What a night!
This night we (Shlok & I) were at Nidhi’s apartment. We were celebrating their graduation, and the official ceremony was the next day.
A little background – both Nidhi & Shlok had been UConn MBA students. As Shlok was enrolled in both MBA and MS programs, he (God knows how) managed to complete MBA during the first year and MS in the second one. Earning two graduate degrees in two years is no small feat and having known him for a few years now, I know only he could have done it. Nidhi, on the other hand, was among the top students in her batch and had secured a 100% scholarship for her UConn tuition, which is a commendable stuff.
I respect both of them for being such an outstanding achievers in their respective academics and careers.
Coming back to this evening/night, everyone got their favorite food and drinks to savor during this get together. We were eight of us from UConn and Nidhi’s roommate Pravin, who was working with Aetna during that time. We were from different parts of India and USA, so you can say it was a mix and fun bunch of people.
The evening started normally with some introductions as I was meeting a couple of them for the first time.
I was happy to meet Kanika after so many days. If you remember, I met her for the first time during the after Diwali party at Nidhi’s apartment, so there were many memories to rejuvenate and many things to catch up on.
I met Vishal also after many days. I found both Vishal and Sahana too cute with each other. When I met them for the first time, I didn’t know they were married and Shlok pointed that out after many days. Vishal is one of those people who looks really serious, but is so funny, especially with his on time and witty comments. I got a chance to work with him in my Data Analytics using R class and was really impressed with his business and marketing skills. We couldn’t have derived the business imperatives without his expertise.
I met others too this evening and don’t remember what we talked about.
The central theme of this evening was what everyone was going to do and where they were heading. It was kind of a reality check for me as I was about to graduate in a couple months. Though, it was important to have fun, it was more important (for me) to land a job, as I had to take care of everyone back home.
With good food, a few drinks, and a lot of gapshap, the evening turned out to be quite an affair and is a reminder of simpler times.
I think it was after midnight that everyone started taking off as tomorrow we had to be prepared for the graduation ceremony. We also left Nidhi’s place at around 1AM and reached our apartment in a few minutes. You can see in the pictures below my apartment building, and my favorite spot in Hartford Downtown where I used to sip tea during late nights before going to the bed. Though it was downtown, the area was safe and I rarely had an incident there!
Next stop is UConn Graduation Ceremony i.e. for Shlok & Nidhi! 🙂
stochasticity 