20 October
2013
20 October
2013
Sharmila’s art show
19 October
2013
Good looking potato
Most of you who know me, also know very well that grocery shopping is clearly not one of my core competencies. I have rarely done it and I am totally clueless about the aisle layouts. Once in a blue moon, Sharmila will hand me a list of things to pick up. Typically, once in the store, I will look at the top of the list and then roam around the store looking for that item, listlessly 🙂 Eventually, I will give up, call her up and then ask for instructions. She will remotely guide me to the aisle, I will find the item and then tell her “I have got it from here” before dropping the call.
Then I will see the next item on the list, again walk around the whole store completely confused where to find the item, call her back again…. and so on … till I have made as many calls as there are items on the list. It is the same story every single time.
So, these days, she tries to be very explicit in her instructions when she absolutely needs me to go to the grocery store.
This is the text message I got from her when I was out running an errand this morning.
The good news is, following her directions, I landed up in the potato section. Except there were lots and lots of potatoes. And I had no idea in God’s green earth when to deem a potato “good looking”. Frankly, they all looked rather unseemly to me 🙂
As you must have guessed, a phone call ensued… 🙂 🙂
18 October
2013
Sindoor Khela
18 October
2013
Lunch with a twist!
15 October
2013
The sleeping giant!
This is the man I come to visit every 3 months. He is a pale shade of who he was. Bereft of ambulatory powers, most of his days are spent laying next to his medicine, a few favorite CDs, a couple of books…. and a monkey cap!!! This visit is for less than a day…. but it was totally worth sitting beside him for a few hours when he was awake….
13 October
2013
Mr. Whitney!
No trip to Dallas is complete without meeting this guy. After our business work was over and we left, I suddenly remembered that I forgot to take a picture of him.
One quick phone call later, both of us pulled over to the side of the street. Unfortunately, there was nobody to take a picture of us. So, we had to make do with a precariously balanced iPhone and a couple of stones on a raised concrete step and a misfiring camera app!!!
12 October
2013
Thirty years later….
Today was the start of Durga Puja in Atlanta – the biggest festival for us Bengalis. Everyone dresses up in the best traditional clothes and shows up for various events for about three days.
I, too, showed up in my traditional clothes – which is a pair of shorts and a panel shirt. 🙂
The first thing that happened was that I got a dressing down from my wife for showing up in shorts. As I was cowering down and settling in a bench, the second thing happened!
A guy walked up to me and asked “Are you Rajib Roy”? I was almost like “Yeah. Who wants to know?”, when I looked up. And in a fraction of a second, thousands of neurons and dendrons must have connected (or whatever it is that connect when you remember something from the past) – and I yelled “Prabasaj Paul”?
He was one year senior to me in the residential school I went to for junior and senior years of high school. (11th and 12th grade). He was a legend in his academic prowess. So many times, he was my last resort when I was absolutely stumped with a problem and nobody could help me!!!
Last time I saw him was in March 1984!!! Almost 30 years back!!
It was unbelievably good to see him again!!!
10 October
2013
Is this a biker gang?
Mr. Al Blake!!! We worked together nearly two decades back and the best we could remember we saw each other 16 years back.
I had some great discussions of life in general with him – the concept of being happy, the overinflated importance of a job, family, financial security….
We remembered some of the best people we had the chance to work with from our past…
I could have gone for another four hours just getting his incredibly balanced perspective . There is a lot I could learn from him…
9 October
2013
Willie Weichi Weng (the other www :-) )
Willie Weng!! Or as we Bengalis are prone to pronounce it – Billie Beng!!! (and to the veterans of that character building exercise called Toshiba project from i2 days – simply Wiilie-san!!)
A pleasanter person I have never met in my life!
Since my first meeting with him in 1995, he has been the example of personal humility that I have fruitlessly toiled to emulate…
