Read Tandoori Texan Tales Page 8


  pool and whirlpool at the apartment complex. She said she

  wanted to very much, but she had not brought her

  swimming suit with her clothing from home. On a little bit

  of persuasion, she agreed that we go to a shopping mall on

  the way and buy one of her size.

  We walked into the Ladies section of Sears and started

  browsing at the different swimming suits hanging from the

  rack. She picked a few. I looked around and finding no one

  even bothered, I went into the closet with her as she tried

  them on. We drew the curtain and she started disrobing.

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  Huddled so close to her in such a place made it thrilling.

  After trying out several, we finally picked one that was a

  flowery two-piece kind. She looked most gorgeous in them.

  I could see the excitement on her face as she saw me

  admiring her in that bikini. After charging it at the cashiers,

  we came back to the car with the package.

  As we got out of the car at the Apartment Complex and

  started going toward our apartment, I saw her jumping and

  playing hopscotch at the pavement on the way. I was so

  happy and excited to see her doing that. I was certain she

  could not have done that, where she lived in Bombay.

  At the apartment we changed, picked up a couple of towels,

  a couple of glasses and chilled bottle of champagne heading

  toward the poolside. We were shifting between swimming

  pool and the hot tub whirlpool, back and forth. She would

  sit across from me in the whirlpool resting her feet on my

  lap as I slowly rubbed my palm under her feet giving a foot

  massage.

  Once suddenly, as if out of a reverie, she asked me if we

  could have very personal email addresses with password to

  exchange private messages, even after she returned to India.

  I was quite surprised and pleased. I responded with ‘Of

  course’.

  When I came back from work on Monday, I found the

  apartment cleaned and well organized. My desk with all

  those letters and papers strewn around, was now well and

  properly stacked. Seema’s letter and my response was

  neatly kept together in my writing pad. She might have read

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  them, I thought. I had nothing to hide from her. It was nice

  to have a woman at home who cared.

  Next few days rolled off with very little outside activities. I

  would come home from work and take her to my Health

  Club. There we would do our aerobics and work out a good

  sweat. We rented bicycles and went cycling through some

  wooded trails around the neighborhood. She had got quite

  familiar with my kitchen. Together we would get a fairly

  decent dinner ready.

  She had her booking made on a direct British Airways flight

  from Raleigh to Gatwick for Sunday morning. After a few

  hours of stopover she had to take another British Airways

  flight from Heathrow to Bombay.

  We spent the last day taking it very slowly and easy. We

  just wanted to spend the day basking in the warmth of each

  other’s company and unbridled passion. So we did. We

  went jogging in the morning. Then played a few sets of

  tennis. Having worked out a good sweat and appetite, later

  we soaked in the pool with chilled beer, barbecue and jazz

  music playing softly. That was enough for us to come back

  to bed for a siesta in satin sheets.

  All great things have to come to an end. This one had to

  too. We had known that from the beginning. But when the

  time came for it to happen, it was painful. I would be lying

  if I told you that it was not. I could see that on her face as

  well.

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  We were putting off talking about what was going to be

  next in our lives with each other. Do we just part and never

  look back? Or do we give up other commitments in our

  lives to live together? Neither alternative seemed pleasing

  or practical. Neither of us wanted to make any demands on

  the other. Nor bind ourselves with promises or

  commitments, which we could not have kept. Yet we

  wanted to stay together longer and longer. It was too

  emotional to be put in words.

  Finally we did agree on some things. We would not demand

  anything from each other by way of giving up any other

  relationships or commitments. Wherever we are and in

  whatever condition, we would accept each other, staying in

  touch. There was no name or label to our relationship.

  Neither of us needs to give apologies or explanations to any

  one. We would under all circumstances meet at least once

  in a year on this day to celebrate the anniversary of our new

  lives.

  I was pulling her luggage on its roller with one hand and

  holding her hand with the other. She checked in at the

  counter.

  Before going through the gate, she turned and came back

  running. We clung to each other as tight as we could. As the

  sound system started blaring ‘last and final call for

  boarding’, we slowly and reluctantly released each other.

  After a few minutes, all I could see was a shiny aluminum

  blurb slowly vanishing up into the skies. My Dream had put

  on wings. And it flew away into the clouds.

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  CHAPTER 8

  The previous week had just flown past like a dream. I still

  could not believe it had really happened. The whole of

  Monday was taken by meetings and phone calls.

  When I came home there was another letter from Seema in

  response to mine. They insisted that I come down to Seattle

  first and then start looking for a job from there. They were

  quite tired of my delaying tactics. It was now or never.

  They wanted to know my decision before the end of the

  month, before they approach an attorney. That was enough

  aggravation for me to take a few things and throw on the

  wall. I kept the letter in rest of the pile. I will think about it

  later.

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  The workweek was very hectic as the day approached for

  finalization of the project. I wanted keep myself totally

  drowned in work so I don’t have to think about my personal

  life’s two contrary forces pulling me in different directions.

  As I came to work on Tuesday morning, I got a call from

  Don Wilsner ‘s secretary. Don wanted me for a one on one

  meeting. When your boss calls you for a meeting suddenly

  like this, it is either a good or bad news. I had no

  foreboding, as to what this one was going to be.

  We started off by commenting on the weather and how

  badly the Dallas Cowboys had done in Monday Night

  Football. Having cleared this routine, I was impatient to get

  down to the real purpose of this encounter.

  I felt like yelling at him, “Spill it out Don. How are you

  going to call firing me? ‘Strategic Restructuring?
?? or

  ‘Corporate Policy Redefinition’ or some other nonsense

  straight from Harvard Business School? Everybody knows

  how to cover his own bottom before taking care of

  Corporate Bottom Line. I am sure you have done yours too.

  All this applies only to menials like me. Whatever you call

  it, Firing is a Firing. Shoot!”

  However I kept quiet, letting him broach the subject. After

  all it was on his behest that we were having this meeting.

  He flicked a few imaginary specks of dust from his coat

  lapel. Then he slowly pulled out his spectacles and even

  more slowly pulled out a white handkerchief from his

  trouser pocket. Then with great care started polishing the

  glasses. All this was a sure sign of dark clouds coming

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  down with thunder and downpour, a proverbial ‘calm

  before the storm’. Then he started to speak.

  The upper management had told him that the Company was

  acquiring a new power plant near Bombay, India. With that

  there would be a need for somebody to organize their data-

  processing division there. He could think of nobody that he

  could trust more than me, at this distance. He wanted to

  know if I would consider taking that job. I would be

  stationed in Raleigh. I would still be reporting to him. That

  entailed frequent travelling between Raleigh and Bombay.

  It also meant I would have to move from Dallas to here. He

  said I could take as much time as I needed to think it over

  and also to consult with Seema.

  I was quite taken aback and overwhelmed. It was such an

  anti-climax to what I had marshaled all my defenses for. I

  shook his hands, thanked him with a big grin and came back

  to my seat. It was too much too quick for me to digest.

  A week later, I got a call from a Northern Electronics in

  Seattle. Their management team was scouring for a new

  Manager to head their Research and Development division.

  Research Triangle Park near here was a hub of hi-tech

  industry. There were several candidates from there that they

  were interested in interviewing. Instead of flying them all to

  Seattle, their panel had planned an Interviewing Center in

  Raleigh for candidates in and around this area, They had

  heard about me and wanted to know if I would be interested

  in that position.

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  Within the next 5 days their panel arrived in Raleigh and we

  had a daylong interview at the Hilton. Theirs was a

  company in existence for about 5 years and the current head

  of the R&D division was due to retire in a couple of

  months. They had some very ambitious expansion plans

  with fresh finances being pumped into the company from

  abroad. I would be located in Seattle with some light travel

  nationally and internationally.

  After the interview was over, I thought I had done pretty

  well for myself. They promised to review all the candidates

  and let me know of their choice in the middle of the

  following week. This seemed like a pretty good chance for

  me to put my family life back together.

  I took my flight to Dallas that weekend. Since Seema was

  still in Seattle, I took the airport Shuttle Service to get home

  from the airport. There was a big pile of mail on the floor,

  dropped through the mail slot. I collected them all into a

  plastic trash bag. I would sort them out later into good, bad,

  junk and super-junk categories.

  I tapped on the telephone answering machine to retrieve

  messages.

  I was surprised to hear a voice calling himself Sanjay. He

  had called from Portland, Oregon, the day I had left for

  Raleigh. He was pleading with Seema to come and meet

  him at Seattle. It seemed to me from his talk that he had

  been calling and talking to Seema for several months now.

  But this time she had forgotten to erase the message.

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  Then there was still my unretrieved message informing that

  I had escaped being killed in that fatal air-crash.

  I took my flight from Dallas to Raleigh on Sunday as usual.

  There was the Wall Street Journal in the pouch in front of

  me. Just to keep myself engaged, I pulled it out and started

  browsing. There was one news item that caught my

  attention.

  It was about Northern Electronics of Seattle. It said there

  was an unknown film personality from Bombay, India who

  had shown keen interest on buying majority stock holding

  in this company. With infusion of such large capital, this

  company was predicted by the financial analysts to do

  extremely well. It continued further, by saying that this

  Investor made the financing conditional to the company

  restructuring its R&D division by hiring a younger and

  more energetic manager. However there was no mention of

  who this ‘film personality’ Investor might be. I could only

  make a very well educated guess.

  After a couple of days, I got another phone call from the

  CEO of Northern Electronics of Seattle. Their Board had

  approved my appointment. They wanted me to come

  aboard, as soon as I could get away from the present

  contract. They wanted to know my joining date.

  I wanted to sleep over the whole matter. There were too

  many decisions and choices to be made. Each one would

  have far reaching effects. Each course of action would lead

  my further life in an entirely different direction.

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  It was obvious to me that Archana had read my

  correspondence with Seema while rearranging my room.

  She realized that she could help save my marriage by

  arranging a job in Seattle. But I loathed this whole idea of

  others manipulating my life and taking any help from this

  Benefactor from Bombay. I did not like the idea of going to

  Seattle even otherwise, especially after knowing what

  Seema had been up to.

  I called Northern Electronics and told them I was unable to

  accept their offer and move to Seattle.

  Next morning I called Don and told him I was willing to

  take him on his offer. That was by far the best choice I

  could have made from both personal and career objectives.

  This was a job that I had got on my own merits. I could still

  keep my ego and self-respect intact in every way. In terms

  of the two ladies in my life, I could look at my face in the

  mirror next morning not feeling rotten about myself.

  I came to my apartment from work. I wrote to Seema saying

  that I had accepted this new job offer in Raleigh and it is

  entirely up to her if she wishes to get a Separation from the

  Court. I further told her, if she did, I was sure to fight for

  Munni’s custody. It was plain to me that she had written

  that ultimatum under the tutoring of her mother. My

  defiance might have surprised her parents. But with
>
  whatever little brains or guts she had, Seema would not

  have expected or wanted me moving to Seattle. But that

  was a choice they had made. Ball was now in their court.

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  Having changed into my swimming trunks, I headed to the

  swimming pool and dove into that crystal clear cool water.

  It gave my head much needed cooling off.

  Before turning in that night, I checked my Email. There was

  an electronic Thank You card, signed ‘yours Archana’.

  THE END

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  COMING TO AMERICA

  93

 

  On the 9th of October 1977 I departed New Delhi for

  moving to the United States. On the 13th of October 2000, I

  completed 23 years since arriving here.

  My stint at spending some months in Europe a few years

  earlier made my transition to the ‘American Way’ of life

  somewhat less of a ‘Culture Shock’. Still quite a few things

  seemed strange.

  My host at that time watching a Baseball game on the TV

  told me with great excitement, that it was the ‘World

  Series’ going on, expecting me to share that ecstasy. That

  was a game being played between a Club in one part of the

  country with another Club a few hundred miles away. I told

  myself if that is your “World”, I must be an alien from outer

  galaxy! This month, ‘World Series’ is being played between

  2 Clubs in same city called ‘New York City’. If ‘Shivaji

  Park Cricket Club’ should play the ‘Bombay Gymkhana’,

  would you call it the World Cup?

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