It was a road trip in a Volvo bus, not in a car, as I had
planned, but I am happy I went for it. My fellow passenger was a kind lady,
whose words of wisdom swayed me to propose to my long-term girlfriend. My
girlfriend and I had a long-distance yet romantic affair for more than four
years. I belong to Gujrat, particularly Ahmedabad, where I met Ayesha for the
first time. After college, I had to move to Mumbai for higher studies, which
was the beginning of our long-distance relationship. As the time passed, I
completed my masters in IT and joined an MNC in the Maximum City. Just when we
had started thinking about tying the knot, I had to take the transfer to the
USA.
Even though I was working in an international company, they
were not paying me well. Moreover, I did not own or even rent a home in Mumbai;
my company had given me an accommodation where many of their employees stayed.
Among the various reasons that my girlfriend and I had to get married as soon
as possible, the need to spend the maximum time together was the topmost.
Family pressure and social reasons took the backseat for us, but we were
desperate to live with each other. Above all, whenever we talked about marriage,
I would say that we need more financial freedom than now to enjoy our time
well. So she kept quiet and understood my circumstances.
My trip to India
Fast forward a couple of years, and I came to India for my
annual leave. I went to my office in Mumbai and then headed off to a road trip
to my hometown. Although I had planned to hire a Car Rental to spend some good time with my family and Ayesha, I
could not get one on time. Nonetheless, when I took my seat on the bus, the
motherly co-passenger of mine gave me a warm smile and welcomed me to sit
beside her. I took my aisle seat and got to know that she was an
African-American lady who was going to Ahmedabad to meet her grandson. Given
all her experiences in life, it was fun to talk to her about history, philosophy,
and travel. Yes, she was a well-traveled person who wished to see more of the
world before she embarked to heaven.
How she changed my
thinking
Sometimes, just a few words from someone can change your
entire thought process. When I told her about my girlfriend and our delayed
plans of marriage, she just said a few words to turn around my mind. She said
that instead of building my empire alone and then welcoming her into it, I must
wed her first and then develop our empire together. The bumpy ride to our
common destination will be much more fun than just enjoying the fruits of our
individual efforts when we would be too old to do so. The rest is just history…
we have three kids at present as we enjoy building our realm in California.
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