Back in the 1940s, a wise man named Murphy pronounced that if “anything
that can go wrong will go wrong”.
Cut to year 2012 – It took me 10,000 miles of travel across the earth
to realize that old man Murphy was probably ahead of his times …..my reverence
for him has increased tenfold, never will I even scoff at that name again, be
it on antiquated transistor radio or a pint of Irish ale…..
Oct 28th, JFK airport, NY – armed with loads with good wishes from
friends and family and advice from veterans, as a wannabe full marathoner, I
set foot in the land of aplenty, a tad nervous but determined that I wasn’t
going let myself down. The officious looking immigration chap at the airport
told me to hurry and get to wherever I was staying as there was a storm
warning. His words proved prophetic as the very next day, the skies opened up
and nature rent its fury – staying safe and cooped up indoors, one didn’t
realize the havoc Sandy was wreaking across NY and NJ till a power blackout
hit.
The following conversation took place –
Self – So, how long will this power outage last?
Anil (my gracious host) – Can’t say, depends on the extent of damage
the storm caused….could be a few hours or days.
Self – Whaaat…..this is America, for crying out loud….have you an
inverter?
Anil – No…..
Self – What about a gen set?
Anil – No….
Self- So, can you call someone and check till when the power is likely
to be off?
Anil – No……
Self – Do you have an emergency light?
Anil – No…..
Self (with little or no hope left) – A flashlight, perhaps? Candles?
Anil (brightening considerably) – Yes, I do…..
And having said this, he then produced a pocket edition of a toy
flashlight, luckily it was in working condition, and a selection of what
appeared to be “diyas”, only they turned out to be tea light candles….
We spent the next three days cooped up indoors, in semi darkness,
groping to find stuff, surrounded by ghostly shadows cast on walls by various
objects, tried to keep our sanity intact by indulging in some gourmet cooking.
The only bright spot was a call from a relative in Connecticut saying
that Mayor Bloomberg had announced that the NYC Marathon will be held despite
the circumstances.
Little did Bloomberg know the repercussions of his words – miles away,
my husband and another friend from Hyderabad boarded a flight to Washington DC,
since they couldn’t get one to NY, all just to meet me at the finish line….on
Bloomberg’s assurance that the NYCM will take place as planned. Also, an
assortment of relatives from across the USA planned to congregate in NY, all
with individual ideas on what to do at finish line, once I got there. With
support like this, what could possibly go wrong for me? Plenty, as I was to
discover later……
Friday, Nov 2nd, Washington DC – After a joyful reunion with
friends and family, plans were made to get to NY the next day for bib
collection, as well as for a night out on town in DC that evening. Post lunch
seemed like a perfect time to go out and run, so Vinay and me, having donned
all the fancy warm clothing that we bought for the NYCM, set off from the
hotel.
The air was chilly at first, but bracing later, and we did a nice and
easy 3-4 miler around the sights and sounds of DC, past Capitol Hill and the
Smithsonian and around the Washington monument. Nothing could have been more
perfect and my spirits soared higher and higher. I decided that come what may,
I will finish strong at the NYCM…..run, walk or crawl, there were so many
people who were there just for me, and I was going to do them proud….
Back at the hotel, looking forward to my first hot shower in four days,
I indulged in a nice hot soak in the bathtub. The old 80’s hit “Nothing’s gonna
stop us now…..” came to mind, seemed really apt under the circumstances, so I
let the vocal chords take over. I came out of the bathroom, humming ….”and we
can build this thing together, stand this storm forever, nothing’s gonna stop
us now….”. Clad in a leopard print dressing gown, courtesy the hotel, I was
actually beginning to feel quite feline –like, not to mention confident and
strong…..that was till I decided to switch on the TV.
“And the New York Marathon which was scheduled to be held on Sunday,
has now been cancelled…” announced the news reader. I heard a loud thud in the
room and realized it was the sound of hope and aspiration crashing down. Numbed
by the news, it took a while before my senses prevailed and I reluctantly had
to admit that under the circumstances, cancellation was the right thing to
do…..of course, the disappointment was
huge but it had to be dealt with as there was no choice really. Vinay showed up
from the next room, with an uncertain expression on his face, both of us didn’t
know what to say to each other and thereby all scope of any conversation was
ruled out. My husband tried to offer some comfort to the two of us, but we
knew, after all, his trip had gone completely in vain – he had come to watch us
run and now that was not to be. Vinay took solace in the fact that he was
leaving in two days and perhaps, getting back was the best thing to do as there
really is no place like home to lick one’s wounds in peace.
With the very purpose of the trip being defeated, we still had another
6 days to go and needed to plan. The remainder of the days was spent in
indulging in some gambling at Atlantic City. All attempts at assuaging my disappointment
and frustration there came to a big “nought” – we discovered that the tables,
literally and figuratively, still hadn’t turned in our favour and we lost a goodish
sum. After having resigned ourselves to the fact that this trip was, by far,
the biggest jinx, we planned a trip to New York just so I could get a picture
at the Central Park, at what would have been the finish line. But even there,
Mr. Murphy proved that he is never wrong. A winter storm hit NY that day and it
snowed heavily, thereby putting to an end, any chance of getting a photograph
at Central Park!
Somewhere amidst all the chaos of Hurricane Sandy, the Americans went
to the polls and Prez Obama got re-elected – perhaps one instance where Murphy
had to eat his words – nothing went wrong on that front. It seemed like getting
Obama back into the White House was largely desired – several calls from
relatives and friends in the US to me expressing sympathy at the NCYM being
cancelled, had the conversation invariably veering towards jubilation being
expressed at Obama’s victory.
They say time heals everything - so true. By the last day of my trip, I
was feeling considerably better, having dealt with the pangs of disappointment.
In the larger scheme of things, the marathon seemed so unimportant – here, a
tragedy of huge proportion had taken human lives, people’s homes, belongings
from them – coping with that surely takes precedence over everything else. If I
was a New Yorker and a Sandy victim, how would I feel at the city’s resources
being used to support a run? I would be angry, outraged…..cancelling the
marathon was definitely the right thing to do…..yes, they ought not to have
waited till the last minute to do so, should have announced it right when they
realized the impact of the storm – on a personal note, I would have been able
to stop my husband from joining me in NY, had I known earlier…..but, well, Que
sera sera, as they say….
As I sat
down for a quick meal at the airport before boarding the flight home, I saw
Gupta standing near a railing, staring down at the floor. When I caught his
attention, the two of us laughed loudly, for want of anything better to
say…..clearly, there were no words that we could have exchanged.
Just after takeoff, I looked out of the window
to see the lights of NY city getting further and further away. Instantly, I
knew there was only one thing to say. Resolutely, with my chin up, I froze the
NY soil with an icy glare, before saying “I’ll be back….Hasta la vista,
baby…….”