Sangeeta and me walk about 7/8 kms , 5 days a week .That
makes it between 35 to 40 kms a week .The walking tracks are lovely .They are beautifully manicured and
have lots of trees that flank the brick layered path .The path winds its way
around a lake which has lovely British type of benches dotting it (like in Hyde
Park! ).Since ours is not a crowded
locality ,one starts to recognize the people who walk .They are mostly
foreigners and they usually walk with their dogs.The thing i noticed about them is that they always greet everyone .To that extent they appear to be friendly !Some of them jog –even in
the afternoons !! .One gets to see very pedigreed dogs ,and all of them are
remarkably well trained .They never veer away from their masters and I haven’t heard
them bark .Quite the opposite to our dogs who start to bark and pull their
lease towards any dog ,cat,or a duck –much to the surprise of the foreigners and to our emabrrasment.
About a week back , while on a walk we a saw a Indian couple
.From a distance I could make out the they were middle aged –the man was wearing shorts , with balding grey hair , and looked
fit .He was bespectacled ,had intelligent eyes and spoke impeccable English .His
wife was even slimmer (as we leaarnt later ,she is a yoga instructor).A dog was
tailing them .He looked a like any stray dog looks in India .But he was walking with a twig in his mouth
!!As we passed each other ,we smiled at the dog and remarked “He is so cute “.It was enough to
set up a conversation .
The gentleman and his wife we
learnt were Indians from Gurgaon , they
had Canadian citizenships ,and their son was studying at the Toronto University
.I told them that my son was was also in Canada and studying at the Dalhousie
University in Halifax . I was pleasantly surprised to know that he knew so much
about Halifax and Dalhousie .
“It’s a beautiful place.And its a very prestigious University.I go there very often”,he said .We introduced ourselves and exchanged our addresses and mobile numbers .He was Avijit and his wife introduced herself as Promilla .She was from Neemuch a town on the Madhya Pradesh /Rajasthan border .Neemuch is a part of Ujjain Division.
“I have been to Neemuch once”,I told her . Neemuch is well known for the its special Moharram processions of Tazia. The tradition of Tazia procession is almost 150 years old.I had gone to Neemuch because it has a Aditya Birla School at Khor .I had worked in the Aditya Birla Group in the late nineties as the Principal of DPS at Jagdishpur in their Birla Township at Indo Gulf Fertilizers .
“Oh that’s very nice .I feel so good .Most people haven’t even heard of the place .And imagine you have been to it “,she gushed .
“We must meet soon”,Avijit said
“Why don’t you come over for dinner and drinks tomorrow”,I offered .""
“It’s a beautiful place.And its a very prestigious University.I go there very often”,he said .We introduced ourselves and exchanged our addresses and mobile numbers .He was Avijit and his wife introduced herself as Promilla .She was from Neemuch a town on the Madhya Pradesh /Rajasthan border .Neemuch is a part of Ujjain Division.
“I have been to Neemuch once”,I told her . Neemuch is well known for the its special Moharram processions of Tazia. The tradition of Tazia procession is almost 150 years old.I had gone to Neemuch because it has a Aditya Birla School at Khor .I had worked in the Aditya Birla Group in the late nineties as the Principal of DPS at Jagdishpur in their Birla Township at Indo Gulf Fertilizers .
“Oh that’s very nice .I feel so good .Most people haven’t even heard of the place .And imagine you have been to it “,she gushed .
“We must meet soon”,Avijit said
“Why don’t you come over for dinner and drinks tomorrow”,I offered .""
“No ,we will make it some other time .Aur yeh ,dinner winner kee
habbit ko chhorow.We will drop in for a
drink”,he said with a smile.
We departed . Joey the dog ,stood silently all the while –with the twig in his mouth. Like us ,Avijit had transported his dog all the way from Toronto .He had put him in dog hotel in Amsterdam since his journey involved a night halt .!!
We departed . Joey the dog ,stood silently all the while –with the twig in his mouth. Like us ,Avijit had transported his dog all the way from Toronto .He had put him in dog hotel in Amsterdam since his journey involved a night halt .!!
His house is just a 5 minutes walk from my place .It felt
nice to meet someone from Gurgaon , who was familiar with the University my son
was studying in .I looked forward to catching up with him –Gurgaon and Dalhousie
University were good enough reason for me to feel more at home and excited than saying hi
and bye to Karen and John our British neighbours !!
Sure enough ,we got a call from him .It was Thursday
(weekend ),and he called up to invite us for a drink on Saturday evening .
”Does that suit you Kulbhushan?” he queried .I asked
Sangeeta whether it was fine by her and answered in affirmative .
“Yes ,and we really look forward to having a great time”
“Same here” he answered ."See you at 7.30 pm “ he said .We
hung up our phones .
On Saturday we went to the mall and bought a pot with flowers in it and carried it to his house .We rang the bell .It was 7.30 pm .Joey took off
barking inside the house .We waited for Avijit to open the door .
To be continued –Part 2 .
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