-Brian Mendonça
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Published in Gomantak Times Weekender, St. Inez, Goa on Sunday, 30 September 2018. Pix of a boarded up building on Oak Island as Hurricane Florence heads for North Carolina on the East Coast of USA on 12 September 2018. Courtesy trtworld.com
The
words in the title appeared on a T shirt donned by a lady. I asked if she had
been to the United States. She laughed. 'No,' she said. ‘I bought it in Mapusa
market.’
New
York has a special place in the public imagination. Many like to sport t-shirts
flashing the names of places in the U.S. It looks good and appears stylish and
fashionable. Big brands like jeans advertise the US on their merchandise.
I
was thinking what if one was selling (or wearing) a t-shirt with the words:
Born
in Bombay
Raised
in Goa (or vice versa)
It
wouldn’t quite fit the bill. The lure of the exotic is missing. What is that
leads people to valorize another country over their own?
It
is more hip to emulate the West. Right now it is the US which is calling the
shots.
Many
Goans have family or friends in the US – either working, studying or residing.
The world is shrinking and with technology it is possible to connect across the
globe.
New
York has been described as the ‘cultural, financial, and media capital of the
world.’ It is the most densely populated city of the US. The twin towers went
down here. It also houses the HQ of the United Nations.
Situated
on the East Coast, New York and Boston, contrast with the laidback image of the
West Coast and cities like San Francisco in California.
Given
the glitz of New York it is no surprise that the T shirt proclaims that though
the wearer was born in Boston, s/he moved to be raised in New York – because
that was a more happening city.
The
place is also a suitable neutral place for heads of government to meet away from
their respective countries, viz. on the sidelines of the UN general assembly.
Hollywood
has featured New York many times in its movies. The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)
is an example. In the movie a New York subway train is hijacked. The
frenetic activity that ensues to deliver the ransom money and its fallout gives
the viewer a ringside view of city’s subway and administrative services.
Boston
is steeped in its colonial legacy and the struggle for American
independence. It was founded by Puritan
settlers from England in 1630.
The
movie The Social Network (2010) based
on the life of FB founder, nineteen-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, had many scenes
set in Harvard University in Greater Boston, Massachusetts.
‘Noo
Yawk’ is immortalized in the song ‘A Heart in New York’ (1982) by American duo
Simon and Garfunkel:
A heart in New York
A rose on the street
I write my song
To the city’s heartbeat
Or
you could listen to Alicia Keys’s ‘Empire State of Mind’ (2009):
Concrete jungle where dreams are
made of
There’s nothing you can’t do
Now you’re in New York!
These streets will make you feel
brand new
Big lights will inspire you
Now you’re in New York!
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