We live no more than a twenty minute drive away from each other but we do not get together as often as we should. Chris and I have worked twice together and have had to live thru some tough business situations together. Took the opportunity yesterday to meet him in Halcyon – where they have done a great job of seating arrangements out in the open for social distancing – and catch up on our families.

There were a lot of friends and updates we went thru from our past to be able to cover in one evening but we gave it a shot anyways. Chris might have dropped about 45 pounds in the last few months but none of his sharp sense of humor, for sure.

“Are you ready to jump back into the corporate world?”, I asked Chris who is enjoying time off from work.
He thought for a while and then added – “I think so. There is only so much of being a trophy husband at home I can take!”

Touche!
That is the sharp wit I miss when not around him!!!

Roam is one of those Wework kind of shared office spaces in Atlanta area. I think they have six or seven locations now in Atlanta area. I have had a membership for at least 10 years and whenever I am not traveling, I usually work from there. Consequently, I have gotten to know all the staff here over the years fairly well – and I think I joined here before any of the existing staff.

I have to admit this is one of the most friendly, helpful and professional staff I have had a chance to interact with during all my travels and work life. Thru the virus days, they kept the place open for people like us to work, opened up all offices free for members (usually you have to book and pay), put social distancing, sanitizers all over, re-tooled the doors so as to minimize contacts. And somebody from the staff would show up every morning before anybody else to make coffee and stack up free snacks and food for anybody who would show up.

Most of the days the whole huge place used to have two or three of us and we barely got to see each other. Now things have changed a little. There is still masks and social distancing. But we have more people working here.

Sharmila and I had decided to treat the staff to Indian lunch some day to say Thank You! Today was the day.

I was certainly a bit worried – given that Erin had not had Indian food before and the one time Micalah had Indian food – let’s just say it did not stay with her for too long! Katie, however cooks some Indian dishes at home and Zach is fairly well experienced in different culinary tastes.

The good news is that it worked out great. Everybody seemed to deal with the spiciness and flavors very well. Micalah even came back for more!

The conversations were even more enjoyable. Katie talked about her trips to India and Bali and we exchanged notes from our family trip to Bali a few years back. Zach’s family (I think he said his sister and her family) has been missionaries in Mongolia for the last four years. That brought back a lot of memories from Roger and my trip there three years back. And I found out that Erin’s best friend for 20 years is an Indian girl. Still have not figured out how she managed to escape without any Indian food for so long!!

I was without a ride today. In the morning, when I started from home, it was raining – so taking the motorbike to work like I normally do was out of the question. Sharmila had dropped me. But in the evening, I was stuck since Sharmila and Nikita had to go somewhere.

The solution was simple – I went downstairs from where I work and went to the Mexican restaurant and got myself a glass of wine. They have a few tables and chairs outside in a covered area. I was thoroughly enjoying the evening sitting out with some wine and watching the rain fall with a fair bit of fury.

Subsequently, made friends with the couple sitting at another table. They had caught my attention by how friendly they were. First they gifted some kind of vegetable plant in a pot to the gentleman who runs the place. Then they talked to the very young daughter of one of the workers there for some time. I had figured out by then that they had to be regulars there.

I had a fascinating time getting to know Steve and Bonnie. They live not too far away on a 4 acre property in the house that Bonnie’s grandmom built back in the 1920s! They apparently grow a lot of vegetables and love eating vegetables. We started talking about spicy food (given my Indian background). I learnt from Bonnie about Scoville scale of measuring heat (pungency – like heat in peppers or chillis) and how it is measured!

Steve and Bonnie has traveled extensively in Peru. We were there back in 2009. Exchanged notes on Mira Flores and that incredible restaurant in the middle of the ocean – La Rosa Nautica!

That was a great evening! Hope to meet them more often!

This Sunday, I was running in my trail – feeling rather pleased that I was coming up on the 3.5 mile marker (since that would mean I would be forced to complete a 7 mile run), when I passed somebody that at first glance looked like a very elderly gentleman shuffling along. What actually caught my eye was the back of his T-shirt. It read “Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body”.

As I went past him, I kept thinking of that saying. I was wondering where he got the T-Shirt from. I also had noticed as I passed him that he did not have any mask with him – and he was fairly elderly. I was thinking that he should take more precaution.

On my way back, I saw him coming towards me again. He clearly did not have a mask with him. So, I stepped on the other side of the trail path – giving him a clear 10 feet of social distancing – and said:

“Excuse me. I saw the writing on your T-shirt. I loved it. Can I take a picture of it?”
“You want to know how I got it?”, he asked – decidedly much friendlier than I was expecting.

Fifteen minutes later, I was able to construct a fascinating story of this gentleman. Apparently, he moved to Georgia sometime back and lost his wife twelve years back. One day, he saw an ad from the Marines that if anybody came and did some pull ups (that they stipulated) successfully, they could earn a T-shirt. Not knowing anything better, he made a beeline for the camp. He implied that he did not make it all the way to all the pull ups (he was pushing way over 70 years, for sure). But he got the T-shirt anyways. Sure enough, the front of the T-shirt had the familiar “Marines” insignia.

What I could not figure out from his sunburnt face and well kept beard was given away by a couple of distinct accents.

“You are from India, are you not?”
“Yes, from Punjab”.
“I am from West Bengal. Rajib. Rajib Roy”
“I am Amrit Aurora. I spell the French way”
“Ah! A-U-rora, then!”
“Exactly”

Turns out Mr. Aurora studied in UK. Worked in UK and Germany. Was recruited by Ford and immigrated to Michigan for 18 years. Eventually, moved to Georgia where is wife’s niece lives.

He walks in the trail – anywhere between 4 to 14 miles at a 4 mile per hour pace he told me. His starting point is on the other end from where I start. He admitted his memory is fading – could not remember some of the road names and gym names he used to go to but was certainly not lacking in willingness to duke it out physically.

I marveled at the fact that there is my dad – another 83 year old – he cannot get out of his bed and I go to see him every three months – and here is somebody – of the same age – merrily walking mile after mile – without any worry of the pandemic going around us.

We promised to stay in touch and talk more. (In fact, he already followed up yesterday).

“Before I let you go sir, what gives you the drive to stay this active?”

He thought for a while and said “Because every day I wake up is something I know many others don’t. And while we have done a lot of things – we can never create something as beautiful as nature”.

“Thank you sir, I will be in touch”.

Running back, I kept thinking how true his words were – the simplest things in life – like nature – are so beautiful. Yet, we wrap around ourselves artificial walls. To what end?

It had been a long sixteen hour flight. And my jet lag was starting to kick in. Immigration, Customs and Starbucks later, eventually my Lyft ride showed.

“Gregory”?
“Yes, sir! Rajib?”
“Yep. Do you mind if I sit in the front? I get car sick behind.”
“No problem”

As I settled down in my seat and Gregory (Roso) started navigating thru the evening Atlanta traffic, I was tempted to doze off. Instead, decided to see if a conversation and the Starbucks coffee could keep me awake. I was hoping against hopes that Gregory would be up for a conversation.

“So, what do you do outside of Lyft rides?”
“Music”.
That was interesting, I thought.
“What kind of music? Do you play music? Sing?”
“No, I produce music”.
“Produce music?”

Frankly, I had no idea what music production meant. What I learnt fascinated me. Gregory composes his own music and records them. Then he leases them or sells them outright.

Turns out he comes up with his own tunes and rhythms and then composes them with the instruments that he has.

“So, how do you sell them?”
“Mostly thru my website and networking”.

I checked out his website – https://www.producedbyvino.com. Fairly impressive.

“Why that URL?”, I asked mildly amused by the name.

“I am a big fan of basketball. And Kobe”. Looks like Gregory grew up with Kobe as his idol. The one thing he learnt from him, he said, is the value of practice. I understand, Kobe practiced for long hours. I do not know much about basketball. But Gregory informed me that Kobe had a nickname Vino because he got better with age unlike most other players. And that explained the website name. Gregory fashions himself after his idol.

“How about your personal life? Where are you from?”
“My mom is originally from Dominican Republic. I was born in Connecticut and spent early childhood there. Moved here with my mom eleven years back”
“And your dad?”
“He is in Connecticut”
“So, they are separated”
“Yes. My dad remarried and I have a step sister”
“And your mother?”
“She never married again. It is she and I.”

“Do you see your dad much?”
“Yes. I visit them whenever I can”
“You are close to your dad and step sister?”
“Now, I am. It did not start this way. I was very angry with my dad. I did not like him”
“And then?”
“Well, as I grew older, I realized that this was probably for the best for both of them. Now, I am glad that they are not together.”
“Really?”
“Yes. They are both in better places. And me working thru my anger with my dad has put me in a stronger place.”

“How about your girlfriend?”
“I do not have time for girls now.”
“Oh!”
“I want to stay focused on making money. I want to make a lot of money. I have my youth now. I do not want to lose focus. That is what Kobe would have told me.”
“What will you do with a lot of money?”
“I want to take care of my mom”
“How so?”
“I want to buy her a good house and make sure she is financially very stable.”

“You know, your mom sounds like a wonderful person. Certainly has a wonderful son. I hope to meet her some day.”
“Thank you, sir! If you had come half an hour earlier, you could have met her.”

That surprised me!
“How? Were you giving her a lift?”
“No. She works in the hotel when I am dropping you.”

Wow!! What is the chance of that?
Sharmila and I were going to meet at a Westin for a drink instead of me going home and from there were going to head out to her art show inauguration. It is exactly in that hotel, as liuck would have it, that my Lyft driver’s mom works!!

Sure enough, when I enquired later in the restaurant in Westin, Maria had left a little while ago.

“No worries, Gregory. I go there once in a while. I will remember to meet her and tell her that she has a son who has great head on his young shoulders.”

That is when we pulled up to the Westin. I quickly introduced Sharmila and Gregory to each other and Sharmila took our picture.

If you ever run into Gregory, don’t forget to say Hi and encourage this incredible young gentleman.

Got to meet Garry Capers yesterday!! It had been some time since I had seen him. We had a chance to work together about ten years back. There are a lot of memories from those days – those weekly flights together to DC and the time in the Delta Skyclub spent together every Thursday in Reagan airport.

Other than catching up on our families and all the recent activities in America, we also reflected on our learnings from corporate life. Most of it was around the difficulties of building cultures in a company and how individual personalities play into it.

One observation we both had was that in every product company we have had a chance to work in or at least become close, there is/was always an internal skepticism towards the sales organization. Right, wrong or indifferent, folks inside the organization always seem to have an opinion (negative) about the sales organization (individuals are sometimes cited as very good, though). Interestingly enough, we both reflected that this was not true in professional services organization.

What has your experience been? Same? Different? If you have had a similar observation, why do you think it is so?

P.S. In case you were wondering how come I had forsaken my shorts when Garry’s clothes clearly indicated to the heat in Atlanta – well, I took my motorbike, so had to wear my protective gear. Fortunately, this coffee shop allowed sitting inside the air conditioned area (of course, with social distancing).

The first time I saw him was in 1990. He had joined the same MBA school as I (one year junior to me) and moved into the dorm I lived in then. That too literally next door to me! The last time I saw him was March 1991 when I left the campus. I was 24 then.

Then, a full 29 years later – after more than doubling my age – I had the chance to meet Vivek again – at a small bar outside the hotel I was staying in, in Baltimore.

The details of how I got reconnected to him is escaping me right now – but it was probably one of those days when I remember people from the past and start looking for them in Linkedin and Facebook. Fortunately for me, he had recognized me too and we had exchanged our phone numbers and most importantly – his birthday! That way I had a reminder every year to visit him if I were to be in Baltimore.

And that is where I was this week for a couple of days for a conference. Vivek was very kind to adjust his schedule at work and home and come meet me when I had some off time between all the meetings.

It was like the 29 years has never happened. We picked up from where we had left. Talking about all the old friends, the carom board outside our room, the campus, the courses and all that. I was fascinated to hear about his career and family journey that has taken him to three different countries. We also debated the pros and cons of doing MBA – specifically, which courses has really helped and which ones not so much.

The best part of our recollections was a common difficulty both of us had faced separately. Both of us had a lot of exposure to computer programming – unlike many other students – before we joined the MBA class. And both of us (in two separate years) had agreed to help our colleagues with the programming assignments in the introductory programming class in our MBA. In fact, we called them “rems” (remedial classes?). Basically, some of the fellow-students would gather in a dorm and I (or he) would use the blackboard on the wall (every floor in the dorm had a blackboard those days) to explain the basics of programming languages.

And sadly, neither Vivek nor I quite figured out how to convince our non-programming friends that in computer science, it totally cool to write:

A=A+2

🙂

It did not help that some of them had math degrees before coming to do MBA!!!

There was something familiar and yet strange about the lady. I was busy with my oatmeal in the Delta Skyclub, sitting all by myself, when I noticed thru the corner of my left eye that a lady – in what appeared to be dark formal clothes – walking past me. And then she stopped. That made me instinctively look up. That is when I was hit with the feeling of something familiar and yet, something strange.

She was standing at about 10:30 to me (left front). She kept peering out in the open thru the large glass walls, diagonally across from me. She would occasionally look in her phone, punch in something and then again look out in the open. I looked out a couple of times in the direction she was looking. There was nothing to see other than the airport watch tower half cloaked in fog and a lot of planes on the ground dodging each other as they rolled thru. The sky was one dreary grey sky.

But she kept looking that way – with a sense of purpose – that betrayed that she was looking for something in particular. I glanced at her a little more intently. Dark hair, brown skin, very prim in her dark office suit and red scarf. The roller and handbag screamed top of the class brands.

That is when something familiar struck me. Could she be….? No! What is the chance? And why would she be looking out into the fog? I tried to lean over to get a better look at the face. Most of what I could see matched a face I knew but still I had not crossed past what my friends in the legal land would say “beyond reasonable doubt”.

I just sat back. Eventually, she will move and turn around, I argued with myself. That is when I would find out if she is who I thought she might be. For a moment, I toyed with the idea of calling up the lady I knew and if the phone rang in front of me…. you know the rest. But what if she was not? What am I going to give as my excuse to my friend for calling her so early in the morning?

Well, I just kept eating my oatmeal and waited patiently for her to make the first move. I eventually finished my oatmeal and she had still not moved!! Finally, one of those cleaning persons came around and asked “Are you done with this, sir?”. I nodded in the affirmative “Yes, ma’m”. And that conversation next to her jolted the lady in the suit into the present reality. She shifted a little – thinking she might be in the way.

And our eyes met immediately. It was good old Malika alright!!!

After the usual pleasantries (I had not seen her in quite some time), I asked her “What the heck were you looking into the clouds for?”.
“I was looking for Russell.” (That be her husband).
That did not exactly clear up things. Much like the weather outside, I was still foggy. Why was she looking for Russell there? First, he would not be in a runway walking along. And if he was flying somewhere, there was no way she could see him in an airplane.

A little background about Russell. I got to know him thru Malika – who I go to know thru Sharmila. I am not sure how she got to know her (was it thru Rejina in Dallas?) but I know both of them are painters. Many years later, we had discovered that another friend of ours from Dallas – Debjani – went to school with Malika in Kolkata and we had even managed to have a reunion for them at our house in Atlanta.

Russell’s biggest claim to fame – at least to me – is that he makes absolutely the best “kathi rolls” on this side of the Suez. On a good day, on that side of the Suez too. How this Georgia gentleman learnt how to make a Kolkata street food so well, I will never know.

What I did not know is that Russell is also a pilot. And now he is flying charter planes. Once I got past the surprise that I never realized Russell is a pilot, everything fell in place. He had a flight that morning and was taking off. She was messaging him from the Skyclub and he was texting her roughly where his plane was. Which was why she was straining her neck to look out so intently to spot his plane on the ground.

And that is how I had my first intersection point of this morning!

Malika, it was great to see you. One of these days, when Russell is on the ground, let’s catch a different kind of “flight” at a nearby bar!!