Day 8, Saturday September 26th, 2009
Wake up Shakti, it’s Saturday! Friday night grocery shopping meant that we had ingredients and we had a kitchen. Yaay! Cooking day! A week after we left home, we made ourselves a hot breakfast! Eggs, sunny side up with toast. Yum yum yum. Nani brewed her special Girnar Royal Cup chai with milk and all that. Wow. Nothing compares to freshly made breakfast.
Out came the chef’s hat, and I set off to teach Nani how to make a basic lunch. Now, the stove top, Nani’s roommate and warned us, was a little slow. But this slow, I didn’t expect it to be. It took forever for the oil to heat up and it took forever for me to stir-fry the veggies. The chicken, plain and simple garlic pepper grilled chicken, was done in matter of minutes. Once upon a time, Nani thought of me as a phenomenal cook. I think I made her hope for a nice home cooked meal crash badly and how! The lunch was just about okay but she pretended like she loved it. My sister is sweet, isn’t she?
Post lunch, me and Nani took off for Best Buy. We walked down about 14 blocks only to find out that cell-phones were going to cost a bundle. Nani decided to keep her sanity levels in check and check out better deals when we got home. By now, we both were feeling quite like zombies. What, I’d been waking up at 5 and 6 am. And at 4 pm the time in India was 2.30 am. We needed sleep. Somehow, we loved America, but our body was taking its own sweet time to adjust! A cup of coffee and a besan laddoo and we were on our way.
We reopened some bags readjusted and then… I opened the New York wala bag. I packed in my pretty dresses and then I stumbled upon that black clutch. I had begged for PiWi about a black clutch she’d made for her maasi. I really wanted one. And exactly a week ago as I almost zipped up my final bag, PiWi handed me an extra clutch. “For you. It’ll keep you company in New York,” she smiled. How I miss her smile. She has a smile that can light up the darkest room.
With that smile, I realised, I was about to go and see New York City but not quite the way I had dreamt of seeing the city.To me seeing New York with two people was crucial. One was PiWi, who just went there in March and risked homelessness if she suggested another trip with me and the other, Nani, who had school and she wouldn’t bunk school for anything in this world! These two were not going to be there in New York with me. But there was hope. There was hope to visit the city again, to live there and to have these two by my side when I do that. And you know what else I noticed? My bag for New York was full of girly dresses, a box of accessories, perfumes and dainty personalized clutches (courtesy: PiWi, I am the brand ambassador for her fab line and I consider it an honour. U want one, you call me, ok?)
Hell, I have never had such a girly bag on a holiday. I still have my shorts and stuff that make me the tomboy that I am, but yeah I am excited about being all lady like in New York. I have a reason to be. It’s Carrie Bradshaw town, its Jerry Seinfeld town, its Rachel Green town and it is NewYorker town… Two weeks to go. Until then, I’ll be Nani’s house sister. Muhahaha!