkey, said the girl.
Ah turkey… wow…. the bosphorus bridge, the Ottoman Empire, Kamal Pasha, the caliphate, the city of Istanbul etc.etc…exclaimed the boy (Thanking God in his head that he had studied something about Turkey).
Wow!! You are smart... said the girl.
The boy swelled further with pride... and said Oh yes! I like to read about countries…
I know you are smart… said the girl again.... and took out her cell phone…Can I take a picture of you, asked the girl? The boy delightedly smiled as she clicked and saved the picture in her phone. The boy too clicked pictures of her using his travel camera he was carrying….. the charming moment was seized forever by both of them.
So back home do you have a girlfriend? Asked the girl…
Yeah I have…. We go to same college.
Oh Wow that is so cool and romantic... you study together.
Yeah…… nodded the boy again…
Do you have a boyfriend? Asked the boy hesitantly…
The girl smiled with warmth and said…. well…. not now….. I had a boyfriend… but now I am single… she again smiled with affection…
However, the conversation was again punctured by her puppy. The dog just jumped of her lap and ran. Before she could stand and run after him, the boy got up with the lightening speed to chase the puppy and caught him and returned to the bench. But this time, Puppy’s lap had changed; now he was into boy’s lap. The girl while thanking the boy started lovingly running her hand over her puppy. This brought the girl further close to the boy, as the dog was still in his lap.
Wow!! Thought the boy! This is going good. ‘Let us go for dinner or drinks or something somewhere’, thought the boy in his mind, thinking of saying it to the girl in next few minutes.
I really love my______ (Dog’s name), he is sweetie pie… and the girl showered another ten adjectives and nouns for the dog.
Yeah yeah... nodded the boy….
You know when I take him with me in subway; he sits in my bag like a nice boy. The girl said…
What…. in the subway… are you allowed to take him..??.. you know in Delhi’s Sub-way animals are strictly not allowed… you know these animals…
ANIMAL !!! shouted the girl.. how dare you call him an Animal, he is not an Animal… you are so insensitive and rude… the girl just shot back on the boy snatching his puppy out of boy’s lap. All the goodness was gone, all the perfectness of the moment vanished. The girl was furious and collected her things to leave immediately. The poor boy could not understand her addiction with her dog and began saying sorry for a number of times.
But the girl did not calm down, she was angry and boy’s apologies could not melt her anger. In anger she got up and left even with out saying good bye… she did not even turn back to look at the boy, her puppy did turn his neck, but she did not.
And yes she was gone!!! Gone like she never came!!! The poor boy became sad and disappointed, after all he was just a boy. The evening was on her maturity and the dusk was fast approaching. In that twilight dark, the sad boy stood up, left the park, took the sub-way and came back home learning an important lesson that he was still a boy but perhaps that girl was a lady.
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