… but this quote from Mark Twain helps…

“Travel is fatal to prejuidce, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” (Mark Twain)

So, here’s to getting rid of some more of my prejudices…

Remember how I had talked about a very meaningful conversation I had with Uttara on her birthday a couple of weeks back? I know Uttara, of course, as the wife of my dear friend Kushal from my middle school days.

Turns out, circa 2004, when I had gone to visit Kushal in his house in Mumbai, I had missed her. She was traveling out of the country. But I did meet their daughter Shreya. I also remember meeting Uttara’s dad that time.

Now, normally, Uttara is busy when I call her in the evenings. So, we switch to Whatsapp messages later. This time though, she picked it up. While talking to her, I found out that Shreya was starting her PhD in a couple of weeks. In University of California, Irvine!! Which is about an hour from University of California, Riverside where my nephew is going to join.

So, instead of going to the airport directly to pick up my nephew today, we first made a detour to UCI. Picked up Shreya and went for lunch by the waterside. It was a short meeting but a memorable one. Sharmila summed it best when we dropped her back in her college and headed towards the airport – “She is so well put together!”

Really a very mature, well balanced young adult!

All those years when my parents were alive, I used to show up in Kolkata airport to visit them quarterly. Unfailingly, these two (my nephews) would be waiting outside the airport to receive me and then accompany me to their granddad’s house.

Years later, I now get to return the favor as the younger of the two comes over to the USA to start his undergraduation in UC Riverside. We took the coast to coast flight yesterday and are now waiting eagerly at Los Angeles airport for Rishu to show up!

That handwritten board was Sharmila’s idea.

By the way, they eventually outgrew their shorts and used to show up in their long pants. I have not returned that favor yet 🙂 🙂

During his orientation, he was given lemonade. He tried it and immediately took a shine to it. As did his roommate, it seems! Both agreed that lemonade here is very different from India!

So far, he has tried out four different flavors of lemonade in the various places we have been to!!

Also got to know his roommate

These friends were just outside his dorm while all the kids were moving in!!

Took the nephew and his roommate to Coronado Island. They were brave enough to get into the cold water. I was perfectly happy settling down on the boardwalk with a glass of wine watching all sorts of passers by and dogs walk around. Interestingly, English speaking folks were rare to come by!

Last time I saw Rupa and Vishal, it was way back in 2017. (posted here). This time, I had kept enough time between settling down my nephew and my flight out from Los Angeles to see them. Fortunately, Rupa and Vishal were able to make time for me. And I am grateful to them for that.

For, we had a whale of a time. From memories of hilarious incidents during our MBA days to serious topics of how we are blind to our own biases and our education system is not geared towards opening our eyes to it… it was a really enjoyable evening. In the last post, I had talked about how we did not have many dad jokes (we called them PJs – Poor Jokes in India). I am sure Rupa and Vishal will vouch for my statement that I more than made up for it this time 🙂

Did I say I had kept enough time to meet them? I stand corrected. We could have gone easily for another couple of hours without missing a beat. But I did have a 12 hour flight to catch. And navigating LAX airport is not for the weak of the heart.

Well, with a nephew in the neighborhood, I sure am hoping we will have a few more sessions like this!