What an awesome day to remember!
The reason of the visit was Diwali celebrations. It was fun to celebrate Diwali away from home, surrounded by lovely coworkers, sharing food, stories, and culture.
When I visited Monika’s for the first time, I didn’t know this would turn out to be a beginning of something life lasting. It feels good to look at this day after so many years.
This was the first day I met Monika & her family. It was lovely feeling to be a part of the family gathering 8,000 miles away from home. I felt at ease and enjoyed myself.
The evening started with a round of introductions. I was glad that everyone was from Ford, so I had already met them before at work.
Apart from the introductions, I was pleasantly surprised to look at all the wonderful dishes that everyone brought to share. I felt bad that I didn’t bring anything but being a bachelor was relieved to know that it was not a mandatory thing to bring with you.
To overcome the not-so-good feeling of not bringing any food items to share with anyone, I volunteered to roll the chapatis, while boasting that I could roll them in a perfect circle shape. Monika and everyone readily agreed and asked me to take over.
Surprisingly, the chapatis turned out really good. I must admit that I was nervous. This was the first time I was hanging out with my teammates outside work in a more intimate setting and I didn’t want it to be the case of future discussion where they would make fun of me for not rolling the chapatis in a perfect circle. I was jubilant that the time spent cooking in Hartford came handy here and I could deliver the thing that I boasted about in the begining.
The evening was going on well and we were enjoying the food, the lovely wine, and some other alcoholic drinks. I had an awesome time, meeting everyone outside work and getting to know their individual spouses.
It was such a lovely evening!
Next stop – Los Angeles, California for the Diwali Celebration!
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