One more of my intersection points from the long past!! It was way back in 1973. I had just joined a new school in my first grade. And that was where I met Aditi Mustafi (now Guha). She was an incredibly bright student and actually was a year junior to us – but she was “double promoted” to our class. Although we started in the same “home room”, our school did a reshuffling of students in our second month and I was packed off to another home room – or “section” as we called those days, at least in India.

And then after the first grade, she left to join another school. And I never saw her for another ten years or so. In 1984, I ran into her during Saraswati Pujo in Bidhan School – where I had gone with a couple of my friends who studied there. (I did not study in that school). And then I lost complete touch with her.

Finally, last year, another friend from first grade – Subir Hore (about whom there is a previous blog entry) got me in touch with her. And this year, when I called her to wish her a happy birthday, we realized that we might have a chance to see each other during my travels in a week’s time.

And we almost did not make it. A very successful executive in one of the premium newspapers here in India, she was called away for an engagement that would have clashed with the timeframe that we had fixed to meet at. Fortunately, she was able to swing by in between her commitments. We had a great hour and a half catching up on old friends and teachers.

I am really impressed at how she has managed life at multiple fronts and balanced them and succeeded. She is taking care of her mother and mother-in-law at home (that was another common thread of our existence – it appears they are going thru the same phase as my dad and mom), having a great career at work and also raising her son – with whom, I apparently share a lot of traits – not the least of which was our penchant for fountain pens!! One great thread of discussion – the importance of parents NOT goading their kids into “standard” streams of education and instead letting them find out who they are…

I am really glad that she could make the time for me and I certainly am very thankful to Subir for putting us in touch with each other…