After a leap, it was a bounce and a boomerang and I am back in Hyderabad after a second trip to pardes, making it a sequel.. pardes - 2.
pardes-2 was definitely not going to be all skyscrapers and roadside bagels and donuts. I wanted it to be different so I dont get bored seeing the same old tall buildings, Central park and the times square. A good thing was that this time I got a chance to wander away from New York regularly, and see most of New Jersey, thanks to two good friends. I could see open skies in the night, sometimes with stars and sometimes with brighter stars flying (from the Newark airport), which was a rarity in Manhattan with all the buildings obstructing the view.
Princeton - the place of the great Albert Einstein, Bridgewater - temples always happen to visit me more in the US :-), Cape May - a beach, a military war tanker and a trail in the deserted wild life park (wrong season to go there I should say) were all covered.
But the best part of the stay was a trip away from the Northeast of US to the west, to Las Vegas and to the Grand Canyon. Definitely two places that are a "must see" for everyone in the US and two places that would go right on top to my list of favorite places after Taj Mahal.
Las Vegas - keeping aside its fame for gambling, winning and losing money and other things, it is one incredible man-made wonder. The casinos, the themes, the lights, the fountains, the shows, the grandeur of the huge chandeliers, the Roman sculptures, the artificial skies and rivers they created, all make us think about one thing. How creative is the human brain? I was pretty amazed at the way the casinos were built with unique themes and the implementation was so close to real that we would actually wonder if we were really in Paris, New York, Venice or in Rio. Hats off. One great place to see what man can do. The city is wonderland. Its a world in itself,
an artificial one though.
Grand Canyon - While Las Vegas was an artificial wonder which shows man's dominance and his ability to re-create anything, Grand Canyon is the exact opposite. One of the top most natural wonders in the world, this one is so huge, one would not able to even think of capturing its beauty in a mere photograph. One's own eyes will fall short to see this Grand Canyon in a single glance, the name "Grand" not being an exaggeration of any order. Completely natural, unaffected by the commercial world, this place was a real beauty. Nature is more powerful than we can ever imagine. One would definitely feel inferior at the sight of this masterpiece created by
Nature herself. And the IMAX show said the Canyon never needed humans but we humans needed it for shelter, vegetation and the like.
How true. Nature is so independent, and powerful. On the other hand, we are dependent on nature for everything. Will there be a day when we become really independent? Or are we already independent because we are part of the nature, one of its many creations? Too complicated.
Remarkable experience. One day in the middle of an artificial world created for human entertainment called Vegas and the next day in the middle of a magnum opus created by Mother Nature with no human involvement whatsoever.
So, the boomerang went from Hyderabad, around New York, Las Vegas, and is back to Hyderabad making the farthest point visited away from home 36°10′30″N 115°08′11″W. Lets see if it comes full circle around the globe one day.
And as the habit goes... In remembrance of the day great people were born, here's wishing you a happy birthday.
