22 June 2025

The Aroras

Quite unexpectedly, I woke up this morning to a message from Gagan that they were in Atlanta. Eshan is starting an internship in midtown and they were here to settle him down. Of course, that meant we needed to get together that evening.

I got to know Gagan in Oct 1995 when he finally joined the start up company after threatening to do so for quite some time! The four of us – Bharti, Sharmila and we two – had gotten very close to each other with all those hours of coding together and then going out for lunch or dinner together.

If I remember correctly, they got married one year after we got married. They had their first child exactly one year after we did. And of course, they had their second child also one year after we had ours!

16 June 2025

A perfect human being

This gentleman has been my friend for many a moon. Pushing half a century almost. I had found out some time back, thru a common friend, about some of the serious health issues he has been fighting. Himself being a doctor ,who alleviates pain for kids on a daily basis, it struck me as a bit unfair that he would have to go thru his severe health crisis.

There are stories about how when admitted to the hospital for surgery, he would go around and talk to the other patients and raise their morale level. It was like he was born to serve human beings, one way or the other.

It is with a modicum of justice from fate and a lot of discipline on his side that most of his battle is behind him. Although he will have to live with a few conditions for the rest of his life.

Now, for most of us those conditions would be emotionally, physically and mentally devastating. Not for this gentleman.

I had been wanting to see him face to face for some time. My first India trip after these many days gave me that opportunity.

That one hour that I spent with him showed to me the ultimate living proof of the aphorism – “In life, pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional!”

Thank you Sudipta for being that shining beacon that you have always been ever since I met you on that fateful morning of Jan 10, 1977 for the first time.

30 May 2025

Met my batch mate after over four decades

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?

22 May 2025

We meet again!

Little did I realize on that March afternoon 42 years back as I left my school for the last time, that this morning will happen to me someday. While most teachers have had an undeniable effect on me, the three that left the most indelible mark were my English teacher Ms. Biswas, my Math teacher Mr. Roy and my Geography teacher Ms. Bhowmic.

It probably starts to explain then why I still dash off a handwritten letter every weekend or why when bored, instead of watching reels, I look for geometry problems on the internet or why I can spend hours poring over a map of the world trying to learn which country borders which – all with absolutely no gnawing sense of misplaced priorities.

Quirky as they might seem to the world, they almost define my identity.

It was with incredible luck that I found myself with my English teacher this morning in Asheville, NC. She was visiting her son. I simply could not pass up that opportunity to spend a few more moments with her (and her husband Arup Sir!). If not for anything else, but to at least express my gratitude for instilling a sense of intellectual curiosity in me during my formative years.

That, plus there are not too many folks with who I can remember weird names like “Hermia” and “Hippolyta” with some pangs of nostalgia, sitting out on a brisk morning over some breakfast and coffee!