The ride of life is unpredictable. The best laid plans of mice and men are but to humor Fate. Yet, those who bounce back from the vagaries of luck are but the best and the strongest.

It was so great to see two of the best and the strongest today over a quick lunch and then chat under the shade of aa tree in the parking lot – Atashi and her daughter Ira. I do not want to assume for once that pain of any bereavement ever goes away; but I salute those who pick up their broken pieces and move forward with the single minded determination of making the most of what we are given in life.

Best house guests ever. Because they will let me pour alcohol at will, allow me to talk about topics varying from glass calligraphic pens to psoriatic arthritis! But best of all because Shauna (and Sharmila) has given Roger and me the permission to go on our next adventure trip!!

As you know, our rule is we go to a country that most of us know nothing about. It was Mongolia last time. Seems like Azerbaijan is the front runner in our ignorance this time!

It is always fun to host the Whitneys!

I was mentioning in yesterday’s post about the three couples that wasa our Covid bubble and how we missed them a couple of evenings back at our regular Covid tryst. Well, we did get together the next day – this time at Mazzy’s.

As I was mentioning in another post before that – we somehow got started again on whose body parts were hurting and what the doctors were saying and all that. Eventually, we realized that we were doing old people talk.

So, switched to more young people stuff… well, I am not sure how to explain the topic of discussion in this august forum. Why don’t you ask Shrabani, Sharmila, Parijat, Avijit or Dipanjan what was the topic they were discussing about. (Please note, I said “they” 🙂 ). and while at it, enquire Parijat about Moxy in Tokyo!!

🙂

Sharmila and I had settled down in Chiringa in downtown Alpharetta making a list of all the things that we needed to get done in the new house when along came good old Rupak and Jasmine!

You know life has changed a lot when you realize that our entire discussions in the evening were not about movies, sports or even social media – we talked the whole time about cholesterol, cardiac arrests and calcium levels.

God, we have become old!

It was a great evening with Sonali and Vikram. Other than the bar hopping, we managed to get in some great debate and discussion around religion and meditation. Religion can be a very divisive topic. But the debate was very healthy and constructive.

Sonali is a great listener and has mastered the art of articulating counter arguments. I found myself again in a familiar spot – having to defend a position that I personally do not believe in. (which sometimes I enjoy more than arguing for the positions I believe in).

Vikram was quiet most of the time. But he has promised to pick on his favorite divisive topic in the next meeting – the Second Amendment. Now, I have to find out which way he is going to argue. So that I can mentally prepare myself for the other view.

Looking forward to it!!

Saw Soumen after a long time. His was the first house we had been invited to after we moved to Atlanta. With Amitesh and Soumen around, discussions were invariably of more serious nature – politics, religion and such that requires you to have a safe zone to have open dialogs.

Great time spent!

With Rupak, Jasmine, DJ and PJ !! It was a little on the colder side on the roof but the fire kept us comfortable…

The last time we came out to Alpharetta downtown with Rupak and Jasmine was a year back… we took aa walk on the loop by the building that has now become our house!! And today, she was carrying the two pair of socks that I had given her that day to keep herself warm!!!

Met up with Amitesh after a long time. First he was down with cold and then I was traveling too much. I think we had skipped our weekly meetings by over a couple of months. In any case, we were determined to meet up today.

After Hannah took our picture in Abbot’s Bar and Grill, I showed him the picture and commented “We got the traffic light colors covered – green, red and orange”. Not sure whether he was too tired after all the driving to the airport and back or half a glass of wine had already hit the sweet spot for him – his response was “Blue is missing.”

And I was like – “You are confusing traffic lights with the cops that pull you over!” 🙂

Anyways, we then moved on to more serious topics like how James Bond completely messed up the martini cocktail!

… we landed up celebrating Diwali at our place last night.