We live no more than a twenty minute drive away from each other but we do not get together as often as we should. Chris and I have worked twice together and have had to live thru some tough business situations together. Took the opportunity yesterday to meet him in Halcyon – where they have done a great job of seating arrangements out in the open for social distancing – and catch up on our families.

There were a lot of friends and updates we went thru from our past to be able to cover in one evening but we gave it a shot anyways. Chris might have dropped about 45 pounds in the last few months but none of his sharp sense of humor, for sure.

“Are you ready to jump back into the corporate world?”, I asked Chris who is enjoying time off from work.
He thought for a while and then added – “I think so. There is only so much of being a trophy husband at home I can take!”

Touche!
That is the sharp wit I miss when not around him!!!

Roam is one of those Wework kind of shared office spaces in Atlanta area. I think they have six or seven locations now in Atlanta area. I have had a membership for at least 10 years and whenever I am not traveling, I usually work from there. Consequently, I have gotten to know all the staff here over the years fairly well – and I think I joined here before any of the existing staff.

I have to admit this is one of the most friendly, helpful and professional staff I have had a chance to interact with during all my travels and work life. Thru the virus days, they kept the place open for people like us to work, opened up all offices free for members (usually you have to book and pay), put social distancing, sanitizers all over, re-tooled the doors so as to minimize contacts. And somebody from the staff would show up every morning before anybody else to make coffee and stack up free snacks and food for anybody who would show up.

Most of the days the whole huge place used to have two or three of us and we barely got to see each other. Now things have changed a little. There is still masks and social distancing. But we have more people working here.

Sharmila and I had decided to treat the staff to Indian lunch some day to say Thank You! Today was the day.

I was certainly a bit worried – given that Erin had not had Indian food before and the one time Micalah had Indian food – let’s just say it did not stay with her for too long! Katie, however cooks some Indian dishes at home and Zach is fairly well experienced in different culinary tastes.

The good news is that it worked out great. Everybody seemed to deal with the spiciness and flavors very well. Micalah even came back for more!

The conversations were even more enjoyable. Katie talked about her trips to India and Bali and we exchanged notes from our family trip to Bali a few years back. Zach’s family (I think he said his sister and her family) has been missionaries in Mongolia for the last four years. That brought back a lot of memories from Roger and my trip there three years back. And I found out that Erin’s best friend for 20 years is an Indian girl. Still have not figured out how she managed to escape without any Indian food for so long!!

I was without a ride today. In the morning, when I started from home, it was raining – so taking the motorbike to work like I normally do was out of the question. Sharmila had dropped me. But in the evening, I was stuck since Sharmila and Nikita had to go somewhere.

The solution was simple – I went downstairs from where I work and went to the Mexican restaurant and got myself a glass of wine. They have a few tables and chairs outside in a covered area. I was thoroughly enjoying the evening sitting out with some wine and watching the rain fall with a fair bit of fury.

Subsequently, made friends with the couple sitting at another table. They had caught my attention by how friendly they were. First they gifted some kind of vegetable plant in a pot to the gentleman who runs the place. Then they talked to the very young daughter of one of the workers there for some time. I had figured out by then that they had to be regulars there.

I had a fascinating time getting to know Steve and Bonnie. They live not too far away on a 4 acre property in the house that Bonnie’s grandmom built back in the 1920s! They apparently grow a lot of vegetables and love eating vegetables. We started talking about spicy food (given my Indian background). I learnt from Bonnie about Scoville scale of measuring heat (pungency – like heat in peppers or chillis) and how it is measured!

Steve and Bonnie has traveled extensively in Peru. We were there back in 2009. Exchanged notes on Mira Flores and that incredible restaurant in the middle of the ocean – La Rosa Nautica!

That was a great evening! Hope to meet them more often!

This Sunday, I was running in my trail – feeling rather pleased that I was coming up on the 3.5 mile marker (since that would mean I would be forced to complete a 7 mile run), when I passed somebody that at first glance looked like a very elderly gentleman shuffling along. What actually caught my eye was the back of his T-shirt. It read “Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body”.

As I went past him, I kept thinking of that saying. I was wondering where he got the T-Shirt from. I also had noticed as I passed him that he did not have any mask with him – and he was fairly elderly. I was thinking that he should take more precaution.

On my way back, I saw him coming towards me again. He clearly did not have a mask with him. So, I stepped on the other side of the trail path – giving him a clear 10 feet of social distancing – and said:

“Excuse me. I saw the writing on your T-shirt. I loved it. Can I take a picture of it?”
“You want to know how I got it?”, he asked – decidedly much friendlier than I was expecting.

Fifteen minutes later, I was able to construct a fascinating story of this gentleman. Apparently, he moved to Georgia sometime back and lost his wife twelve years back. One day, he saw an ad from the Marines that if anybody came and did some pull ups (that they stipulated) successfully, they could earn a T-shirt. Not knowing anything better, he made a beeline for the camp. He implied that he did not make it all the way to all the pull ups (he was pushing way over 70 years, for sure). But he got the T-shirt anyways. Sure enough, the front of the T-shirt had the familiar “Marines” insignia.

What I could not figure out from his sunburnt face and well kept beard was given away by a couple of distinct accents.

“You are from India, are you not?”
“Yes, from Punjab”.
“I am from West Bengal. Rajib. Rajib Roy”
“I am Amrit Aurora. I spell the French way”
“Ah! A-U-rora, then!”
“Exactly”

Turns out Mr. Aurora studied in UK. Worked in UK and Germany. Was recruited by Ford and immigrated to Michigan for 18 years. Eventually, moved to Georgia where is wife’s niece lives.

He walks in the trail – anywhere between 4 to 14 miles at a 4 mile per hour pace he told me. His starting point is on the other end from where I start. He admitted his memory is fading – could not remember some of the road names and gym names he used to go to but was certainly not lacking in willingness to duke it out physically.

I marveled at the fact that there is my dad – another 83 year old – he cannot get out of his bed and I go to see him every three months – and here is somebody – of the same age – merrily walking mile after mile – without any worry of the pandemic going around us.

We promised to stay in touch and talk more. (In fact, he already followed up yesterday).

“Before I let you go sir, what gives you the drive to stay this active?”

He thought for a while and said “Because every day I wake up is something I know many others don’t. And while we have done a lot of things – we can never create something as beautiful as nature”.

“Thank you sir, I will be in touch”.

Running back, I kept thinking how true his words were – the simplest things in life – like nature – are so beautiful. Yet, we wrap around ourselves artificial walls. To what end?