Let the shopping begin! Sunil and I are completely bored, waiting outside and sweating bullets!!!

Found the old village of Guatil (all of twenty houses or so). For generations and generations they have practiced only pottery.
Went inside one such house and they agreed to give us some pottery lessons!!

As the two Roy families sat by the pool late last night, Hullor and Chiko wanted to know how did the two families get to know each other.
It was Aug 2, 1997. We had moved into our new apartment the previous night. The movers had just finished dropping the last of the boxes that morning. As Sharmila started making another round of Saturday coffee, something startled me. I could distinctly hear a lady’s voice speaking in Bengali (my mother tongue which is not very common). It seemed to come from very close to our door.

I put my eye in the peephole to investigate and saw an young lady looking down the staircase (we were on second floor) and talking to someone (who I could not see) in clear Bengali. And the door directly opposite was wide open!

Marveling what the chances were that we would have moved in right next to a Bengali family, I opened the door. She looked at me, perplexed. I introduced myself, explained that we had moved in next door and asked if she was speaking in Bengali. By this time, her husband, who from the evidence looked like was in the middle of taking the trash out – upon noticing a stranger talking to his wife had started briskly walking back up the stairs.

The next few minutes were hilarious.
Me: “You guys are Bengalis?”
He: “Yes!”
Me: “As are we! What is your last name?”
He: “Roy”
Me: “Get out! We are Roys too!! Where do you work?”
He: “A small supply chain company called i2. I have just joined.”
Me: “WHAT? I have been working there for 2 years!”
I had also noticed that the lady’s unmistakable bump.
Me: “So is this your first kid?”
He: “Yes. We are expecting a daughter.”
Me: “Ha Ha. Nice! We are expecting too. Our first kid. A daughter!! Do you have any parents coming to help you?”
He: “Yes, my inlaws are coming this November”
Me: “Mine too!!!!”

At this point of time, the conversation had the full potential of going the route of a scene in an old Hindi movie where a guy meets another guy and during the conversation finds out they are from the same place, same last name etc..etc.. As the conversation reached a crescendo of “Me too” excitement, one guy asked if the other guy had a mole on his left chest. To which the guy replied “No”. “Me neither” exclaimed the first guy and hugged the other guy realizing they were long lost twin brothers!!! 🙂

That, Hullor and Chiko, is how the beautiful relationship started between the two Roy families more than 16 years back.

And yes, Hullor, you turning up to be a boy was a complete surprise to your parents and us! But we would not trade you for anything on this whole wide world!!!

This is certainly three shades of blue. The pool, the ocean and the sky… Important self note: When you get in the pool with the camera, make sure it is strapped tight to your shoulder 🙂

Went to a completely God-forsaken place to pick up some wine bottles. Guess what? The Yellow Tail was all over!!!! 🙂

Sunday night means only one thing. Date night with Sharmila. At a bar. Watching an NFL game. With friends like Alexis, Cathy, Heather, Alex, Sarah, Katelyn etc….
Today Sharmila and I are at Nau bar in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, with our great friends Sunil and Anannya watching Denver play New England…

Was feeling bad about the picture quality in the previous post. I had taken a few with my phone directly. Here are some of them…