Thursday, December 21, 2006

A roller-coaster day!!

Went to work at 7 am today. I was to give Marilena's birthday present to her in advance was very excited about it. I really like her a lot. She is from Caracas, Venezuela and is an intern pharmacist here. She has the kind of personality I admire and we have gotten along perfectly. But I found out today that she had not passed her Boards. Very sad and definitely unfair!!! I hope she can pull herself together and get it done next time, she deserves to be happy!!

Then i called up my supervisor to tell her about my decision and talked to her for about 45 mins. She was gracious about it, understanding and supportive. It went very well. So my last day will be 18th Jan- that will be 5 years to the date that I started working for Longs. I never thought I would say this, but I am going to miss Longs. I had an awesome time here, even through the darkest, stressful days, people have been supportive and helpful. I love being with people helping them and playing a part in their lives. I know so much about so many, and it is a amazing that so many people open up to me and take me into their lives. They send me flowers, candy write me thank-you notes...it is truly humbling. I hope i can continue to do something like this where i help people, make a difference , even when i go back to India.

Then in the evening i went to Anagha's place to tell her the news and also met Oli and of course they were shocked! But she said that she had a feeling we were upto something, since we sold our basa-basaya house gave up Jake. ( I miss Jake!! :-( . I hope he is happy.)
They had the same sentiments like a lot of others, Oli said he is amazed at our guts and that he wished he could do something like this. So, is it all about guts, courage? Why do you need courage to go back home? Shouldn't that be the first an foremost concern in the mind of every non-resident Indian - to go home, one day. If the opportunity presents itself, is it not common sense that you choose that path even though that means going against the popular wisdom of "life is always better in US than India?" I am sure a lot of our friends have saved up enough moeny that if they wanted to, they could pack up and leave, today. And just imagine, even if just a few of the very well educated, independent thinking, " global Indians" decided to go back home and put their talents to use, what a wonderful world it would be!! Wishful thinking? Day dreaming? I don't know. (Dreaming, after all, is my birth-right!) We will see, zindagi hame kis manzar tak pahuchayegi!

3 days after the big day!

"What!!"
"How can you do that?"
"When were you going to tell us?"
"When are you coming home?"
"I am jealous!!"
"You guys are brave!!"
"Congratulations"
"We can't wait to see Eeshu"

These are some of the reactions we heard when we informed family and friends of the good news that Parth had been admitted to ISB. We got the email at 4 am on the 15th of December and the mood in the house was so electric that even Eeshan couldnot stay asleep past 5 am. We were bouncing up and down the whole day and unfortunately I had to go to work. Not before getting an awesome lunch treat from Parth at a brazillian restaurant in Westlake Village called Galletto's.
Since then, every day that passes, the news becomes more and more real......WE ARE MOVING BACK TO INDIA!!! We must have repeated this phrase a thousand times over the last 3 days but every time I say it, I giggle like a giddy bride saying the name of her groom for the first time. I am so excited!!!! We have explained our decision to f & f (friends and family) many many times as this has come out of nowhere for most of them. And after every conversation we come out with the same conclusion - we are doing the right thing!
Parth sent a sweet email to all our f & f yesterday titled goodbye and goodluck and mails have been pouring in from literally all the nooks and corners of the globe!!! It feels good to be in touch with all our friends and to receive their well-wishes.
Thank you very much to you all!!!

My two cents worth!

So, after 2 failed attempts at starting my blog, here i go again.....hopefully the third time is a charm.
This is my attempt to chronicle our R2I and my life as an "ISB-spouse"- which is what I will be for the next year. So many things are happening so fast, that I need a way to keep track of events as they happen and also to preserve my memories of this fascinating period in our life so that we can revist them in the future. I can only imagine the conversations I will have with Eeshan when he grows up about our decision to leave a cushy life in the US and go back home to India. Maybe, then, these reflections will be priceless.
So here goes..........