One Fleeting Moment

The trip to New York was great fun and taking the bus instead of driving turned out to be a really good idea. The weather gods were smiling and the crowds in Times Square were milling as our group of four walked around aimlessly through NYC. My dad was pleased as punch at having found an American city that closely resembled Calcutta-only cleaner. Washington DC is way too clean and organised for his taste. We did the usual tourist-y things like walking through Times Square, going to Rockfeller Center and clicking pictures with the celebrities at Madame Tussaud's (I made a ghost in the Chamber of Horrors at Wax Musuem very happy by jumping out of my skin at the sight of him!!). We went into the Empire State building and walked straight out after being told there was a 4 hour waiting period!!! What else?...hmmmm...we gave Central Park the royal snub by walking right by it without going in. "There is no way a city park can compare to our own Buddy Attick Park", declared my Dad. Subhamoy had a wonderful time chatting with the cabbies (each of our five cabbies came from a different country)...unfortunately he refuses to write about that.

One more thing, we managed to catch the late night show of "The Constant Gardener" before leaving. The movie raises some very ethical questions about the value of human life against the painful backdrop of an AIDS ravaged continent. From just a love story it quickly becomes a movie with a conscience. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for something other than sob stories of forty year old virgins!!!