23 October 2022

I have not seen these three under the same roof in a long time

It used to be the case that every time I visited my parents, the whole family would get together at their place. These three kids and I used to get a lot of quality time together. And by “quality time”, I mean completely nonsensical discussions, giggling at the stupidest things and always pulling the elder nephew’s legs. (He is the goody goody, conscientious one of them all).

Then my parents passed away.

And two of these three went away to college.

After a long time they were together this week for Diwali and “bhaiphnota” under the same roof.

We had a long video call to celebrate the olden times. “Kintu ototao noy” (this is an insider joke).

And of course, there was good ribbing of the elder nephew to be had!!

Category: Family in India | LEAVE A COMMENT
2 October 2022

Warm welcome in Amman!

Mahmoud and I became great friends during my last trip to Amman. He took me around his country and guided me with a lot of history and geography lessons.

“You have to promise to come back and bring your family back next time!”, were his parting words when we bid good bye last time.
“I definitely will”, I had promised him.
“You will meet my family and have dinner with us”, he had graciously invited.
“Indeed!!”

After that we have kept up on Whatsapp and occasional phone calls.

He was the first person there at the airport waiting for us when we finally came out of the customs area.

He was clearly overjoyed to see us!

He pronounces my name the Arabic way – almost like “Rajab”. He explained to Sharmila the good times we had last time when we went around in our adventures.

“Rajab is not my friend. He is my brother,” he explained to her.

“My family has been talking about you for the last whole week. They have been waiting eagerly! You have to have dinner with us tomorrow.”

“We will do so!”, I assured him as we sped away in the dark from the airport for our over an hour ride to the Dead Sea.

Always very reassuring to get a great welcome in a foreign country!

Category: Intersection Points, Vacations | LEAVE A COMMENT
24 September 2022

Our second foray into Alpharetta downtown Saturday morning farmer’s market

… what in Bengali we would call āĻļāĻ¨āĻŋāĻŦāĻžāĻ°ā§‡āĻ° āĻšāĻžāĻŸ !

Today’s discovery includes young ginger (I do not think I have ever had this) and white cucumber. Also found Bengali’s favorite āĻĒā§āĻāĻ‡āĻļāĻžāĻ•!! I am one āĻšāĻšā§āĻšā§œāĻŋ away from reliving the Saturday mornings in India!

I am thinking of making some cocktails utilizing the young ginger. If you have any ideas, let me know…

Category: My Family | LEAVE A COMMENT
18 September 2022

Even if you do not come here for the food and drinks… come here to meet the people

Chiringa has been our “go to” place for a few years. It is not the food or the drinks (although they have their bright spots)… you come here for the people and how they treat you. Every single person here – (Charlotte, Susan,Emily, Emory, Kylie, Logan, Rebekah… ) will make you feel like family. But the best of them all is Lauren – the manager and uber-all here. The way she treats her employees and customers is a lesson many retailers can learn from. I know. I have watched her for the better part of four years now.

Today was a great example of that.

After a long day of hospice service, motorbike ride, boat ride, I finally settled down with Jay Jay in Chiringa for a drink and some food. (it is a six minute walk for me). Jay Jay met Jocelyn.

Jocelyn is the young daughter of the couple who cleans up the place. I have met them before. Jocelyn has quickly become a big fan of Jay Jay.

Speaking of Jocelyn, I saw Lauren sitting with her and doing something. I took
a picture. Apologize for the completely out of focus picture. Not sure what happened.

“What are you guys doing?” I enquired.

Turns out Lauren – (get this – the manager) – helps Jocelyn (the daughter of the cleaner) with her homework and actually gives her more homework!!

That is incredible!

Lauren is one of the most hard working person I know. She is on her laptop trying to keep the business going every time i see her. On top of that, she does this??

Can’t think of a better person. Can’t think of a better place.

“So, you are doing homework with her?”

“Oh yes! Jocelyn is very smart. I know her from her birth”.

You see that blurry guy in the blurry picture? That is Jocelyn’s dad. He came forward to show me the picture of Lauren holding Jocelyn when she was born,

I was stunned!!

How many retail business managers do you know who would visit the hospital to ring in the baby of the cleaner in the restaurant?

You know – I don’t care about the menu anymore. I just want to be here. And if this world has any sense of fairness, I want these kind of human beings to succeed in life.

Category: Intersection Points | LEAVE A COMMENT