Last year this time, if you recollect I had gone to a restaurant with my friend Dan and then made friends with the manager of that place – Yui – who was from Japan and landed up in Kenosha, Wisconsin because of a dart she threw on an US map and that is where it landed. In a final twist to the story, we found out that Dan was actually stationed near the small place she was from back in Japan when he was in the Marines. You can read about it here

In any case, this week, I had a dinner with a Board member and we went to the same place. That gave me a chance to catch up on Yui a year later. Pat (the Board member) was excited about the whole story. So we took a picture of the three of us with the biggest wine bottles we could find around 🙂 (Last year, Dan had taken a picture with a big wine bottle in hand. Do not remember why.)

Anyways, it was good to catch up with somebody who I made friends with on the road. I understand now she is following a modeling career too. Maybe someday I can say I personally know somebody famous 🙂

By the time I walked out of the investment bank after a very successful and exciting – and way over time – meeting analyzing our market and opportunities, I was literally swimming in numbers. I glanced at my watch. I still had time to squeeze in meeting a very old friend of mine before I scrambled to my flight home.

Or that is what I thought. What I had not bargained for is Chicago’s highways becoming a parking lot at 3 PM. Or that my friend and I would be waiting at identically named stores but a full fifteen minutes apart!! (This is what happens when you punch in the cafe name only without the address in Google Maps!!).

At that point, I was getting way too close for my comfort to not head out to the airport. But then again, I had not seen this guy for 26 years!! Last time I saw him was on the corridors of Alakananda – our hostel (dorm) during my Engineering days – back in May 1989!!

I decided that I would risk my flight. Found a bar from Google Maps somewhere between where we were and met up with Ramana Kadari!! I could have picked him from a vast sea of humanity any day. It is like time has wrought no change on his visage. Exactly the same guy – the looks, the temperament, the outlook – everything has remained the same!!

It was fantastic catching up on his fascinating journey of the last 26 years. I absolutely wish I had kept in touch with this guy. I always have a lot to learn from anybody who loses his dad in his ninth grade, grows up in the rural hinterland of India and yet fights his way to some of the top schools in India and now so successful in one of the best countries in the world!!

It was all of 35 minutes of meeting but boy did it feel like we had left each other just the other day. I still remember the day he won the T-shirt caption contest for our hostel (his entry was “Smart Alec” – a pun on our hostel name) and I kept kicking myself for not coming up with it myself!!

As we bade adieu promising not to wait for another 26 years, it slowly dawned on me that I have a flight to catch. I stuck with the back roads instead of the highways, weaved thru traffic like I was driving east west on a north south street, considered speed limits as FYIs only and I am sure the ensuing Doppler effect made some red lights appear green to me. Somehow made it to the rental car center, left the keys without waiting for my bill and ran to the bus. Later, in the bus, I realized that the keys were not the only thing I left in the car.

Skipped checking in my small little overnight bag as I normally do and breezed thru TSA Precheck to reach the gate just in time. And it is then that I realized I had not bargained for another reality in life. Counting on Delta flights being late!!!!

Well, that allowed me to spend a few minutes with another friend of mine I ran into as I was running to the gate, but that is a story for another day!!!

On this road called life that we are all destined to walk along and cross paths with, we often come across very simple people whose journey on this road absolute inspires us and exalts us to strive to make every bit of that journey as rewarding as is possible. Today was such a day for me.

Second work day of the week. Second city to visit. At the end of all meetings, my friend from work Mark and I took refuge at Miller’s Brewhouse at Milwaukee airport to catch up on emails and phone calls before we called it a day – or in my case, catch a flight back home. With all that back to back emails and phone calls, I had not paid much attention to the young lady Chelsey who was serving us. After I was done with my calls and work, I put my phone down. But Mark was still working. So, I turned around to Chelsey who was nearby and asked her “Tell me your life story”.

Initially she was reluctant insisting it was a little sad. I assured her that I genuinely wanted to listen. And the story that unfolded was an incredible one. I learnt that Chelsey is from Tennessee where she was happily married and soon had a baby – the love of her life. Between her husband and her, they took shifts in work to look after the baby at home. And one day, when she came home, she came home to worst fear any mother in this whole world could ever come to. Her one month old child had died of SIDS. (The child was on his belly and suffocated himself). A little time later, her husband and she grew apart and eventually separated. She was just a couple of years over twenty!!!

Unlike many other weaker earthling – especially at that age – who might turn to other means to escape reality including illegal ones, she resolutely resolved to make something out of herself. She left Tennessee and came to Milwaukee for a “clean start” and follow her dreams to be a vet. She works today not in one job… two jobs…. but three jobs as she takes herself thru a vet school at the same time!!! She is determined to come out with flying colors on the other side.

As I took her permission to feature her in my blog, I asked her if she would take a picture with me. She not only did that but gave me a picture of the locket she was wearing. (See the inset) That is a locket she never separates from. No mother every would. It contains the ashes of her child.

What an inspiring story. How many times a simple thing at home has not worked and we have had bitter reactions? How many times we have been critical of that one well paying job we have – let alone three minimum wage jobs. Amidst all this, how many of us keep telling ourselves – No matter what, I am coming out of this on the other end, way ahead of others? And with a brilliant smile to boot?

If anyone of you ever happen to be in Milwaukee airport, just stroll over to the Miller Brewhouse on the upper floor and ask for Chelsey. And wish her the best of luck. The world has to belong to hard workers like her who is never down on life!

If any one of you visit Dallas (or live there) and are looking for a nice wine bar, do not forget to go to Mercy in Addison. And make sure you meet my new friend Mike there. He made the evening for us and my business company absolutely marvelous. We found out that we both have a lot in common – stand up comedy, mixology and being sharp as a whip. Okay, okay, agreed that I extended the truth on that bit about me being sharp. But still two out of three is not bad!

Also, when you go there, do not forget to try a wine called “Lunatic”!

Last weekend Sharmila’s friend Rupa had visited us from Dubai. On Sunday, I was dropping her at the airport and on the way we started talking about the concept of friendship – you know FB friends, school friends, work friends etc. At some point she talked about somebody called Sudeshna Das who now lives in Houston and that she was a friend of Rupa’s sister. The thought that went thru my mind immediately was that she must be then my sister’s friend (same batch). Anyways, after dropping Rupa at the airport, I made a couple of calls to friends in Houston to see if we could track down Sudeshna. As luck would have it, I was going to be in Houston within a couple of days for work.

As you can imagine, a little help from FB, friends and a few phone calls and I did get to meet a complete stranger – Sudeshna (frequently called Mou). Our common friend Subrata, his wife, Sharmistha and Sudeshna had dinner with me. We absolutely missed Tapan Das – Sudeshna’s husband who had to leave for Brazil that day.

The dinner started, innocuously enough, with two complete strangers meeting. By the time the evening was over, we found more intersections points than we could shake a stick at. I probably cannot remember all of them now but to cite a few – we already knew that she and my sister were classmates. Found out that her cousin – who has been very very close to her all her life – is a very close friend of my wife Sharmila. I knew Sharmila visited this particular lady every time we went to India – I just did not know the connection with Sudeshna at all. Then we found out Sudeshna married Tapan – who is a friend from college days of none other than Samaresh who I run with every Sunday morning here in Atlanta. Did I mention that Samaresh and I lived a stone’s throw away during our middle and high school days in India?

The conversation invariably went to our parents and their health. A little later when Sudeshna told me that her parents used to live in City Center ( an area in Durgapur), I became even more inquisitive. I asked her if she remembered any more details. She mentioned that she thought it was on Michael Faraday Road. I was like “Get out of here. Which house?”. She thought #20, but she was not sure. This was way too much coincidence. So, I asked her if she could call her mom in India. Which she did. And I took the phone away from her, introduced myself to her mom and asked her what was her exact house number when she lived in City Center. She confirmed that it was indeed 20. I asked her if she knew her next door neighbor. “Mamata Ghosh?”, she asked. “Absolutely”, I replied – “they are my inlaws. And they still live there!”. We were both very excited.

So, I asked her “Where do you live now”? I knew that they had moved to Kolkata since Sudeshna had mentioned this before. I did not know exactly where, though. Well, you are not going to believe this, they have moved right where my brother lives. In fact, you might have seen many pictures of me and my brother running on my blogsite right in front of their house!! As you can imagine, I made a promise to visit her and have tea with her next time when I am in Kolkata – which is a few weeks away. Reminded me of the trip to see Sanghamitra’s mom last time!

The evening started between two absolute strangers but in about an hour and half’s time, we realized that we had this huge network of connections in India and USA that tied us together. It was as if we have always known each other through these years.

We really really missed Tapan. I am sure I would find at least another set of connections. In fact, we never explored Sudeshna’s in-laws’ side at all!

That would be the agenda for the next trip to Houston!!! If Subrata and Sharmistha can deal with the boredom that is 🙂

Usually, on the road, I am the one learning about other countries. You know the cab driver from Ethiopia in DC, the restaurant waitress from Serbia in Portland, the porter from Ghana in Atlanta airport and such. I certainly have a lot of questions for them about their countries of birth. Rarely do I get a chance to teach somebody from a foreign country stuff about their own country.

Well, that did happen this week.

I had finished my dinner meeting with Bob (from work) in the restaurant of the Marriott hotel at Philly airport and had walked him to the parking lot. With all the flying and meetings, the middle of the week was already feeling like the end of the week for me. I was walking back in the hotel, mentally calculating that I would grab my ipad, go to the bar, pick a nightcap and clear out all the pending emails from my inbox.

It was then that I met this really cheerful and helpful lady who asked if I needed help. (Frankly, I was a little confused since I did not know my way back from the parking lot connector to the elevators). I did recognize her as the same lady who had checked me in when I arrived at the hotel. And I remembered her name – Roxana.

After she gave me directions, I thought I would thank her for helping me twice. So, I asked her whether she was from Philadelphia area. She said – No, she was from Costa Rica! I was like “Wow! I love your country”. Over the next thirty minutes I told her how my family loves Costa Rica and we always try to excite people we meet to visit Costa Rica.

She asked me about some of my favorite places. I told her about Guatil. She was not sure where this place was. I told her that it was a village where there are only twenty households – and everybody made pottery. My daughters got lessons on how to make pots there. She had never heard of that place!! Fortunately, I had my iPad handy. I quickly took her to my website and showed her pictures. Then Google maps showed that this village was within 100 kms from her own place!! And she had not heard about this place!!!

Then I talked about the beautiful waterfall that very few people knew of. How we had to trek thru dirt road to reach that place. There were no signs of civilization. So, after we had dived in the water, we had come to the realization that we had to change our clothes behind bushes. Showed her the pictures of the waterfall. Turns out she had never heard of “Janllos de Cortes” either.

Of course, she knew many other places we had been to. But she did conclude that her country was much more beautiful than she herself knew. And that she could not believe that she had to learn that from an Indian living in US!! She made a list of places from my website that she had to visit when she was back in Costa Rica. She walked away thinking I was the most traveled person in the world. At least most traveled in her mother land. Between you and me, you know that I am not that well traveled in Costa Rica at all. Let alone the rest of world. But it always helps to have local friends like Jorge and Victoria and ask them – “Tell me about places in your country that most tourists don’t go to, but you would take your family”!!

Felt really good! As a result, I had two nightcaps!!!