13 April 2018

Eastwards, ho!

One more time I am excited that I will be able to see my parents back in India. I cannot wait to hear what kind of complaints my mom will have or what kind of comments my dad will make. I know he has to a lot to say. Last three months he has been trying to talk to me quite a few times during my daily call to mom. But since he is hard of hearing, he cannot understand a word I say on the phone. Every time he would get frustrated and say “Tui aay. Tokhon katha hobey” (You come. We will talk then).

My predictions are that he will claim he has become better and that we do not need any more domestic help or the physiotherapist. He will complain that we are wasting too much money on them. My mom will complain that dad is not listening to her and will try to get off his bed when nobody is around (or sleeping). He has fallen three times already in the last three months trying to do this.

I know my dad is waiting for me to get him the printouts of Natasha’s articles (in those various publications she writes in). He is a big fan of her writing and keeps her articles neatly stacked on one side of his bed. He was upset that in December I had not brought the printouts. (In my defense, on Oct 31, he could not even recognize me; I had nary a clue that in December he would be sitting up and reading newspapers).

In terms of intersection points, this may not be an eventful trip in India. Most of the time I will be with my parents. However, there is another country I am going to visit for a couple of days and while I have some work there, I hope to meet some of my long lost classmates and colleagues.

But before all that excitement ensues, I have three flights (one of them nearly 14 hours 🙁 ), two long layovers and a trip by car to endure. And then 100+ deg F temperatures everywhere!!

That said, I cannot help reflect how lucky I have been that I have the flexibility to go see my and Sharmila’s parents and my siblings every three months!! Most of my friends my age are not even lucky to have all their parents and parents-in-law alive. I just hope they will live long enough and I will have the flexibility to do this as many times as is possible!!

Category: Vacations | 35 Comments on Eastwards, ho!
9 April 2018

More word fun…. Baby animals

A few months back, I had posted a blog on collective nouns. Today is about baby animals or birds. I was listening to a radio show and they used the word “leveret”. For the life of me, I did not know what a leveret is… And that got me researching for uncommon names for baby animals or birds.

Do you know what kind of baby animals/birds are these?
(1) Leveret
(2) Cria
(3) Eyas
(4) Farrow
(5) Ephyra
(6) Puggle
(7) Flapper
(8) Pullet
(9) Cockrell
(10) Squab
(11) Elver
(12) Polliwog
(13) Wriggler or alternately tumbler
(14) Cosset
(15) Neonate

Before you Google, here are the animal/bird names… see if you can match them..
(a) Platypus
(b) Rooster
(c) Frog
(d) Snake
(e) Hawk
(f) Platypus
(g) Hen
(h) Eel
(i) Sheep
(j) Hare
(k) Jellyfish
(l) Dove / Pigeon
(m) Mosquito
(n) Alpaca / Lama
(o) Pig

If you can get one right, you are ahead of me!!!

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Category: Word Play | 3 Comments on More word fun…. Baby animals
8 April 2018

One of the better Perky Goths!!!

A great advantages of going to the same watering hole every Sunday with Sharmila after dinner is that you get to know the folks who work at the bar intimately. Over the years you get to know their background, their aspirations and their difficulties. We have seen some deal with a lot of challenges in life. Frankly, I have always thought that I and my family live an advantaged life and have only a modicum of understanding of how most Americans lead their lives. These folks at the bar with their life stories have kept me grounded on the struggles of many young men and women. Driving back from the bar, many a time I have remarked to Sharmila that we live a blessed life and we need to do something for the younger generation.

On the other hand, we have also shared with these folks some of their most joyous moments. We have seen some of them get engaged, get married and some of them move on to great careers. Over the years we have missed them – Joe, Alexis, Michael…. and so many more – but have been glad that they got some great breaks in life.

The other mundane upside of getting to know everybody at the bar, of course, is that I can ask them to make any drink I want. Real example…

“Can you make me a Perky Goth?”
“What is that?”, would have been a legitimate and somewhat expected response. Not too many people would know a Perky Goth – certainly not in the cocktail form.
And that is what precisely Caroline asked – who was rather startled with my request – right in the middle of giving us an update on her son and daughter.
“Gin, Ginger Liqueur, Absinthe, Blood Orange Bitters and Simple Syrup”

She was rather happy with the output once she was done carefully making it. It actually tastes pretty good – if you have not tried it out, I would recommend it. She also had the portions perfect.

It was good enough that I wanted to keep the moment for posterity with a picture of the drink and the creator!!

Category: Cocktails | 6 Comments on One of the better Perky Goths!!!
8 April 2018

From the bartender’s corner: Green House Negroni

Following up with my last two write ups on the Green House gin – unique gin but felt can’t go well with most cocktails. The citrusy one I tried – Lime Rickey – did not work well. Tried one where the gin does not have to carry most of the character – a Negroni. And this one turned out to be far better. Of course the palate and the nose of Campari and somewhat that of the Sweet Vermouth took the dominance out of the Gin.

Category: Cocktails | LEAVE A COMMENT
7 April 2018

I am surrounded by some angels!!

I met Christina for the first time with the CEO of her company in a meeting room in Atlanta way back when her company and my business unit was building a joint solution for the market. We became friends from there on. Eventually I left the company but I had kept up with her – especially in that one trusted way of mine – calling on birthdays!

Couple of weeks back, I finally got a chance to meet her again at a bar in New York. I am glad I did. I learnt so much about her, her husband and her family.

“So, if I recollect correctly, you quit your job, right?”, I asked
“Yes. For some time.” she said
“Where did you join?”
“Well, I work in the same company. As a consultant now.”
“You were not interested in working anywhere else?”
“No, I needed the flexibility of working hours”
“Got it. You said you had taken some time off from work, right?”
“Indeed”
“How did you use your time off?” (I was so ready to talk to her about how excited I am with motorcycles, mixology, hospice etc… but I wanted to hear her story first).
“I took the time off to raise my family”
“Oh! Congratulations! How many kids?”
“Three”
Frankly, I was like – “Wow! that was quick”. But what I asked was “How old are they?”
“My eldest son is sixteen years…” she went on.

But I had stopped listening to her. My cortical part of the brain had completely taken over. 16? But I had met her around 2010. How could she have taken time off after I left the company – which was itself 3 years after I met had her for the first time and have kids 16 year old. My mind was swirling in all sort of confusion.

As she kept talking, I could hear a few words through that cloud of confusion that started stabbing me back into consciousness….

“Wait! Wait! Roll that back for me. Did you say you adopted from Ethiopia?”

Second time around, I got the story straight. She and her husband had determined not to have their own kid – and instead change the lives of a few. They adopted a son from Ethiopia. Then found out that the child had a sibling (also given up at an orphanage). They adopted him too. Not content with the good that they had already done, they went back and adopted yet another – this time a girl from Ethiopia.

Again, life stories like this overwhelm me. This level of magnanimity and grace boggles my mind. I have mentioned this before about my time spent with an organization in Dallas where we rescued battered women and kids from physically abusive houses. I saw up close and personal how there are more kids than caring parents in this world.

People who can subtract one from that problem are just incredible human beings. I have no words for people who go back and do that multiple times.

I remembered my other friends from Wisconsin – Bob and Audrey (http://www.rajibroy.com/?p=7681) – who have adopted multiple times from Ethiopia and China and told their story to Christina.

This week, I ran into Girish in Cancun (http://www.rajibroy.com/?p=16292) – and found out that he and his wife have adopted two kids from Guatemala.

Amidst all this, the one thing I feel great about myself is that somehow I have been lucky in life enough to call people like these as my friends. For, these guys play the game of life at a very different level than I am able to comprehend.

It was magical to see you again, Christina! And may your tribe increase!

Category: Intersection Points | 3 Comments on I am surrounded by some angels!!