Ran into good old Debashish and Kakali at Hasnu’s wedding! Brought back so many memories from Dallas days. It was heartening to realize how much “Debu” (as we call him) always has prospered in every aspect of life and how little Kakali has changed. She is still that light-hearted, constantly smiling, energetic woman that I remember from Dallas over a quarter century back!
When we landed up at the wedding reception, we did not recognize anybody around us. So, Sharmila and I were keeping to ourselves when a lady approached us. The face looked vaguely familiar. And then it all came back to us.
Bishakha from Dallas! We knew each other, way back when – back in the 90s. Then they had moved to California. Once in a while, Sharmila and I would talk about her and her husband, Debarag. Over time, we lost contact completely.
Strangely enough, a few weeks back, their topic came up when Sharmila and I were sitting in a bar. Somebody ordered a gumbo, and we immediately remembered the first time we had ever had gumbo! Back in 1996 or so, and Bishakha was the chef!
I am so glad she recognized us at the wedding. We missed Debarag, who is in India for work. Hope to see all four of us together sometime!
What do you think might have happened, back in 1977, if I had turned to this classmate of mine in fifth grade and told him – “Five decades from now, I will come and attend your daughter’s wedding. Not in Durgapur, not in Kolkata, not even in India… but in California, America”.
We would not have been able to judge how weird it would have been, as it would have been beyond our comprehension. For one thing, even my parents had not seen what four decades look like, let alone five. For another, our Geography teacher had not yet introduced us to the world map, forget America. I certainly would not have known what going to that wedding would have meant since I would have had to wait another decade and a half to be introduced to the insides of an airplane.
And yet, there I was, with my dear friend from my early years, after a long coast-to-coast flight, toasting to his dear daughter’s and son-in-law’s health against a beautiful sunset in Southern California.
Life is mystical. Very mystical.
After we returned from downtown, I sat in the living room to continue reading. Sharmila left both the dogs for a minute and went downstairs to get something.
Bogga, who always takes a shine to Sharmila, did not want to be separated from her. So, she stood there staring at the staircase to see when she might reappear from the stairwell.
Jay Jay, did not want to miss out on the action. So, instead of desultorily ambulating to his usual perching place on top of the sofa backrest, he sat there looking in the same direction as Bogga. It was less about when Sharmila would return. It was more about “what the heck is Bogga looking at?” kind of curiosity.
Pratyush and I go back a long way. He must be the person with whom I have lived in the same city the most number of times… Durgapur, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, and Dallas! The last time I visited them, which was another wedding-related trip to Dallas, this time for their own son, we obviously didn’t get a chance to have a good “adda”. This time, we made up for that!
