Am writing this as she travels in a bus to Pune... and I am already missing her. Fawdi is a small, shy, silent reserved girl having large soda water glasses and has braces. Came to our project somewhere in November 2003. She joined as a part of second expansion of the project along with one other member. Liked her as a technical person. Was not actually the brightest person around, but worked hard. Tried to understand things. I gave her some gap analysis of the requirements that we had gathered. She did not have a clue what to do! Expected that as no one would have slightest Idea what my domain was let alone doing a high level stuff like gap analysis. Even then she did a good job. She did make some mistakes. I told her that I did not expect her to be perfect at the first time itself. :) As nothing good stays with me for long, soon she was moved into another project.....And that seemed to be the end of it.
But that was not what was suppossed to be.. We were still in contact. Not talking directly though. I was in a secure zone with very little time to roam around and she was not allowed to enter the zone. We used to write mails first. Then started the intranet chat. Finally came to sending sms. The foundations of friendship were being laid. If you people know me, you would agree with me that I am a pretty brainless entity talking anything to anyone i know more than 10 mins. (Okay those who dont agree can send me mails later ;)) So we continued talking even after not seeing each other for days together. One day got a mail from her saying that she was going to her home to meet her friend (school friend I guess) on a weekend. (Its usual for truck loads of malayalees here to go home on weekends!) I wished her a happy journey and a good stay at home. When she came back she told me something which I would not expect her to tell someone like me (I mean, we were not very close friends yet!) She told me that she cried a lot and was still feeling sad. Seems this was the last time she would see her friend. I tried to console her. And I did that successfully. Though this incident in itself does not have any significance, this was the first time she had told me that she cried. And I did not like that... From that day on, I was more free when talking to her. We were becoming closer friends. I would not still call her my best friends, but a very good friend. Someone who trusted me... Then again... as this friendship was starting to take off... Her project mate was to be released for training. She was suppossed to take care of the whole support. This meant she would have lesser time. I was suppossed to go to Basel, switzerland for a 4 month long assignment. I thought this was end of it... We will not be able to maintain contact now...
You guessed it right... Otherwise there would not be this story let alone the part 3 :) We still used to send mails to each other. Frequency was reduced to only one or two a day now. I was getting busy with my activities (Was my first client interaction!!). She also got busy in the project. My stay in Basel seemed to extend for more than 6 months. We got a project, a huge one. We were to staff more people in the project. I would be leading the same with around 25 people offshore. For those who dont know, My previous company had 17 people including the chai wala. I was all excited and tensed. I did not want to mess this up. I hoped that she got into our project. She was in a different project and was the lone person there. Then something happenned. Now it seems all was preplanned :) The project she was working got scraped and I was able to talk to my manager and get her blocked before any other projects could pick her up. Not that there were many other projects anyways :) So finally she was in to our project. We initiated the project. This was going to be the biggest project we had undertaken and I needed help in this. Piyush came onsite to help me out. I was leading the project from onsite and with her being the lead developer offshore. We continued to exchange mails. Frequency increased to 5-10 mails (Not official okay :)) with occassional calls. Again as time would have it, There came another project. High profile. Fully taken up onsite. No one else was there who could take that. I was pulled out of the current project and asked to take the high risk one. :( Was busy again. No time to mail and talk. She continued to be in touch anyways. And now I realise how important keeping in touch at that point was...
My project started getting more and more critical. I had to do nightouts. On the other side her project also had serious delivery lapses. She also used to do nightouts. We would talk to each other ocassionaly in the night. Relaxing a bit after long working hours. I got a mobile there and we used to send messages to each other. Even if it was very costly for her to send international SMS. We also used to chat on Yahoo messenger on weekends. Finally the critical project reached a stable state. As Piyush began to handle the project more and more independently, I was moved to new project. She was also moved out to another project. Our friendship which had by now taken firm grounds continued to grow. Slowly the number of people in Basel from our team grew. At one time there were 7 of us youngsters there. (Okay 6 if you dont count me as youngster ;)) We used to roam around on the weekends. On one weekend we went to mount Titlis for a trip. Binoy and me were sitting on one side of the train near the window. I happenned to get her sms at that time. Binoy snatched the phone from me and saw it. It was nothing but a Missing you sms. Not that Binoy was not aware of this. He immediately cautioned me that this friendship could easily turn painful. More so for her. I was not thinking of that till that point of time. Dont get involved too much was what he said. Coming back to Basel, I dashed off a mail to her. She was at her home at that time. I told her what Binoy said and adviced her not to get involved too much. Not expecting a reply at that time I slept. Checking my mails in the morning I found a mail from her. The phrase that caught my attention was "its already late". I went numb and tense. Did not know even what to think...
Not knowing what to do... I called in expert advice. Miss Priya Prabhakar, Aunty, as I fondly call her. I showed her the mails to confirm if what I was thinking was correct and if Fawdi was already infatuated with me. She asked me clearly what do I think about her. Told her that I did not think anything about her. Then she saw the mail and asked me to relax. Tell her whatever you feel and dont take this any forward. So I mailed her back with whatever I said. For about a week I could not talk to her properly. Finally she replied that what she meant was that she was so used to talking to me and getting my mails that if I stop all of a sudden it would be difficult for her. I am still not sure if what she said at time was just to so that I dont be to tensed and worried and continue normally. Also I am afraid to ask her again now, already asked 100 times till now. I felt a bit relaxed after that. Aunty helped me so much in this difficult time. Talking to me and never leaving me to be sad. Priya then advised me to continue as friends as we had now clarified whatever we were feeling. The started flood of mails and messages. At one point of time I was spending almost 30 CHF per week on my mobile with a major chunk going to sms. Chatting and Mailing continued...
Then some incidents happenned. I heard her crying on the phone. Was terribly upset. Dont know why. I was waiting to see her after that. But my onsite was not going to end soon, I was put into another project there. My fourth one at onsite. When I asked my manager about returning offshore, I was told that you may be here till Syngenta account is there with our company or till you are there i the company :( Meanwhile my talks with Fawdi were becoming more and more frequent. I used to tall to her for long hours and tease her a lot. Sometimes we used to have fights on this. But mend them quickly as netiher of us could live without the mails and calls. During this time, Binoy, Kannan, Priya, Nithya returned offshore. I was left with Sreejith and Piyush. Not that I was allergic to them, but I did not fit in their company. I started to be more and more alone. And at the same time talking more and more with Fawdi. Some day we discussed what would happen if we would never be able to meet again. Considering the fact that my onsite trip was getting extended and her parents were already searching for a groom. Chances were bright that by the time I reach offshore, she would be married happily. One of our project mates got married and she left the company to go to UK. This again brought the discussion whether we would meet again... I tried some simulations to see what would happen then. These were damn successful :) the simulations were successful, but i realised it would be almost impossible for me to remain a week without talking, mailing or sending messages to her... I was so used to her presence...
Not thinking of what would happen next, we continued talking, mailing and messaging. I thought I can come back by December end. I made plans the celebrate new year together. Then came November, when my parents and sister came to Basel. I went on a one week long leave. Celebrated Diwali with my parents at my home. All this while I continued to talk to her. Since I was not in office at this time, she used my web ID for mails. I told her i would not be able to access the mails quite often as I would be travelling. Mails continued nevertheless into my account. I created a separate folder for her mails and named it JUNK. Sms too continued regularly. Dad did ask me sometimes who this Fawdi was. Told him that she was my girlfriend. Knowing me he did not take that seriously. I introduced my sister to her once on yahoo and they too started chatting. Then I went to Paris with my parents. did not have internet access there. Also phone was switched off. So no contact with her for a whole day. Next morning I searched for the nearest cyber cafe and checked my mails. Some 20 mails in there from her. missing me... replied back. Pat came the reply.. She was in office and getting my mails. Had a small chat that time. I returned back from Paris to Basel while my parents continued the trip to london. This was a dream come true for my Mom, who used to say "london la challi" (Going to london) to small children whenver she used to go out. :) There was another first time in that trip... First time I saw my dads watery eyes as I dropped them at the Zurich airport. Somehow managed to keep myself patient and saw them off. Cried on my way back to Basel.... only person knowing that was again Fawdi.
I hoped to travel back by end of December. But then it got extended. Meanwhile her parents consulted some astrologer. It was predicted that she should get married by October 2005 or else she would not be marrying for the next 2 years. Search started for a groom with greater intensity. She used to go home every weekend for interviews. I used to tease her a lot those days with names of all the people who used to come to meet her. Back of my mind the thought that I will not be able to see her again... I had updates about each of her interviews, we used to chat when she used to go home too, for hours. Soon I was a known name to her parents. Meanwhile on the projects front we had a major relase in the month of Jan. This freed a lot of resources onsite. Also there was no major project coming up. There were some projects going on, but nothing that could last for more than 2 months. I saw my chance of going back. One of my friends in NonSAP project in Basel wanted his wife to be onsite. He was an important member in the team. He had to be onsite. He simply refused to be onsite if his wife is not there. He had her inducted into our team due to her J2EE background. He also got assurance from Account manager that she would be the next one to come onsite. But the next project was nowhere to be seen. She had to wait....
I wanted to come back for another major reason. While at onsite there was no training. I was not gaining any technical knowledge. Not that I was not learning something. I was learning something that many dont get chance to do in early stages of career, Client interaction. Understanding the client needs, and proposing solutions. Won many accolades for that. But I will take that later, in some other blog :) I talked to my project manager saying that I am tired of working on the same thing again and again and wanted some role change, more client interaction, more into consulting. About my project manager, the less I talk about his managing abilities the better, but he was always good to me. Knowing fully well that Miss K was waiting to come onsite, I asked him to send me offshore. (How my coming offshore would help me getting more client interaction is topic of another blog :)) As expected, he said that was on the cards and there would be a rotation soon. A lousy reason as it sounded to me, This was fine with me. Soon Miss K was at onsite and me giving her basics of the projects I handled. Soon my date of going back was fixed to Feb 4th All this while I continued to talk with fawdi, But I was still not sure if I would meet again....Since there were new and better proposals coming up for her....
Me landed back in India on 4th Feb and in Mangalore on 7th Feb. Was so happy to be back here. So happy to see Fawdi again finally. she had brought me a gift, a small teddy, now called CHOTU, a small friendship frame and a card. I did not bring lots of chocolates. Almost the whole team here barring some 5 people were new to me. Slowly got used to them. Enjoyed the first few weeks with nothing much to do. Coffee started regularly, with members of my former team. That included fawdi :) Went for trekking on 2 of the weekends. Quite fun. Fawdi was on bench that time. Nothing to do. She used to come and sit on my desk (literally!!!) for some time. Me and fawdi used to chat on Intranet, go out for shopping. dinner, or just roaming around. Those were some of the most care free days of my life. I did not think about anything. What would people think about us roaming around, more importantly about her, than me. There is nothing to do in Mangalore on weekends. So Me and Kannan joined the Driving classes. Meanwhile she went home one weekend after some weekends together. And was on leave on the coming monday and tuesday. I started missing her more then. I got an update then that all her further interviews were on hold till further notice. :) Till she got rid of her braces. Some more time for us to be together.....
Did not update for a long time :) apologies :) I went home for my birthday in April. Took a week long leave. That was the time I ran last of our simulations. Just before my leaves me and fawdi had a discussion on what to do next. 2 options for us. Either get married or just forget each other and carry on with our lives. not as easy as it looks. Marriage was the difficult part of it considering the host of issues which could come in between us. For starters , just being from different lingistic backgrounds, to me being from mumbai and she from a small town. Then there was a fear of hurting our parents and relatives. We decided to call it off. So only professional relation from now. no more messages, no personal mails, not even talking without a professional reason :) deciding that, we went home. (She went to her home and me mine). Suddenly time seemed to stop, my mobile which was always shivering with messages fell silent... I reached home after a tiring journey and tried to relax. tried my level best to think of something else. but fawdi refused go from my mind. was always lost in her thoughts.. pushing days.. Finally it was the night before my birthday.. could not sleep that night. was waiting for someone. something told me that I will get a call from her now.. atleast a message.. was lying in my bed for an hour trying to sleep.. checking if my mobile was working.. what the time was.. 1030, 11, 1130, 1145. became sad. but at the stroke of 12, my faithful mobile rung. It was her message :)))) me called back immediately said thanks :) she asked if I was waiting for her message, said yes. Then suddenly remembered what we had decided. without talking much i disconnected...
I received her greeting which she had asked her friend to send on my birthday. Was glad to get that. Preeti suggested to get a gift for her since she had sent a greeting. Asked her to get one, was sure that what we had set in before coming to mumbai was almost an irreversible process... Still wanted to talk to her... have some reason to do that.. a gift would give me that. No calls and messages for another 2 days. Was desperate to reach mangalore back. Started from mumbai in what seemed to be longest journey of my life. Took a flight to Bangalore. met some friends there. Then took a bus to Mangalore. Went to office on time. looked at her desk.... found it empty.. remembered that she was on holiday that day. Lost the whole interst to be in office. dragged that day somehow to the closure and waited for the next day. She reached office a bit late the next day (nothing new considering that her ontime percentages were always low, but that seemed quite late to me). All our team members used to go for a coffee together, 2 times a day. That day too I got up to go. wanted to call her.. did not have courage.. asked one of our other team members to get her and come for coffee. He did that. talked with all others in the pantry.. but everything seemed sl silent. she was not speaking anything.. looked like she cried a lot.. wanted to ask her... but nothing came out.. In the afternoon I sent her a message that I had to give her a gift. she said that she too had to give one. she came to my desk and we exchanged gifts.. was trying to look into her eyes. she did not look up and went back to her desk. Later sent a mail saying that the gift was good. I started to feel that I have lost her...
After that day, the conversations between us were very less.. One friday I was busy in the call the whole morning, did not have food till around 3. She came to my desk.. ordered me to go to the canteen and have food. I told her that I am not going to have that.. She just pulled me out to the canteen. As it was late afternoon and time for snacks yet, there was no one there. We sat on table, she got me a burger to eat. There was an uneasy silence. Finally, she spoke. She had got a mail from another manager that she had to go to Pune for a training and then to onsite directly from there for around an year. So she would be leaving on the saturday for home and then go to pune and will not be coming back to mangalore..I did not know how to react, told her that she should go on that day itself as she would then have more time to spend with her family. "I wont get reservation now" she said. "You can get a ticket in the unreserved coach, there is one for ladies only. Considering that you would be gone for quite some time now, guess you can take that much risk" I replied. "But I will have to pack and all" "Just put your things in the bags and go, you can pack once you reach there" "Will you come to drop me?" she asked, not looking at me. "I wont, I am very bad at saying byes" I realised the fact that I wont be seeing her again probably after today. I had a lump in my throat, could not talk more, finished my burger. "So you put a request for your travel now and go home, I will collect the tickets for you""Okay", still not looking at me. I met her around 8 in front of the office. She had 2 big bags. We put the bags in an auto and went to the railway station. Could not leave her alone..
We grabbed some food at a Kairali, a mallu restaurant near the railway station, and rushed to get the tickets. The train was already on the platform. The ladies coach was at the end. We walked at towards the coach. We got in and put her bags on a top berth. The thought that this is probably the last time I would see her came to my mind. My eyes became watery.. I told her I will go and get a bottle of water and went out. When I came back she was looking out of the window. I gave her the bottle and she starting playing with it. No words..Then she looked up to me.. watery eyes.. still no words.. we were just looking at each other.. After sometime, we were both crying looking at each other. "You go up on the berth and sleep there till your station comes" "mmmm" she said. "Okay I will go now, good night. Have a safe journey. Send me an sms when you reach there. Let me know if you need anything in the Pune.. And here is someone to take care of you" I handed chotu to her. The whistle blew and train started moving. I said a final good bye, she said nothing. She looked out of the window till she could no longer see me. I looked at the train till it was out of sight.Thoughts in my mind, finally I had lost her. Now she would be not be returning back to mangalore. I took an auto and went back home.. This was the end of our friendship..
That night I got a message from fawdi... after some more messages.. We both knew what was left unsaid all this while.. we were in love :)... That was a strange feeling, as happy as I was, I was also tensed now. Will she come back? How will the families react? will her dad get her married to someone else? After she reached home, fawdi told her dad. The reaction was almost as expected. Marrying a non-mallu? out of question.. we could not talk to each other for some time. I was even thinking that fawdi might not return back to work at all. I would not see her again. She went to pune from there. That gave us some more time to talk. And to think about what to do..
We talked on this a lot when fawdi was in Pune. Finally we could not take it any more. She was suppossed to travel onsite in a week. We were both praying to have some more time together. And god does listen to fawdi. Her trip gor postponed for some time. Fawdi gave me the news on a mail (I still have that one ;)) Fawdi travelled back that weekend. I received her at the Kottara chowki. Almost gave her a hug. We went to the beach over the weekend and talked on what to do. There was no way fawdis dad would agree. And I had not even tested the waters at my home. We did not want to do that without parents blessings. It would be anything but easy. There was an easy way out. Fawdi was going onsite anyways in 2 weeks. We could just end it there. No more contacts with each other, no issues with parents and we would soon forget about each other. It would pain.. a lot, but then we did not see any support from any on her side. But forgeting about each other.. Was it so simple?
As the day of fawdis travel grew near, I became more and more restless, we were talking less now. She was travelling to Chicago on a Friday. Her parents were coming to drop her to the airport. I asked fawdi if I should meet her dad. She said, try your luck. I thought, it was better that I did not try any stunts. Her dad anyways knows about me. I helped fawdi get her documents. Get the laptop, secure ID. pack her bags. And was all set to say her the final good bye. But luck had something else in mind :)
Her parents arrived a day before her travel. She had all her bags packed. She asked her dad if I can have lunch with them. He said, its okay if he is coming only as a friend. I did not go (Now I think I should have gone). Her mom asked if I can come to the airport, as I was the only person she knew who had been onsite. I agreed. I went to her room to see whats going on. Her dad was not at home, nor were her roommates. I talked to her mom and assured her that everything was fine. She had all the docs in place and was all set. I asked fawdi to get a copy of her docs to her mom. She did not have one. I took the docs and went to make a copy
When making a copy, I saw the Visa stamped on her passport. It was an H4!! I could not believe it! I went straight to the Visa department and showed them the Visa telling them that this is an H4 instead of H1. The Visa guy promptly called fawdi and asked her to cancel the trip. He also mailed her project managers copying me that the trip had to be aborted.
With a BIG Smile on my face I went back to fawdis room. Her mom and dad and all her friends were there. Her taxi had come and she was waiting for the docs when the call came. I went to her, gave her the docs and promptly returned to my desk
Fawdi returned to her desk after lunch. And she was so happy. Everyone was expecting her to be gone. People who knew about us, thought I did something. Otherwise how is it possible that after 6 months of stamping no one noticed that it was an H4? No one but me? Fawdis parents went back the same day. Her PM, Rachna, called her up to check what was the issue. What surprised her PM was how was I involved in all this. Since Rachna knew me well (she was my first PM) fawdi told her the entire thing. As soon as fawdi told me this, I was sure Rachna would call me. And she did :) Blasted me for not telling her this.
Now we had some more time. It would take atleast a month for the passport to be restamped and fawdi has to travel. She was asked to travel to Bangalore meanwhile.
During this time I planned my parents and sisters trip to mangalore. I arranged a trip to some places nearby. Told my dad about fawdi. His reaction was cautious. I asked fawdi to come down during that weekend.
It was a nice trip. My parents, Preeti, Fawdi and me roamed around for 2 days around Mangalore and had a good time. They liked fawdi, only thing aai said was that "She is not smart enough for you". Dad said she found her intelligent (Fawdi is still proud of that :)) Preeti liked her. So it was an Orange signal from their side. Not exactlty green
Fawdi received her passport in some days. And got her tickets booked too. I planned a trip to Bangalore to see her off. Her dad was also coming there. Her flight was from Bangalore-Delhi-London-Chicago. She had to leave for delhi in the evening at 7. Also had some shopping to do. I reached Bangalore in the morning. Her dad had not reached till then. I helped her pack and made a list of things that we needed to buy. Her dad came around 11 and took a room in the city. We went to collect forex for fawdi and met her dad there. He was surprised to find me there. Fawdi formally introduced me. No smile..
We had some lunch and then went out for shopping. I was leading in all the things and it seems it irriated him a lot. But I did not mind that, we took some things and came back to the guest house, packed the bags and left for airport. Both of us saw fawdi going into the securiy check. I told her dad that she would be fine and I would let him know once she reaches.
I tried talking to him many times during the day (in english of course :)) but he would always end up in malayalam. Finally when going back, I went with him to the hotel and dropped him to his bus. He thanked me for all the help.
Fawdi went onsite in July. I was still in mangalore and was missing fawdi so much. We used to have calls daily. I used to get up early in the morning, just in time when fawdi reached home and then talk on messenger. Already had a laptop, got a webcam and headphone mic and also a broadband connection. fawdis project was bad and she had a lots of work, she also used to cry a lot over the phone. Every place in Mangalore reminded me of the time we spent there and I was missing her a lot. I asked my project manager to see if I can get an onsite. He asked me to wait for a right kind of role. He would inform me of every new opportunity and I used to get into learning a new tool only to learn that the project has been postponed. This went on for some months. Meanwhile fawdi finished her project in Chicago and joined Phoenix, Arizona for another project
Sometime in november, my PM told me about an opportunity in US for long term, the role was that of a project manager. Preetis marriage was on December 14th and I did not want to travel before that. So it was decided that I will take a leave for the marriage and travel onsite after that directly from Mumbai. When I was in mumbai, I got a mail from a colleague who was also going with me that the project start was delayed. Fawdi was upset and I had a tough time making her stop crying. I had to go back to Mangalore. After reaching back, I was asked to travel to Bangalore for another 2 weeks for training. Travel was getting delayed and fawdi was getting more and more impatient.
Finally, the project start date was fixed and so was my travel date. I had got a long itinerary via Colombo-London-Washington-Charlotte. I did not tell fawdi that I was travelling that weekend. :) Had my roaming activated, fawdi called me when I was in colombo. Told her that I am at friends house and will call later. She got angry and disconnected. I finally called her up from london and told her that I was on my way to US. She immediately booked tickets for me to Phoenix for the next weekend. My college mate Rajkumar was also in Phoenix
Me and Arun landed in Charlotte after a long journey to find that our luggage did not come through. Our manager there, Gopal, took us to Costco and got some clothes for us. We had not much of work for the first week. We met the Client Manager there and instantly knew that this is not going to be easy assignment. I was waiting for friday, to meet my dear fawdi. I had informed Raj that I was coming
My flight was early morning, I took a cab and reach airport. After 6 hours I reached Phoenix airport. There, after 6 long months, I saw fawdi. I will never forget the expression on her face as I saw her as going down the escalator. We took a cab and went to her place. She made some food for us and we talked for till evening. Raj came in the evening and I went to his place. Had a good time with Raj remembering all the old pranks we played and the happy days in college
I came back to Fawdis place in the morning and went out shopping. I got her a laptop and some other things. We roamed around in her apartment complex. The most difficult part was the "bye" that I had to say in the evening. I saw her looking at my cab from the gate as I went to the airport
When I was in mangalore before going for Preetis marriage, I had a swelling on my neck. The local doc gave me some antibiotics and it subsided. After reaching Charlotte, the swelling came back. This time it was bigger and more painful. I went to the doc there after coming back from Phoenix. He asked me to get a CT scan done. He could not make out much from that. So he asked me to get it removed. This would mean a big cut on the neck and atleast a week long bed rest. He asked if I had a family here. Though I had lots of friends there, I needed to have someone who would be there with me for the whole day. I initially planned to go back to India and get it done there. Fawdi was the only one whom I could look to in the US.
Fawdi managed to take some leaves and came to charlotte for my operation. All my friends, Arun, Harsh, Sandy, Meghana, Sriram and the ever helpful Gopal, helped me a lot during this time. Fawdi stayed with Meghana. On the day of the operation, fawdi looked more tense than me. Dont remember much of that day as I was on anasthesia and was drowsy. Gopal took me back home and fawdi took good care of me in the next 5 days. She also talked to my parents at home and assured them that everything was fine. This was when the Orange went to green at my place
The surgeon took out the swollen tissue and gave that for culture to check the cause.
Fawdi went back to Phoenix. Her project was getting over and she was to fly back to India for some time. I joined back office after a week of rest. The pain was still there, but I could manage with antibiotics. After some days the swelling came back! The tissue culture results had still some time to come. I sent the CT reports to my doctor in India.
He suspected TB and asked me to get a test done. The results came negative I was getted scared of what this is and was planning to go back to India if the medicines did not show results. After 8 weeks the results confirmed the fears. I had Tuberculosis of the Lymph nodes. I had to travel back on a very short notice. Coincidently I and fawdi travelled back on the same day, April 22, My birthday :), and reached Bangalore with 10 mins difference.
After I came back to india, I went on a week long leave to Mumbai and fawdi travelled to Mangalore. I had another surgery done there and removed the swelling. Started the course for TB medicines. When I joined back Bangalore, Fawdi was already in Mangalore. She was finding it more and more difficult to talk to her parents now. She still had proposals going on.
One weekend she travelled home. Had a long, hot talk with her parents. Finally she could not take it any more. She agreed to do whatever her dad wanted. I was waiting for her to come back and tell me what happenned. She came back and told me that everything is over between us and that she is going to marry whomever her dad asks her to. I had little choice left but to accept this fact.
Proposals had started to come in full swing again. We hardly talked, I felt betrayed. Felt like I had no reason to live. I still had hope that I would convince her and her parents. But luck and my health were against me.
Meanwhile, Fawdis project in phoenix had another requirement and fawdi travelled back. That atleast gave me time to talk to her. My health kept getting worse. Finally I decided to take a month long leave and concentrate on getting my health back on track. I took a long leave and went to Mumbai. Fawdi still did not think that we had a future together. Deep down she knew.. we were made for each other
After a month long vacation and trying my level best to convince fawdi I joined back in Bangalore. I was still talking to fawdi and trying to convince her that we will be together soon. She felt otherwise. My project was getting over and I had a chance of going onsite.
One morning, she called me and said that her dad had asked her to call, and she thought perhaps he had finalised something. I told her to call me back with whatever her dad says. She did. She was not able to speak properly
"He said yes!!"
"What?"
"He said yes, anu!"
"What yes?"
"He said yes to us!"
"Calm down fawdi. I am not able understand what you are saying"
"Anu..." (sob.. sob..) "Anu..."
"Dont cry fawdi, tell me what happenned"
"Anu, I talked with dad. He said if this is what you want. So it be! We will get you married!"
I froze!
"Anu... Anu.. Are you there? I am not able to control my happiness"
Still frozen
"He said, I liked Anand, but my only issue was how will I adjust and how will they tell the relatives. But if this is what I wanted, then he is ready to get us married"
I still dont remember what I said to fawdi that day, But it seemed like I was floating in a sea of happiness
Days seemed to crawl as I was waiting for fawdi to come back. On the other hand I my onsite prospect was getting stronger. I went and talked to our resource manager here to see if she can put both of us together. She assured us of all the help she could do.
One day I got a mail from my DM telling me about an onsite opportunity as a Business Consultant in Houston. Sathish Rajagopalan, an old punter was also in the same account. That was a nice role and a nice location too. Meanwhile fawdi was also allocated another project in Chicago. That project was suppossed to move to Houston in some time
Fawdi started training for that project and I started preparation for my assignment. Fawdi had plans of coming down to houston as one of her former roommates, Anu, was also there. I left for Mumbai and was planning to go to Houston from there
When I reached mumbai, I got a mail from fawdi that she wanted to talk and asked me if she could call me. I asked her to call on my landline.
"My project got scrapped"
"So are you coming back?"
"No I am assigned to go for a training"
"Training for what?"
"Another tool and after that another project"
"Which tool and what project"
"
I Could not believe my luck. She was to get trained in Palo Alto on a tool and then travel to houston to MY PROJECT!!
I reached Houston on a sunday and the story repeated. I lost my baggage. It came after 3 days. And after a week, came fawdi. We have been together ever since in Houston. Until my emergency exit due to Visa issues.
On a side note, I dont know why my onsite trips end in a disaster. Swiss trip, had a arrest warrant against me, Charlotte, came back with TB, Houston, became an illegal immigrant!
My marriage had got stuck as my big bro is yet to get married. He had asked me several times to go ahead and get married, but that did not happen. Finally our parents thought it is time now for us to get settled.
Then there were more issues. Pravin, Poornimas brother has his exams in november and there are no Mahurats after first week of December. We were left with a short window of a week. Fortunately for us the stars align just right on 2nd December.
SEE YOU AT OUR MARRIAGE