Trip to NYC in July

  It was Thursday25th July night, and I realized as I looked at my friend Nikki's (AKA AT trail name Argo) pictures on her FB page, about how she had just crossed the Delaware Water Gap, on her journey through hiking the Appalachian Trail. I would be driving through the Delaware Water Gap on the 26th. IF only we had planned it better I might have met her at the Gap. I felt sad I wouldn't be able to meet up with her on the trail, since my time off from work is limited, and coordinating such a thing was difficult. I resigned and decided that I should accept this. It would be ok. Nikki would be fine, and she would still be my friend, my sister...

The next day, I decided to message her and send her some love because I had come to accept the reality. So I just sent her a message saying -  I love you Nikki Sis! She messaged me back - How is you summer my Indian Goddess! So I began to tell her some story, or the other, and said I wish I was hiking with her. From her reply I gathered many people were finding it hard to coordinate time to hike with her. We began planning future trips, and I happened to mention I was going to NYC that very day. 

Me- going to NYC this weekend how far have u gone from the delaware gap?

Nikki-I'm in newyork... I can see the NYC skyline from where I am!

Lots of hikers taking buses into the city for a few days lol

Me-WHAT!

omg ill be in new york this weekend!

could we meet up?

At that moment I was called into a meeting. I was crunched for time to get work done, before I had to leave, and this meeting was over, but people tend to go over points over and over again. I had to leave work at 12:00 so I could go home and leave to pick up Ryan and head on our way to NYC. It's an 8 hour drive!

Finally when I got out of the meeting I see a missed call, a text message and another instant message all from Nikki. 

Nikki- Lol um maybe... Are you staying with your sister?

Give me a call, I can take an hour and a half bus ride and I'd be there!

I can leave out of Warwick NY

Me-Nikki I was in a meeting!

YES!

We will be staying at my grandparent's place! Or there is also my sister's place!

Nikki- Lol omg would they let a hiker sleep on their floor?

Me- we're all going to sleep on the floor

my sis, me, ryan, my sis' fiance and my mom!

Nikki- Omg this is crazy
Should I ask your mom if this is ok lol

Me-my mom would LOVE to see you

Nikki- I can't stop giggling!
When are you guys getting there ?

Me- we would get there at 9pm tonight

but u cud get there before

you will love my grandmother

Nikki- Just called Paul and told him... He was like ' good luck' what are you going to do there... And I said eat amazing food and be with amazing people

...

We finally met, hugged, and there was giggles and tears all at once! We knew this trip was meant to be... Somehow things had worked out even though I had accepted the bitter truth... but it happened!!! I met her near the trail, and we hiked, explored, bonded and had fun. Not just Nikki and I but the whole lot of us. The three sisters, the mothers, the lovers, the friends... 

What a whirlwind of a weekend we had! We met up with my sister, my sister took us to some cool places, Strawberry Fields, the Mind Tree, where we did a little yoga, Tomlin Square to listen to cool yoga teacher who played Rumba music in the park! We met a few more of her artist friends! Then we went to a cozy - cool bar which had grapes growing atop it and celebrated my sister's birthday. We met her wonderful friend Aric and took cool pictures. We had a wonderful dinner with our family, hit up a bar my uncle went to when he was in college. We even briefly met my cousins Atanu and Antara the next morning, and got a little bit of shopping in! Oh to experience the New York Minute with this crazy lot: Ryan, My sister and her Fiance the amazing artist Chris, My other sister Nikki, Aric, My mom, grandparents, my Uncle and his Girlfriend! Wow!

At the Mind Tree

Yogis at central park!

The Family! a few people are missing!

R.E.M. at Jone's Beach, Long Island, 2008

R.E.M. was performing at Jones Beach Amphitheater, Long Island; my close childhood friend called me and told em we were going. So I booked a ticket and flew over to NYC. We met up and decided to spend an hour on the beach before the concert. From Manhattan, to Brooklyn, to the LIRR, to a bus... We finally got to the beach, and then walked to the Amphitheater.

There were a lot of REM fans, all of them traveling from far and wide like Adi and I. Modest Mouse, and The Nationals were the opening bands, and as the night grew darker, the wind from the Atlantic Ocean blew in some crazy clouds. Soon the music was competing with the voices, the guitar, the bass, cymbals, snare drums, and the deep boom of the kick drum bass... oh what a battle of the bands!

The band rushed off the stage when lightning stuck the stage, and the power went off. We were all sitting ducks, in an amphitheater which was made of mostly metal. This huge storm was right on top of us, Modest Mouse was only half done playing, when everyone was evacuated out of the stadium into the parking lot. So where do we go? To our cars? We didn't have a car, we had a friend coming to pick us up later that night. Many people were in the same boat as we were.

People were super nice to each other, and suddenly there were raincoats, and ponchos for sale (where do these people appear from, really!?). Since we were wondering around in the rain, we bought two ponchos and waited to see if R.E.M. would still go on. $100 tickets! We stuck around, soaked from the rain, poor Adi had brought his fancy SLR thingy lens and all, and he couldn't take it in. I had a bag full of wet clothes from the beach, it would have helped if I had more dry clothes. The crowd knew R.E.M. would not desert their fans. I think it was about 2 hours of herding the crowds back in, and out of the building, until R.E.M. got on.We just wanted R.E.M.! They played extra long for us too, although it was mighty late All the awesome songs - Songs from Accelerate, The One I love, Get up, Stand, etc... Michael Stipe spoke to us all, he did a little campaigning for Obama, and gave the loyal audience all the dry t- shirts he and the band still had. There were a lot of Obama 2008 t-shirts he threw out. We stood there as the band played on through the night, as we all stood in the rain. I think the show finally ended at around 1 or 2 am. It was so worth it!

Adi's friend took a while getting to the parking lot, so we sought to see the band leave, but we couldn't find the right bus. Maybe we saw Modest Mouse or The Nationals, I don't remember. At this point I was beat, soaking wet from head to toe, and crashing. Finally Adi's friend picked us up and took us to his place. Strange how there were still special buses running back to the train station at this hour! We got to the friend' place ate, and fell asleep. The next day we parted ways on the LIRR. It was a night to remember! We had so much fun - A musical adventure of its own.

:-)

Before the concert, we enjoy the beach. My second time to the Atlantic Ocean, my first few times were when I was too young to remember! This is my close childhood friend Adi! What silly T-shirt was I wearing :-/

We were almost the first people there!

The Nationals and Modest Mouse opened for R.E.M.

This was Modest Mouse, until it began to storm so bad, and lightning hit the stage and they had to get off the stage.

Finally R.E.M. after the rain kind of cleared out and it was safe for them.

Adi was grumpy cause he couldn't bring his camera into the concert!

This was when we all had to evacuate the amphitheater. But check out the guy behind us! Lol!

Here they perform Orange Crush. One of my favorite songs!

Michael Stipe! He was awesome! I love this guy!

R.E.M. rocks!

Breathe!

Namaste - Prana Workshop

This past weekend my sister visited. She and I held a workshop, for meditation, yoga, art, song, and healing. Piyali has been holding such gatherings and workshops in central park, New York for the entire of summer. I was lucky to be a part of one such workshop during the celebration of her graduation. We did this under the mind tree in central park. She was visiting Ohio on business, and meeting with the co-founder of her organization Kevin (More information about their non-profit can be found at this link Conscious Culture). She asked me to organize one of these so I invited almost everyone I knew in Cleveland area. Sorry if I left someone out, it was a rushed project and wish we could have found a bigger place. About 15 people were present and we bonded through the following activities:

We began by introducing ourselves and sharing how we felt at this moment in one word. Everyone said their name, and expressed how they felt right then - examples nervous, calm, excited, open, curious, energetic, anxious. This helped us make ourselves aware of us NOW, making us present.

Next we prepared for the rest of the session by calming our minds and energies through meditation. We sat straight at a place we felt comfortable and closed our eyes for ten minutes, as Piyali led us in meditation, guiding our thoughts, and breathing.

This was followed by Yoga, particularly the Surya Namaskar (sun salutation). My mother, who teaches yoga out of that very basement, led us in one of the many variations of the Surya Namaskar. This variation incorporated the warrior poses, trikonasana, downward dog, plank, cobra and stretching. It was very relaxing, a work out, some people felt loosened up, lighter, meditative.

Forgiveness and introspection was the next activity by means of art and horse stance. We began by forgiving ourselves and through forgiving ourselves, forgiving someone we are in conflict with at this time. We had to recognize what we were upset with the other person about, and make sure our side of the street was clean. We then wrote a loving letter to ourself, or to that person we were in conflict with.

Next we sang songs! Kevin shared a Yiddish song with us which his grandmother would sing to him and his brother when they would fight. It was about non-violence. Piyali taught us a few songs, "All I ask of you is to forever remember me as loving you", "Deep in my heart I've got this everlasting light" and the "Circle Song" which we sang at the end with the angel walk. Sarah shared a song with the group, where we went around in a circle and opened our eyes and hearts to each other it was lovely!

The Angel Walk (in this case Angel Circle) was last and it was emotional, overwhelming, and so much love! This was how everyone finally bonded. We stood in a circle, and a person would go to the center and spin themselves with their eyes closed. This person in the center would receive love from everyone around them. Each person would go up to them and share love, from a pat on the shoulder, a whisper in the ear, a hug, a kiss on the cheek. I was the first to go to the center, at first it felt awkward, but then everyone was singing "Oh Priyanka we love you so, Oh Priyanka we want you to know, there's a circle of love around you, there's a circle of love in your heart. there's a circle of family around you. There's a circle of love in your heart..." Hearing my name and the word "love" over and over really dug deep. I kept getting hugs, kisses, and people touching my face in caring, and whispering "I love you Pree" in my ear - touched me deep in my heart. And i let myself receive this love and began crying. It was very powerful, moving, overwhelming, and one of the best experiences ever. I will draw my strength from this lovely cathartic moment. As of that moment we opened up to each other, and we became a family!

After everyone had a chance to go in the middle - Indira, Eric, Nikki, Sarah, Pedro, Justin, Shelby, Stuey, Kevin, Summer, Nino, Debbie, Gina, Jala, Ryan and Piyali; we proceeded upstairs to have a delicious snack. And snack we did, everyone had brought such lovely healthy snacks, and my mother and sister had prepared Quinoa as a Kichudi (indian rice dish). There was salads, fruits, veggie chips, angel fruit cake, apples with caramel dipping sauce, and chocolate covered popcorn!

People began leaving however Piyali began her fabulous face painting and hoped to spin some fire. I had a crash course in safety and had to be her safety! It was my honor! There was a small music malfunction. Jala, Shelby, Justin, Sanjay and Ryan were lucky to stay for dinner cooked by Kevin, my mom and I. Which was Kale chips, fish cooked in vodka, wheat spaghetti and sauce. There was also lovely salad again. Justin helped out in the kitchen as well! This was mighty lovely.

Lastly Sanjay ended the night for all of us with a lovely Carnatic Raga. He explained to us about how Carnatic music, is different from north Indian- Hindustani music, and from Western Classical music as well! It was lovely and educational.

We all said good night and left as Piyali and Kevin had 5am flights the next morning. It was all quite a wonderful time, and I hope everyone learnt from it, received from it, and gained from it as much as I did!

I hope to host more of these soon. Let me know if you are in Cleveland and would like me to host one of these! Just invite the people, and set a venue.

Baby Buddha

A Weekend In NYC

A lovely weekend in NYC with family and friends!

To see more follow my channel: Pree1403


Piyali dances with Fire!
My sister performs for us with fire (this is only her second time doing it with actual fire. Please do not try this at home!)

Toni Sings
Toni Tone my sister's friend sings in the dark night, at my uncle's place in Long Island.

Besame Mucho in the Park
This was under my sister's favorite tree in central park.