On this road called life that we are all destined to walk along and cross paths with, we often come across very simple people whose journey on this road absolute inspires us and exalts us to strive to make every bit of that journey as rewarding as is possible. Today was such a day for me.

Second work day of the week. Second city to visit. At the end of all meetings, my friend from work Mark and I took refuge at Miller’s Brewhouse at Milwaukee airport to catch up on emails and phone calls before we called it a day – or in my case, catch a flight back home. With all that back to back emails and phone calls, I had not paid much attention to the young lady Chelsey who was serving us. After I was done with my calls and work, I put my phone down. But Mark was still working. So, I turned around to Chelsey who was nearby and asked her “Tell me your life story”.

Initially she was reluctant insisting it was a little sad. I assured her that I genuinely wanted to listen. And the story that unfolded was an incredible one. I learnt that Chelsey is from Tennessee where she was happily married and soon had a baby – the love of her life. Between her husband and her, they took shifts in work to look after the baby at home. And one day, when she came home, she came home to worst fear any mother in this whole world could ever come to. Her one month old child had died of SIDS. (The child was on his belly and suffocated himself). A little time later, her husband and she grew apart and eventually separated. She was just a couple of years over twenty!!!

Unlike many other weaker earthling – especially at that age – who might turn to other means to escape reality including illegal ones, she resolutely resolved to make something out of herself. She left Tennessee and came to Milwaukee for a “clean start” and follow her dreams to be a vet. She works today not in one job… two jobs…. but three jobs as she takes herself thru a vet school at the same time!!! She is determined to come out with flying colors on the other side.

As I took her permission to feature her in my blog, I asked her if she would take a picture with me. She not only did that but gave me a picture of the locket she was wearing. (See the inset) That is a locket she never separates from. No mother every would. It contains the ashes of her child.

What an inspiring story. How many times a simple thing at home has not worked and we have had bitter reactions? How many times we have been critical of that one well paying job we have – let alone three minimum wage jobs. Amidst all this, how many of us keep telling ourselves – No matter what, I am coming out of this on the other end, way ahead of others? And with a brilliant smile to boot?

If anyone of you ever happen to be in Milwaukee airport, just stroll over to the Miller Brewhouse on the upper floor and ask for Chelsey. And wish her the best of luck. The world has to belong to hard workers like her who is never down on life!

If any one of you visit Dallas (or live there) and are looking for a nice wine bar, do not forget to go to Mercy in Addison. And make sure you meet my new friend Mike there. He made the evening for us and my business company absolutely marvelous. We found out that we both have a lot in common – stand up comedy, mixology and being sharp as a whip. Okay, okay, agreed that I extended the truth on that bit about me being sharp. But still two out of three is not bad!

Also, when you go there, do not forget to try a wine called “Lunatic”!

Last weekend Sharmila’s friend Rupa had visited us from Dubai. On Sunday, I was dropping her at the airport and on the way we started talking about the concept of friendship – you know FB friends, school friends, work friends etc. At some point she talked about somebody called Sudeshna Das who now lives in Houston and that she was a friend of Rupa’s sister. The thought that went thru my mind immediately was that she must be then my sister’s friend (same batch). Anyways, after dropping Rupa at the airport, I made a couple of calls to friends in Houston to see if we could track down Sudeshna. As luck would have it, I was going to be in Houston within a couple of days for work.

As you can imagine, a little help from FB, friends and a few phone calls and I did get to meet a complete stranger – Sudeshna (frequently called Mou). Our common friend Subrata, his wife, Sharmistha and Sudeshna had dinner with me. We absolutely missed Tapan Das – Sudeshna’s husband who had to leave for Brazil that day.

The dinner started, innocuously enough, with two complete strangers meeting. By the time the evening was over, we found more intersections points than we could shake a stick at. I probably cannot remember all of them now but to cite a few – we already knew that she and my sister were classmates. Found out that her cousin – who has been very very close to her all her life – is a very close friend of my wife Sharmila. I knew Sharmila visited this particular lady every time we went to India – I just did not know the connection with Sudeshna at all. Then we found out Sudeshna married Tapan – who is a friend from college days of none other than Samaresh who I run with every Sunday morning here in Atlanta. Did I mention that Samaresh and I lived a stone’s throw away during our middle and high school days in India?

The conversation invariably went to our parents and their health. A little later when Sudeshna told me that her parents used to live in City Center ( an area in Durgapur), I became even more inquisitive. I asked her if she remembered any more details. She mentioned that she thought it was on Michael Faraday Road. I was like “Get out of here. Which house?”. She thought #20, but she was not sure. This was way too much coincidence. So, I asked her if she could call her mom in India. Which she did. And I took the phone away from her, introduced myself to her mom and asked her what was her exact house number when she lived in City Center. She confirmed that it was indeed 20. I asked her if she knew her next door neighbor. “Mamata Ghosh?”, she asked. “Absolutely”, I replied – “they are my inlaws. And they still live there!”. We were both very excited.

So, I asked her “Where do you live now”? I knew that they had moved to Kolkata since Sudeshna had mentioned this before. I did not know exactly where, though. Well, you are not going to believe this, they have moved right where my brother lives. In fact, you might have seen many pictures of me and my brother running on my blogsite right in front of their house!! As you can imagine, I made a promise to visit her and have tea with her next time when I am in Kolkata – which is a few weeks away. Reminded me of the trip to see Sanghamitra’s mom last time!

The evening started between two absolute strangers but in about an hour and half’s time, we realized that we had this huge network of connections in India and USA that tied us together. It was as if we have always known each other through these years.

We really really missed Tapan. I am sure I would find at least another set of connections. In fact, we never explored Sudeshna’s in-laws’ side at all!

That would be the agenda for the next trip to Houston!!! If Subrata and Sharmistha can deal with the boredom that is 🙂