The first time I met Nandini was after I had already left Durgapur. I was in a residential school for my 11th and 12th grades. This was 1984 Feb. I was visiting home for Saraswati Pujo. Went to see the Pujo in the nearby school where most of my friends were doing their 11th and 12th grades – Bidhan Chandra Institution.

A common friend that day had introduced me to Nandini. Can’t say we were in touch a lot till her son Spandan came to the USA for his studies. She was visiting him in Austin this week. And I showed up!!

Spandan and I have talked before but was not aware of his varied interests in life – running, biking, swimming, reading…

There was a topic we talked a lot about. The context was how our parents used to force us to study all the time to get good grades. The topic de jure was- did our school grades co-relate at all with success – any which way you want to describe success – in life?