Under the cherry tree on the banks of (Potomac) Dee Cee

Does the caption sound familiar- yes- it is the famous song of Usha Uthup- ‘under the mango tree on the banks of cauvery’- I clinched it for the rhyme.

Here I am again after my travelogue went on a deliberate hiatus for several months. Early this year I vowed myself that I would start writing only after I travel overseas in 2021 – not to break the tradition of at least one international destination in a year which as a family we have been doing in the past decade and a half or more. With all the travel restrictions enforced over the months, at one point in time I really became wrecked that I could not even visit my near & dears in USA, leave alone hopping to other countries and update my pages. Thanks to the opening up of the US border to Indian visitors in November, we grasped the first opportunity and packed our baggage and trot off to the other side of the globe!! It so happens that every time we think that we should escape the Chennai’s peak summer and be in America in those months, we land up only in winter. True to the tradition, ninth time in a row here we are at the onset of winter!

Washington-District of Columbia ,a 500 mile distance from Newport News was our first holiday destination for the year. Our hotel was booked in NoMa Gallaudet at Hilton Garden, a 2-minute ride by Metro. It was biting cold at that time in the morning and after quick freshening up, item 1 in our itinerary was to visit the residence of the first family of the world(?)- on to White House. Before we had the first glimpse of the Goliath of power centre, we plunged in depth in the ‘subway‘- yes…sunk our teeth deep in the half-foot long bread.

After fuelling ourselves we walked through the BBBRRROOOAAADDD  17th Street passing the Army and Navy Club- somehow, I could feel chill in my spine due to sheer excitement (even the name of the armed forces has something in it!!)- repercussion of watching Hollywood movies and Netflix series like NCIS!

Diagonally across the road we could spot the gleaming white structure – the dwelling place of POTUS the world’s most powerful person-where financial, administrative, military decisions emanate from, that has and that will and that could permanently change the phase of the world and mankind-the Royal house of the Head of the Dreamland. As we near the place a colossal statue of a majestic warrior adorns the lawn across the White House- that is the Lafayette Park. The wonderfully sculpted bronze statue is of Baron Frederick Wilhelm von Steuben (whew… what a name? I took care to have his name pictured -lest I’ll not able to recapitulate it )who trained the American troops during the Revolutionary war against the British for independence. The way the cocked hat, the heavy cloak draped around his shoulders and a masculinity is depicted makes our eyes glued-up to the marvel of the statue. On either side of the pedestal are portraits of a soldier teaching a youth how to handle the sword and a valiant lady imparting the spirit of freedom to youth. As usual, it was a photo session for me!

Crossing the Pennsylvania Avenue- a marvel of a road laying I should say- we are outside the White House.

Oh Lo! we had to stand beyond the periphery-behind the iron fence- just as we were in Buckingham Palace in London. Olympus is out of bounds for the public due to security reasons. Our cameras worked overtime to capture umpteen photographs of one of the world’s iconic structures. The sunlight reflecting from the multitude windows took it to a different level of visual treat. It was apparent that the place was swarming with the Secret Service personnel in civilian clothing. I spotted a patrol car of the elite SS!

We passed through the Headquarters of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund-it is a pity that since I have all my money stashed in Swiss Bank, I could not finance the WB & IMF!!

We took the Metro to our next destination- the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. The entire history of aviation and space exploration has been documented and exhibited here. A thorough frisking mechanism is in place for the entrants. The entrance opens to an enormous hall way- a couple of towering rockets, an antique one- seater Vega plane which was first flown over the Atlantic Ocean by a lady Ms.Amelia in 1932,suspended from the roof, the historic 1965 Gemini IV’s ( America’s first space walk by Ed.White )space capsule which successfully brought in the two astronauts to earth. Multitude exhibits of the space explorations by not only the US astronauts, but also the pioneers in the field -the USSR cosmonauts are everywhere in the Museum. It is a real man made wonder- the genius of the astrophysicists showcased every inch in the venue.  A pavilion is dedicated for the Wright Brothers- a prototype of the first flying machine is awesomely displayed across the huge space. The renovation works are happening in the Museum and many of the exhibits were either shifted elsewhere or were out of bounds for the public. The existing one’s itself was too much for me. It was a reiteration by the heavenly Cosmos that the human race who gloats on superiorness is just only a miniscule in the System- with that aura(?) behind my head I left the place.

It was past 4pm and already getting dark. Despite chillness engulfing, we treaded over a mile to take the full road tour of Washington’s landmarks by the Red Bus-the hop-on, hop-off double decker that crisscross the city. A road tour of the great landmarks like Washington Monument, Jefferson memorial, Potomac River, Martin Luther King Memorial, Ford Theatre (where Lincoln was assassinated), China Town, FBI Headquarters and the various museums scattered across the area started at dusk and ended after an hour and a half in the glittering lights of Washington-we had the taste of a night tour as well!

We took a Metro back to the Hotel, had a great Indian dinner – we were thoroughly exhausted and called it a night, not before charting the course for the next day.

One has to see to believe the enormity of the National Library of Congress – the largest library in the world. It is the first and foremost research and legislative library for the US Congress. It is an international resource of unparalleled dimensions and is the country’s oldest federal cultural institution. The shelf space and the volumes of books cannot be exhibited in any better fashion. The huge marble halls with enormous paintings and the grandeur of the high ceilings studded with sculptures and metal plating are jaw dropping displays of genius. The arched aperture in the domed ceiling are inscribed with the names of the native-born Americans who have had distinguished themselves in Medicine, Law and Science. An amazing fact (not Ripley’s Believe it or not) is that the library houses more than 32 million catalogued books spread over 470 languages. On a daily basis about twenty thousand new topics are added to the collections, we are told. What a forethought would have gone while building this structure- to exhibit the library as a site of historical importance, have a visitor’s gallery from where the main reading room can be viewed, pattern of positioning the book shelves. The whole place is hung with a hollow silence- even a slightest whisper makes an enormous noise!! There is nobody around to remind people to observe silence, but still the discipline seems to be self-imposed!

The gallery of Madam Rosa Parks brought to me the memories of reading Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography-his early days in the 20^th century when he was in South Africa where racism was rampant. Rare photographs, documentation of her life struggle and activism—creating a rich opportunity for viewers to discover new dimensions to their understanding of this seminal figure.

The Gutenberg bible, the rarest of rarest is one of the treasures of the library’s collections- printed on animal skin, this has very few editions. What signifies is Gutenberg Bible, named after the printer paved way for commercial mass production of books and made it affordable to all

I am reminded of our own Connemara library which has everything that a literature book lover could wish for-a hidden gem with over a million book -a reader’s paradise- but in a smaller dimension. The National Library of Congress has its Indian chapter in New Delhi. Little did we realise that we had spent over 3 hours in the National Library.

After a quick bite, the next stop for us was the Supreme Court. For me, certain names & places give goose bumps even while uttering it. The first sight of the fluttering flag and an eagle finial atop the flagpole was one such instant. I remembered my childhood friend Justice Prakash and took a photo of the complex and sent him that evening itself. The temperature was dipping and it started becoming windy. Just across the road is situated the Capitol Building, the seat of the legislature of one of the biggest Democracies in the world. Believe me, the velocity of wind was that great, we could not walk in one straight line- already it was chill-the wind furthered it and despite the warm clothing, it became very uncomfortable and we could spend very short time there.

My fit-bit watch was running like a speedometer- not only we were walking from one place to other -the walking inside each place of interest itself was astounding -a very good pulmonary vascular exercises!!  We had our bus waiting for us to take us to the Abraham Lincoln Memorial-built in honour of the sixteenth President of the USA. Lincoln was a great president who won the hearts of the citizens and never differentiated between the Blacks and Whites. Unfortunately, due to his controversial efforts towards unity and equality, he was also the first American president to be assassinated. The Memorial is designed in the style of Greek and Roman architecture- I vaguely remember having read somewhere, sometime that since Lincoln laid down his life for democracy, it would only be too appropriate that the structure erected for him should be based on those found in the birthplace of world democracy.  The place was swarming with people, the 19 feet tall statue in a majestically sitting posture facing the Washington Monument and the Capitol Building. The engraving behind the statue is very touching. I reproduce it:  In this temple, as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever”. A fitting tribute for the person who was responsible of the Unification of the country (it was 36 States then), abolishing slavery, holding the country together during the Civil War and laying a successful foundation for the modern America. The reflection of the Washington Monument in the evening sun is a splendid spectacle.

Darkness with chill winds were setting in fast. We too were thoroughly exhausted and vying to hit the sack sooner!  We headed out to the nearest Metro to take the red line to our place of stay.

I am sure none of us would have missed the Hollywood blockbuster ‘Night at the Museum’ starring Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Robin Williams. It was a fantasy comedy film where history comes alive! We are visiting the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History- as usual I was in a trance imagining what and how all it would be inside! Seeing a walking dinosaur, a gigantic mammoth blaring, apes clinging on the trees, Roosevelt riding his horse and bunch of pre historical characters walking around- it obviously would be crazy incredible!

On either side of the entrance to the museum there was a lengthy queue, but it did not take much long for us to make an entry. The first glimpse inside was the huge African elephant in the rotunda leading us to the Hall of mammals. How much detailing has gone in creating the exhibits is something highly credible! In the first gallery, the lights adjust to the mood of the time in the forest- the taxidermied animals are more original than what the original originals would be!!!!!!!!!!    The script under each exhibit is so detailed that one will have a feeling of scholarliness after the full tour.  As we walk further down, we feel suddenly plunged into deep sea…yes, we have entered the water kingdom. It not only is a pavilion for exhibits, it also showcases the impact of waters on humans- environmental, biological and much more. It is all recorded for posterity- an ample opportunity for future generations to delve in depth, length and breadth of the least explored areas in the world. It is stunning to see the multitudes of living organism under the oceans with a riposte by the Museum in the interactive session that it is only 15% of the underbed that has been explored so far by the human race.

Phoenix-the gigantic whale found in the Atlantic Ocean looms over the hall as a full-scale model. The exhibits in the hall explains oceanography, biology, ecology and anthropology emphasizes and stresses that the world’s waters are linked in a single ecosystem that influences all life on Earth. A writing in one of the gallery’s caught my eye- ‘the Museum hopes the displays will educate visitors and encourage them to be better stewards of the world’s waters’- a true distress call of the hour when pollution goes unabated in water -the sole cause being the indifference of the 6-sensed creature. In the upper deck a pavilion is dedicated for the ancient Egyptian way of life. A real mummy is displayed-I was not very comfortable to see it- the sight was repulsive for me. One other hall I avoided going is was the ‘Epidemics in the connected world’-already the peacefulness of mind has been stolen by coronavirus and its variances delta, omicron etc. I did not want to get disturbed any further.

Beyond the butterfly pavilion a vast area is dedicated for the study of the complete set of genes or genetic material present in a cell or organism. The genome contains the instructional code of every living thing. Learning about the human genome will revolutionize the thinking about our biology, our health, and our place as humans in the natural world. The expanding knowledge of genomes informs everything from personalized medicine to how we think about our human ancestors. DNA-deoxyribonucleic acid-the hereditary material in all forms of life- has been displayed in a vial.

Our train back to Newport News, VA was scheduled for the evening. So, we had to wrap up the tour and be in the Union station on time. The train travel was as comfortable as it was on the earlier occasion except for the fact that we were absolutely worn out and sleepy. Although it was a small sojourn, the enjoyments we had was aplenty.

To top it all, I have the satisfaction of recording my travelogue after an interval of 10 months!!

Till I lace up for the next…

J.Ram