Two Cities, and some soul searching

Traveling has its own special place in my life. It is an urge I can’t control, one that releases endorphins in torrents and brings a smile to my face. But the most appealing feature is that it makes me think. It makes me think in different ways, about new experiences, about practices that are different from my own, about busy cities, narrow roads, and different people. I also wonder about human nature, the prejudices we harbor, the expectations we have, and the goals we search for.

I visited two cities in the last couple of months – Chicago and New York. Visiting places makes me want to share my travel experiences, and these are of two kinds. – One, the euphoric feeling of a tourist, wanting to discuss the places that had formerly only been viewed on television or read about in books. The other kind is one that sets in a while later, the discussion of what the entire trip meant. While the former would be a good guide to future visitors, the latter is a more selfish expression of what the trip did for me.

Chicago, Illinois used to remind me of jazz, a bustling nightlife, a city that like most great cities had the prosperous and the destitute living side by side. It was also interesting, as it was the place Barack Obama, was from. I’d heard a lot about the tall buildings, the liberal populace and the notorious muggers on some streets. What I really did see, was all this, except the muggers. I guess I was lucky, but it’s a story that deserves to be told. It happened the very morning I reached the city. I got off my bus at Union Station, and was looking to get to Millennium Park, the place where I was supposed to meet my friends. I’ve been blessed with a very transparent face, and so, my inexperience on the Chicago streets was noticed by one particular man standing by the bus stop. He offered to show me the way. I presumed he would give me directions, and so, gratefully accepted his offer. But as it turned out, he started actually guiding me all the way to the park!

I was shocked. Here I was in a strange city, walking with a man I did not know, to a place I did not know how to get to. I had no way of knowing where we were going, or if he was to be trusted. Honestly, I did not trust him. I felt cornered, scared, and wished I had not come on this journey alone. I made a phone call to the friends, who by the way were lost on the freeway. And told them exactly what I was doing, in the hopes that the guide would realize that I was not alone, and hence, leave me alone. I don’t know to this day, if it was the phone call that saved me, or if I was imagining the whole thing, and the guy was just trying to make some money.

He started explaining to me, that he was doing this as a business venture, to make some money, and that he was using his knowledge of the Chicago streets to help tourists while earning something on the side. He said that he understood how hard it was, to trust people these days, and that that is why he took good care of himself, and made sure he looked presentable. All this had no effect on me, and I just wanted to go my own way. Fear, is a powerful thing. So the moment we got to a busy intersection, I told him I was thankful for his help, but being a poor graduate student, it was something I could not afford. He smiled, said that it was okay, and left. I still wonder though, why after all these years of civilized living, we still have to fear each other more than anything else in the world.