Monday, February 27, 2006

One night near ground zero

The day before yesterday, I had gone to New York City for a second round interview. The
company graciously put me up at the millenium Hilton. The hotel is on church street, right
opposite ground zero.
I felt quite like a celebrity walking in to the hotel and having a valet carry up my weightless
bag (It just had a blazer inside), but quite lost that feeling after I had to give him a very
hefty tip for something I could have very easily done myself.
The room was gorgeous. The bath even more so; I did fill up the tub with several ingredients
and had a nice luxury bath.

The windows revealed a view of ground zero. It has been 4 years, but the spot is still vacant
and gaping, a free area in Downtown Manhattan. The view does not tell much; It looks like any
other plot with some basic foundation work going on; But the place has several stories to tell;
none of them happy. The fence surrounding the plot has a few pictures, there are flags inside, the
whole area looks dismal and lonely. Even the buildings around which were built up from the remains
show the carnage;

It made me wonder why people love power so much over peace. It simply does not make sense, all
that reckless killing, no matter who tries to justify it. I was quite restless all night, maybe
because the souls over there were restless too. The Hilton must have had one of Lower Manhattan's
best views once upon a time, but then time alters all... even views.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey, how did the interviews go?

Unknown said...

Got the job(s); will hopefully accept if all is well..

Unknown said...

Awesome! Congrats! Which company?

Anonymous said...

Goldman Sachs and Co, in Downtown Manhattan & New Jersey

Anonymous said...

congrats!

Unknown said...

Hey my good friend from school is in GoldMan Sachs. Mail me if you are joining that company in New York, I'l give you her details. Again, congrats!

Anonymous said...

Thanks, And yes i'll be joining one of the manhattan offices, in the Credit/Market risk group.