Our original adventure into this island a mere 40 miles off the coast of Venezuela was slated for April 2020. With Nikita and her friend Shreya. Well, the pandemic put paid to those plans. Three and a half years later, both the girls are in their colleges away from home. So, it is just Sharmila and myself this time…
Sitting in the flight to Miami – my first flight with Sharmila after joining the new job – I am driven to reflect on the recent past. There I was, minding my own business – enjoying an early retirement, covering beaches of a different island or country every month – Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Abaco, Roatan … not to speak of the Coronado Island (twice) in this country within the first six months of this year, when the best laid plans of mice and men got upset.
Reflecting further, I might have been an idiot. From all the comments from my friends and well wishers, it would appear that I was the only one confident that I was not going back to work. For money or otherwise.
And yet, somehow, I ran into yet another great team. Who has been more than accepting and welcoming of a leader whose self admitted strength lies in his ignorance and unabashedly trying to make a case that the other side might be right.
The span of six weeks has been a blur. Work has been exhilarating. Even more adventurous has been trying to settle down to a new routine. The daily walk to the local bars with Sharmila and dog – regardless of how late it is – has become an article of faith. Joining my running group again to force myself to get back into running first thing in the morning has revived many an endorphin that had escaped me for years.
Motorbiking and boating has entered the “must do” domain of every weekend. Heck, even started canoeing – to add more complexity to the routine.
The regrettable costs emerging include not having the flexibility to see the two girls in New York and DC whenever I want. And my social time with Atlanta friends has been dramatically reduced. As has the time I could spend helping friends professionally – finding jobs, making new connections, offering help in resume feedback or management decisions they were struggling with.
Ah! Well!! In another attempt to balance the old with the new. Sharmila and I are headed to yet another island to take in the beautiful beaches and the cerulean waters for the long weekend.
Watching the fiery western sky thru the airplane window, I am moved to conclude that … sunsets are a beautiful thing to reflect upon as you steadily march towards them…
Over a quarter century back, I used to come to this building for work. Made some life long relationships here with folks like Subhasis Ojha, Kang Lu, Jim Mackay, Dave Thompson, Bill Lenson, Mohammad Nejad-Sattary, Marty Flemington and many more that flash thru my mind. Driving on QEW, moment I saw the exit for Guelph Line, it all came back to me! I told Sharmila I was going to take the exit and take a few pictures.
There was a Holiday Inn next door that I used to stay in. It is still there but seems to have been thoroughly renovated. I even showed Sharmila the backdoor I used to take in the office building to cut short those bone chilling cold walks from the hotel to the office every winter!
Till the other day, if you had asked Sharmila or me where our nearest blood relatives are, we would have said – “About 10,000 miles or 24 hours of flight away (not counting layover time)”. In fact most of them are within about 100 miles of Kolkata.
Now that has changed dramatically. DrDebarun, Amrita and Debayan have moved to Toronto. Now the answer is – “Less than 800 miles or about 1 hour 45 minutes of flight time away”!!
Admittedly, you have to jump three generations from Sharmila or Amrita to find common blood. But still it counts.
I had met Amrita way back when she was in 5th grade in 1993 and this is the first time I met Debarun and Debayan!!!
