The New York Spirit

IT’S IMPORTANT TO understand the position and the place that New York occupies in the world. New York is not just a city, it’s an emotion. And more than being an emotion, it is the capital, to my mind, not just of the commercial world, but even of the world of arts and culture. For years, Indians have shunned New York or the US (for leisure) because they believe that travelling to New York takes a long time.

But of late, we have seen more and more Indians embrace New York with the warmth, the affection, and the challenges that they should. And that is paying a lot of dividends. I’m someone who travels to New York almost every three weeks, and I can tell you the energy of that city, the anonymity of that city, and the sheer depth of the people in that city are remarkable. Even more amazing is the way New York brings together people from all walks of life, from all strata, from all dispensations.

In the span of a week, recently, I was able to see George Clooney in his new play Good Night, Good Luck, Denzel Washington in Othello, and Kieran Culkin in Glengarry Glen Ross—three of the finest plays on Broadway right now. In addition to attending, to my mind, one of the most spectacular evenings, an evening hosted by TIME magazine, the Time 100 Gala, where you met people again who were brilliant achievers and wore their achievements with grace and humility.

The difference between our cities and New York is that there’s a certain air of accepting who you are, what you are, without checking where you live, what you do, and whom you know. And to that end, New York allows people with great skills to blend with the city’s environment and ecosystem. I was delighted to meet Navina Haidar, who runs the Islamic galleries at the Met, and even more happy to learn that Nita Ambani is now on the board.

And talking about Nita Ambani, she is bringing a capsule of the finest of India when the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre goes to New York’s Lincoln Center for a week in September of this year, showcasing what India has to offer. In the same vein, N Chandrasekaran, the chairman of Tata Sons, was the first believer in the spirit of New York when TCS became the sponsor of the famed New York Marathon, not to mention the pride which fills your heart when you see the Indian flag flying outside The Pierre hotel on Fifth Avenue.

But these are only indicators of how India and Indians today matter in the New York ecosystem.

What is even more encouraging is that you are seeing more fine dining Indian restaurants come up in New York to charm the world. Indian Accent remains the OG of Indian fine dining in New York and to this day has maintained its supremacy, its primacy and its charm. But then there are so many more which are opening at the speed of lightning.

Today you have Vikas Khanna’s Bungalow, you have Gaurav Anand’s Dilli Dilli, you have Semma, you have Baar Baar, and you have Dhamaka. Each of these restaurants today has a waiting list that you and I could have never imagined—a waiting list for Indian food in New York. What is even more interesting is that faculties at famed colleges within the New York area, be it Columbia or NYU, are not only peppered with Indian students but have a lot of faculty members of Indian origin.

So, one is not making a case of saying that more Indians have come and conquered New York. That is not the point. The point is that Indians today feel comfortable being buffeted by challenges within a cauldron of high achievers and yet making a substantive and significant mark for themselves. That is what is important. This whole thing about Bollywood and soft power or music is irrelevant because what is more important is how Indians have not only embraced a city known as the most difficult and yet enticing in the world but have also made a mark for themselves which will endure and prosper.

I hope that we in India, in some of our cities, can adopt that spirit. That spirit of anonymity, the spirit of achievement and the spirit of affection.

Once we do that, we too will have our mini-New Yorks, and smaller, if not Bigger Apples.

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