As in my whole life, in the recent past, I have been fortunate enough to be at the receiving end of some extraordinary generosity on the part of many individuals. First and foremost is my wife, Terry who was wild enough to encourage me to seek this adventure. If it were not for her support, this might not have come to fruition. She has already expressed what she wants in return but I know that my future (actually our future) is what was first and foremost in her mind. Thank you dear! You are my lucky charm.
My parents have been supportive in spite of their desire to become grand parents. I know that they are very proud of me and are eager to know what is upcoming for me this year. Their selfless help during the period of my move just completely blew me away. What a blessing to have such parents.
My father-in-law and mother-in-law, as usual, have been their supportive self. I am excited at this opportunity to actually be so close in distance to them and look forward to spending some time with them and Priya, my sister-in-law. Priya, we need to eat lots of ice-cream and other stuff in this year.
My sister and her family have also been very supportive and are actually car-sitting my darling X5 at their home along with some other stuff of mine.
The support of my friends, Raj & Bindu and Babu & Ramya, have been mind-blowing. They've always been there for me and their help in the past few weeks were just amazing. Some day, I hope that I can return this help of yours in kind.
Khushru, as usual, was and always has been rock solid. Thank you KPW and I wish you good luck in all your endeavors. I definitely miss our intellectual chats (You know the correct term for this) and I sure hope that we can continue it once you get back to the states. Meanwhile, do not get into trouble with the Russian Police or the Russian Mafia.
My uncle's family (Agnel, Sujatha Aunty [:)], Christopher and Catherine) have been very excited for me and I feel bad that I was unable to attend dear Catherine's FHC function in Bangalore. I will make it up to you Catherine. Paul's family (Paul, Merlyn, Aneeshma and Andric) expressed excitement as well and I also missed attending Aneeshma's FHC function. I suppose that I will have to take personal parties from both these when I get back to the States. Anand and Aashish along with Sumita and Barkha were very happy for me as well.
My recommenders (Richard, Robert, Barrett and Jason) were of course invaluable during my application process and I acknowledge their help here as well.
Relocating to another continent after living for 11 years in a country is hard. The help I received from my parents, Bindu, Raj, KPW, Babu, Ramya, my uncle Agnel, Paul, Bala and Ambica in the US was tremendous. I do not know what I would have done without their help. In Europe, my father-in-law along with Babu in Langen patiently helped me find a car along with Priya who was her usual efficient self. With my mother-in-law out of town, they both took really good care of me. Joe and Dul along with Nithika took such good care of me in Zurich. More about Nithika in my next blog but suffice to say that it was amazing.
In Paris, Shali and Pravin have been tremendous. I only wish that my parents or my in-laws were there to see how they took care of us. All their apprehensions would go away once they see their hospitality.
It is kind and decent people like all these that has made this year a reality for me. Only the other day, I was telling Terry that it seems that I am living in a dream. Small one lane highways through the forest, a quaint village straight out of a fairy tale with cars parked on the side walk (I actually was not even sure that my apt had running water. It does), a spacious apartment with two large pairs of French doors that open into a balcony overlooking the garden, half-hourly gongs from a Church right next door and Paris only an hour's drive from here.
As I start my INSEyear, I thank you all and wish you all the success in your future as well. Keep reading as I am just getting started!!
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