Old New York, New India

in the zone

So, the last time I stayed in a hotel in NYC was back in the 60's with my parents......  the Plaza (yes we all mourn that they are condos now, especially  Eloise of the Plaza).  This past week I had the opportunity to re-visit Old New York by staying in a real time-warped hotel: Hotel 17 (Grammercy Park) ......lots of dark walnut, pre-Raphaellite paintings, narrow corridors and Bathrooms in the hallway (vintage sinks in the bedrooms).  Egads, I realized this After I had booked the hotel..... (I was distracted by the fact that Woody Allen had filmed in this hotel......and I just started to think....and reminisce about Old New York and its quirky neighborhoods, local provincialism and Charm.)


The occasion presented itself in tandem; it was my darling daughter, Diandra's 21st birthday (9/11/91)  and Raghu Dixit Project was debuting at Joe's Pub (the Public Theatre).
                                     O Joy!  
(this was my favorite band from the Galle Music Festival, in Sri Lanka) 

As we parted, they waved,"we'll be in NYC in Sept. touring for our new album" and I replied, "I'll be there with my daughter"

Arriving on Labor Day; truly the QUIETEST day in terms of traffic, crowds and general NewYorkese - sensation -overload....my kind of day to enter......we had a blast eating good food, walking my old haunts and shopping for my daughter.

the rather new residential Frank Gehry building seen from the Highline -
(the theme of this visit seemed to include a lot of "cloud" images, or experiencing the environs  as if  being within clouds)

Kathy and I found this neighborhood park with fabulous Edward Gorey murals near the Highline

Down to Joe's Pub (Cooper Union looked the same; another undulating Frank Gehry now intersects Astor Place). I do not need to overstate that much of NYC looks very very different than when I left full time in 1987. 

Diandra  at Joe's Pub

The Music:

Raghu and Partha and Bryden

soulful

The music is melodic and upbeat. It's a real collaboration of Indian folk music, poetic lyrics and new Indian beat.  They are still on tour, and Raghu's reverberating voice has stayed with me.
www.raghudixit.com (check out the dates/videos/music)
(especially their Youtube video on 1500 km- a collaborative project to bring new music to rural India)

yes i got up and danced

Ecstatic Guarav 

Friends Albert and Kathy were elated by the music

After schmoozing with the band, Albert led us to a neighborhood bar in alphabet city.  Unpretentious and real, jazz musicians played some great music and invited others to join them.  This is more Old New York and I am happy that Diandra had the opportunity to experience it.  The serendipity, the creativity and the diversity. I mourn the displacement of the middle class for uber-rich foreigners and their pied-de-terres, the entry of big box stores, the loss of the immigrant neighborhoods gentrified into sterility.
*********************************************************************************

visiting the Met with my dear friend Esme

the charmed life continued with Tomas Seraceno's  "Cloud City" .  An installation on the rooftop of the Met.  One experiences a  rare perspective by being above the tree tops of the park as well as 5th Avenue.  The skyscape of architecture is a linear rhythm unseen from below. The physical uncertainty of walking within the sculpture is daunting; but I experienced it as physical poetry of space.
Ah clouds

In case you are wondering, I am feeling soemwhat better; but I am uncertain as  to whether this is the new "normal" or whether I will again  feel  "good + well" in the future.  My physical strength has returned but there are still some weird neurological aspects of my brain that leave me  very distracted, anxious and vulnerable.  I have not felt these states to any degree in my life, but they are present now.

New York City will always feel like home; especially if I am able to fly into the clouds.



travelin' woman

The city of Colombo; A surprise in a southeast Asian city

The new theatre built in the middle of the roadway..... really quite amazing an beautiful; i think it was a Chinese architect

I had little expectation for Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka on the Indian Ocean due to my general distaste of third world Asian cities (over populated, over polluted, insurmountable traffic and usually Bad City Planning) as well as specificity from guide books denouncing Colombo. I needed to go there for a few days to extend my visa (folly, since I ended up coming home early from dengue) and it was the dreaded place I actually got BIT.  Dengue is the plague of the cities.
I stayed in a most hospitable colonial era house cum boutique hotel, Havelock Place Bungalow where I have determined the bug bit me: outside luxuriating at their fabulous cafe next to their still + presumably fetid pool. o well.
I will not bore you with the excruciatingly LONG day I spent at the immigration center, chaotic and crowded and plainly disorganized (where is the typical digital counter that we typically find in our deli section to coordinate the masses in need of assistance?????)  There were Hundreds and hundreds of us and no loud speaker, nothing to herd us toward the next step, except a civil servant speaking softly.  And there were many "steps"!!!!!!!!   Another really poor way to attract tourists and  the fee to extend was exorbitant.   Actually everything in Sri Lanka is costly compared to anyplace in Asia.  It's a shame and will backfire because the infrastructure as well as customer service is absent.  


The next day I spent perusing the streets with a car+driver. The streets were Clean, tree lined and ACTIVE.  I really enjoyed walking around the different neighborhoods, whirling around in the ever present  tuk tuks and seeing a wide diversity of people; busy going about their lives.
First stop: Gallery Cafe- former office of the illustrious architect Geoffrey Bawa.
It's now an art gallery with some provocative stuff.

stuck in the eighties (right before the civil war ) the architecture bespoke of time past+ very very overpriced mediocre food

interior pools of serenity

always room and time to comment on colonialization

I found the city to be much more sophisticated than I could have ever thought; I am glad I ventured into the streets as there was some really beautiful historical architecture. At present,  it's all being built with a lot of foreign investment (ie: China) as Colombo and the rest of the country has been at a standstill during the civil war.  
During my time at the Galle Music Festival I met and spent quite a lot of time with the diplomatic crowd (not my usual; spooks are not my peeps) as they were the "faces" of the countries represented and who had underwritten the festival.
They all resided in Colombo and told me stories of bombings and architecture and cultural offerings.  Of course, people in the north thought that the inhabitants of Colombo had it "easy" and just went about their lives and cocktail parties.
I did find it to be very cosmopolitan and Very Clean, which must be noted!  There is Great Effort to put the war behind them.  There are also still Big Gaping Wounds and dissatisfaction in how the government  is handling everything.
I spoke with some intellects working in a NGO and suggested, "why not try a truth and reconciliation council a la South Africa and Haiti"?  They answered me, "The same people who were in power during the war remain in power- they don't want to confess or change".
So, as I have been observing since landing in Sri Lanka; this country is in transition.  Where they are headed politically and whether the  truce will remain in effect is unknown.  There remains a lot of vitriol.  There is the pressure to "catch up" economically and be perceived as "First World".  A UNITED  Sri Lanka.  Only history will reveal whether the  Sinhal Buddhists + Tamil Hindus can overcome their differences and bring prosperity and equality to Sri Lanka or whether the festering wounds will bloom due to inattention.

The Museum of Art  in Colombo- Colonial architecture

The beautiful offerings at the museum.  There were classes and classes of young students there; all wanting to practice their "hello's" .

the mouse that hold up Ganesh: remover of obstacles

Another phallic symbol: Cambodia redux (Buddhist)

the frescos were stunning

travelin' woman

The southern coast of Sri Lanka: true paradise

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 Legions of stories and books have been  written waxing poetic about Sri Lanka's fabled coast.  It is beautiful and unspoilt  (mostly) but pristine is not something one can easily find in our climate changing world.  A lot of the 
coral reefs are degraded and third world does not yet have the consciousness of throwing garbage in a designated receptacle; garbage,plastic,wrappers are thrown Every Where.

I did find myself relaxing after the rigors of working the Galle Music Festival on a lovely stretch of beach: Mirissa.  Small and uncomplicated and intoxicating..... because of its gentle nature, beautiful climate of heat and breeze and very very clean water.  Lots of surfers too.  This is where I had my injury; I am still dealing with the pain two months later.
But i should have stayed in the protected cove of Mirissa, where the surf was always calm..... but i ventured down that beckoning beach.......

travelin' woman

The festival of Mirissa fishermen

the parade of young men : all fishermen

 On the full moon in early March I witnessed a wild parade; fishermen celebrating their holiday.  I had heard about it and the night before I was ready to attend but was discouraged by the hotel managers telling me, "they are Extremely drunk and you wouldn't enjoy it"  Okay ; perhaps not the best way  to spend an evening but I certainly was game to experience the festivities the next day.  This was completely secular festival, the Buddhist rituals were  null as was a trip to the local temple. (when i found out is was "secular", this is the real reason  why i did not attend the nighttime "party")

the most interesting part of the parade was viewing the paintings on their body

there was a brass band; a little like Mardi Gras

It was a testosterone filled event: loud ,raucous and celebratory for the local fishermen.  This is the area of the world where they often fish on stilts.  The location of the stilt is passed down generation to generation of fishermen.


travelin' woman