Best part about travelling is that it exposes us to unexpected situations and surprises. I will remember my New York trip for two interesting events that happened with me.
I had gone to USA for a workshop with my colleague Ravi. People from different companies and countries were present for the meeting and it was hosted by a big EPC company. There were participants from USA, Norway, Russia, Brazil, Australia and some more countries. Our host Robin, organized a visit to New York on the weekend as it was only about 4 hours driving distance. Robin’s family also accompanied us.
We checked into a hotel in New Jersey and went to the downtown in the next morning. The day was spent going around Manhattan and visiting different places. We reached the Empire State Building around 3 o’clock. Some of us decided to go inside. Rest of us decided to chill in a nearby restaurant as the group was going to take at least an hour to return.
As we were settling in the restaurant, a drop of water leaking from the roof landed in Ravi’s glass. By the time I could alert him not to drink, some more droplets started landing on the table. In another couple of minutes it was raining water everywhere in the room. A bathroom on the first floor had developed leakage problem.
We did not have any option, so the entire group walked out and stood on the footpath. It was a hot day. There was a park across the road so we decided to rest under a tree on the opposite side.
As we crossed the road and were chatting, after about 5 minutes someone noticed that our Russian friend was missing. First everyone thought that he might have gone to washroom. He did not return after some more time so one of us went back to the restaurant assuming that this friend may still be there. Shocker came when a waiter informed that the he had visited the restaurant a few minutes ago, enquired about the group and had left in hurry. This was worrying as he had not come back to us. This area of New York has many roads around it. All of us started looking around on different streets but could not find him. He was the only person in the group who did not have phone, was visiting USA for the first time and could not speak English well. These factors would not matter as far as he was with us but now he was on his own, lost somewhere.
Everyone was upset. Robin’s wife started blaming herself for not paying proper attention. Robin called the Police but they advised to wait till the next day. The group, that had gone to the Empire State Building returned after an hour. They too were worried but after listening to all the story, Robin’s colleague said that there wasn’t much that could be done. He suggested to proceed to the next spot which was Lombardi’s. Lombardi’s is a very old pizzeria in New York and we were going there for dinner. Really speaking none of us guests, had any idea about this place or the plan to visit it. We had been following Robin and his colleagues throughout the day without giving much of a thought on the program. As soon as he stated Lombardi’s, our another companion was alerted, enquired about the pizzeria and finally stated that the Russian friend had mentioned about it in the morning. That gave us a ray of hope as there was a likelihood of him going there. Immediately Robin telephoned to Lombardi’s but he wasn’t there. Robin gave them the complete description of his personality and told “If such a person arrives hold him tight. Do not allow him to leave, we are reaching there”
Journey to Lombardi’s was complicated as we had to change two trains. Everybody was silent and tensed during the journey. Finally, as we were walking on the last stretch of the street leading to the pizzeria, we found our friend calling us from a distance. As soon as we saw each other he came running towards us. After reaching to us he embraced Robin and started crying. Everyone was relieved and happy.
Once the initial emotional moments passed, Robin while trying to remain calm, told him “You must remember that we will not leave you alone.”
Now that the tension was gone someone asked him “How did you reach this place? It is a complicated route”
“It was complicated but I found out a Russian girl. She explained me the way and showed me to the subway station. Fellow passengers helped me to get down at the first station. Again I found out another Russian girl and she accompanied me upto Lombardi’s.”
Whatever might have been the situation, our Russian companion had managed to make friendship with two girls in that short span of time.
Now about a pleasant surprise that we had earlier on that day. We were waiting on the platform of a subway station. Some of us had gone to washroom. That was when an alert Policeman noticed us. He approached us and started enquiring. Robin’s wife explained him about the group. As soon as he heard that our group consisted of people from different countries, he asked “Who is from Russia?” Our Russian friend came forward. To his surprise the Policeman started talking to him in Russian.
Then he turned to our Brazilian friend and started talking in Portuguese. We were all amused. With a smile, Robin’s wife said “I am from Holland.” This gentleman talked to her in Dutch.
Then he turned to me and Ravi and enquired about our country. “India” we said.
I was wondering about his familiarity of our languages, because India is one of the few countries in the world where large number of languages are spoken.
To my surprise the response came in Hindi “Aap Bharat ke kis bhag se ho?” ( Where do you live in India?) I had a feeling that he would stop there.
“Maharashtra” I replied. Then came bigger surprise “Mala Marathi farshi changlee yet nahi”. ( I don’t know Marathi very well) He told me in fluent Marathi.
I am have spent my entire life in India. Still I do not know about languages spoken in many states. If you ask me about the local languages of Nagaland, Tripura or Andaman, I have no clue and an American policeman knew not only the languages in every state of India but was able to speak them. He informed that he had not attended any course or training on the languages but learnt them by making friendship with the daily commuters on the station.
What an amazing person!!!
Curious Explorer 