31 July 2024

When in New York… do as “Roamer”s do!!

If you did not know Roam, think of it as a version of Wework. Mostly in Atlanta (with the sole exception of one in Grandscapes in Dallas).

Now, I have been a member there for the better part of 15 years. Almost from the time the original location opened in Alpharetta. I am literally the longest standing customer. I have gone thru 4 companies and still go to Roam to work when I do not have an office to go to. The locations may not be the best, the lack of windows and outside view does not compete well with other companies and certainly there is no free food and snacks like you will get at Thrive or Industrious – but the people at Roam are just outrageously great. I do not know what they do in their recruiting process but each and every one of them are the kind of professionals you want to interact every day – very helpful, always smiling and always worried about giving you the best service.

If there is one ding, it is that the young folks who join there, often find great opportunities and move on. It is, of course, great for them. For me, I have to start my relationships all over again. To give you an idea, I wish 20 Roamers and ex-Roamers happy birthday every year. And I probably do not have contacts for another 20. But that has also afforded me to keep up with the life journeys of the young folks as they have flourished in their personal and professional lives!

In exactly that vein, got to know Tanvi Reddy in Roam Alpharetta last year. She is midway between my two daughters in age and I got to know about her and her family during the time she was there. One of the things I remembered her most by is that she had just graduated from the college that my younger one goes to.

And then she vanished one day.

It was only when I called to wish her a happy birthday a few days back that I realized she is in New York with a new opportunity. I mentioned that I will be in the city for work and also to meet my other daughter.

We were both able to squeeze some time between work to grab a coffee in Union Square!

It was so great to see this young professional again!

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27 July 2024

This dog is incorrigible

Every evening at around 7 PM, Jay Jay will cozy up to me. Wherever I go in the house, he will follow me and make straight eye contact. Over time, I have realized that this means he wants to go to the downtown Alpharetta bars. All I have to do is say “Let’s go”. He immediately runs to the door downstairs and short of putting the leash on himself, he is ready to march out.

When Sharmila is not around, he will wait for me to close the garage door or lock the front door and then off he will go to his regular routine of putting his markers every few yards till we get to downtown and settle somewhere where he can look at all passersby.

When Sharmila is around, he goes thru a completely different behavior. As I have written before, he will not leave her behind at home under any circumstances. He will stay put till she comes out.

As you see here, I had closed the garage door to see if he would remember in his excitement of going for the walk. He remembered alright. Within two feet of stepping out, he realized that she was not with us. Without any hesitation, he promptly turned around, put his backside down on the driveway and kept staring at the blank garage door for her to come out. No amount of pulling on his leash would convince him.

When she finally opened the garage door, you can see how he trained his neck below and started peeking thru the gap to see if it was indeed she who was emerging.

Moment he saw her approaching us, he turned around and started cavorting to the trail with that quizzical look on his face like “what is taking you guys so long?”

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26 July 2024

Met Aimee after nearly a decade and a half

Aimee and I worked in 2010 and early 2011 when she left the company we had just acquired. After that, I had kept up with her during our catch up calls every March for her birthday. (Coincidentally, my daughter, she and I have three consecutive birthdays!!).

Over the years, I got to know how she overcame learning challenges as a young child and how she found her calling as an entrepreneur focusing on educational products on similarly challenged kids.

She was in Atlanta for a conference and that gave us an opportunity to catch up over dinner. I think this is the longest I have spent any face to face time with her.

Some great discussions on how to deal with people who think differently and in general, how to survive and excel by being different in a world where people choose to be around similar people.

Had a thought provoking session! And a lot of catch up of our colleagues from yesteryears!!

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20 July 2024

Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be any more

Walking back from the grocery store with a bag in my hand early in the morning, I had a few throwbacks to the days of growing up in India. I instinctively knew then that just like my dad, I would someday be walking to a grocery shop to do the shopping too. I had just not bargained it to be in America and certainly not me in shorts!

The picture down the street reminded me of those days in India too. There were many other folks going to and fro from the grocery shop and a few people out for their morning walks. Admittedly, if my dad did what many of them were doing, the neighborly kids would have walked up and asked “kaku, aapnar kaaney oi saada comma duto ki?” (“Uncle, what are those two white comma-looking things in your ears?”). For, everybody seemed to be walking and talking – and flailing their arms in what seemed, from a distance, like an animated discussion with nobody in particular. Even the homeless guy in front of the grocery shop was going “Stop doing that! THAT IS MY ACT!!”

The reason I had gone to the grocery shop this early was to grab a carton of barista milk. I was running low on my stock for the morning cappuccino. I came home and Sharmila, measuring me up from top to down, quickly asked

“Did you get the eggs?”

“No. You did not ask me to.”

“Yes, I told you last night.”

Those days, no sooner would have my dad come home than my mom would start pointing out he had missed some items from the list she had made for him. That list, as it turns out, did go with him to the market but never came out his pockets there. He worked from his memory and he ad libbed a few items.

Back to market he would go.

Life, I feel this morning, has gone one full cycle for me.

If only I had a cycle like my dad used to have to go to the market.

Oh! Wait!!

Category: Downtown Activities, Humor | LEAVE A COMMENT
19 July 2024

Of lemons and lemonades

The original idea was that after giving her the surprise on her return from Uganda, she would go to her friend’s place and I would go back to work. Next day, we were going to fly home sitting next to each other. Me listening to all her Uganda stories.

Except, when I woke up at 5AM, FAA had grounded all flights due to the IT issue. Systems were so badly down that I could not even get thru to the airlines’ website or phone calls.

So, we made the best of the situation. Canceled our flight tickets and instead got ourselves a rental car!! And hit the road for a 12 hour journey to hear all the Uganda stories. On the way, we stopped at many rest areas to sit down and some fresh air. And, of course, more stories of a foreign land I have never seen.

Category: My Family, Travelogs | LEAVE A COMMENT
18 July 2024

The jaw drop and then the ear to ear grins!

From the previous post you would have gathered by now how I was lurking behind the pillar as Nikita came out of the immigration and customs area in Washington DC airport after two long flights from Uganda.

Keeping a safe distance of a few feet I kept weaving thru the crowd. And then when she reached a less crowded spot, quickly paced up, approached her from her rear right and said “Excuse me!” like I was trying to pass her.

She instinctively said sorry and withdrew to her left.

I made eye contact.

One Mississippi. Two Mississippi.

And that is when the jaw drop happened. I caught a part of her face (you can see in the top part of the picture).

Spent a few minutes with her fellow interns returning from Uganda, took a group picture and came back to my hotel to start my day. She is staying with her friend tonight. And we will go back home tomorrow.

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18 July 2024

She still has no idea!!

Nikita was in Uganda doing an internship for the summer working with “Set Her Free” – an organization that focuses on creating a future for very young pregnant girls and mothers. (Nikita mentioned some of them were 12 and 13 years world).

She had a bit of a rough time the last couple of days of her stay there with extreme tiredness, catching a cold and all that. From Uganda, she flew to Qatar and then to Washington DC. Originally, she was to come back to Atlanta in a few hours. But because of her health and tiredness – especially after two long flights, she opted to stay with a friend for the night in DC and come back home the next day.

You can see her walking out straight from the customs and immigration in DC airport.

What she had no inkling of is that right behind the pillar was her dad with his iPhone camera on!!

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