Anita and I were in the same grade / batch all throughout my school years in Durgapur but I had a chance to meet Anita only once. We were in different schools but I did have a lot of friends from her school. And we had very close common friends. Even her brother – Shishir – was my classmate. We knew of each other but never really crossed paths much. Last evening I realized that when she was in her college – I used to go visit a few common friends of ours in the college literally on the other side of the road – still never crossed paths.

The only one time that we had ever met was when she was introduced to me by a common friend when I had gone to the local high school in Durgapur (it had a mighty name – Bidhan Chandra Institution and Bidhan Chandra Institution for Boys – never understood the repetition) for Saraswati Puja.

Somewhere much later – may be 30 years later – I had located her in Boston and found out her birthdate. So, that at least established a way to keep the connection going – even if thru a ten minute talk every year. A couple of weeks back, I had called her again to wish her happy birthday and we agreed that we should meet some time. Little did I know that within two weeks I would get a text from her that she was going to be in Chicago for some work. On Thursday, after work, both of us were able to free up some time to meet.

I am glad I met her but not before going thru some wariness. I have to explain that she is a very accomplished person in the medical profession. And certainly I have never been accused of having accomplished anything that has amounted to much. Then, she was staying at the Ritz which is an imposing property downtown Chicago. I am the one who you will usually find hanging around in Courtyard Marriott lobbies with one tip of the shirt hanging out and an iPad at hand (you never know when I am going to write another blog). Then she came down in an exquisite dress and I was … well, let’s move on, shall we?

My plan was to meet for an hour and make the trek back again. Landed up talking for three hours. And regretted that I did not have more time. I was absolutely fascinated by her take on so many things in life. What impressed me most was her ability to see any situation from the other side and make a case for it. Not too many people can hold two opposing thoughts in their head at the same time – and be totally comfortable about it. Anita, struck me as a person who has that unique capability.

Of course, given her level of intellectual capability, I was able to engage her on her take on the larger meaning and purposes of life and what our learnings have been looking back. For me personally, looking back, I wish I had sat down with Anita a few more times earlier in my life. It would have cut short a lot of my learning cycles.

Till next time…

This is the second time I met Mr. and Mrs. Jain. Strictly speaking, this is the first time I met Mrs. Jain – but I have seen her once before. It was December 10th, 1976 – a Friday. It was our report card day. We all got promoted to fifth grade that day. Mr. Jain had come to pick up my classmate – Nishi Jain. All I remember is that he had some kind words to say after looking at my report card.

Funny part is that I never went back to that school after that day. Between that day and next school opening day, my dad got me admitted to a different school. That pretty much took away any chance of meeting Mr. Jain again.

Mrs. Jain was a different story. Our school had two buses. One day one of those buses had a mechanical failure. So, the bus that picked me up had to proceed to do the second route – which was Nishi’s route. I remember the bus stopping to pick her up and Nishi turning back to one of the houses and waving. That is how I guessed that it was her house and the lady at the gate waving back at her was her mom. And then there was a very small girl – maybe three year old tops at that time – hanging on to the gate and waving too.

Like I said, these are well over 40 years back! Believe it or not, last week, I got a message from that small toddler that hung from that gate – Supriya – she now lives in Chicago – that her parents were visiting her. That toddler is in the picture below along with her parents!!

I had about an hour between business meetings downtown. That was enough to swing by to say Hi to Mr. and Mrs. Jain. Had a fantastic time reliving the days of the past. Was suitably impressed how both of them have kept themselves physically and mentally fit at their ages!

Looks like they are going to be around for a couple of more months. I have to find some time one of these evenings to spend more time with them!!

Julia and I got to know each other about a year back. Over the year, I had prepared a long list of complaints about her that I had promised to deliver to her mom when I meet her. I had figured that during one of my Austin trips, I would meet her mom Cathy and just unload on her 🙂

Turns out she was visiting San Francisco last week and the three of us were able to get together for an hour at a bar next to office. It was a quick meeting since I had to run for a office dinner right after that.

Here is a problem though – I never got a chance to complain about Julia! Because Cathy and I spent all the time exchanging dad jokes and a lot of puns. She is a veritable fountain of groaners and some really witty puns.

Celeste would have been thrilled with our level of dad jokes. My two daughters? Not so much!