When Hari met Sally
by Subhajit Ghosh
Tonight Sally has decided to visit the site. Just the previous day
she had received an email from the webmaster of indiacalling.com
requesting her to try out his site.
Sally is now at indiacalling. She found the site mainly about Indians
quite interesting. There were numerous articles, poems and stories
and many other features written by budding writers. She decided to read
a few of them.
One of the poem she read was Life without Grandpa by a young Indian
writer Hari. The poem had a deep impact upon Sally. She was moved to
tears because she was herself deeply attached to her Grandma.
She decided to send the writer an email expressing her consolation. And so
she wrote a beautiful letter wherein she harped upon the fact that the
Almighty would definitely arrange for a reunion between the writer and
his departed Grandpa some day.
The next day when Hari checked his mail box, he found the mail from
Sally. After he finished reading its content, he felt he should send
Sally a 'thank you' reply. In that mail, he also expressed a desire
that he would like to become a friend of hers.
Soon another mail came from Sally. Hari was happy because Sally had
written that she would love to be his friend. It was the beginning.
They began regularly exchanging mails. Slowly they began knowing facts
about each other. Hari was senior to Sally by a couple of years. Hari
was a bachelor, whereas Sally was married with a tiny daughter. Hari
worked as a computer engineer in a firm, whereas Sally had a small business
of her own. They soon became fast friends.
In their confabulation over Internet, Hari and Sally exchanged details
about their life to each other. Sally found that Hari was hard-working,
sincere and keen on coming to the United States, the country where she
lived. Hari discovered that Sally loved the beach, fishing, skiing and
her grandma. Sally's hubby was an workaholic, and hardly ever had time
for his family. He hardly evinced any interest in the things Sally loved
so much.
And friendship blossomed!! A year drifted by, but their bond seemed to
grow stronger and stronger with every passing day.

"I have arranged for your fellowship, Hari. Mr Roundtree of New York
State University has agreed to take you in his AI and Robotics group
on a fellowship for a tenure of two years," Sally spoke over the phone.
"Oh, thank you so much. I'm coming. I will try to arrange and get my
visa done as soon as possible, and then I will be able to meet you
Sally," Hari said.
And expectedly, Hari went to America.
When the plane touched JFK airport, it was mid-day. It was hot and
sweltering. It was also very crowded. Hari emerged out of the plane, and
proceeded in the direction where his co-passengers were heading. He knew
that Sally would come to receive him at the airport, but was wondering
whether he will be able to recognise her amidst this sea of
humanity. He had just seen a couple of her photographs, which she
had sent over the internet.
He was proved wrong. There's his Sally!! Yeah, it's got to be her.
That girl standing over there and anxiously eyeing all the passengers
coming out.
"Sally?," said Hari.
"Hayree?"
Hari looked at Sally and nodded. She was looking gorgeous!
He inched forward and embraced Sally longingly.
"Let's go. We'll have to drive two hours to reach my house.
You stay with me for a week. Meanwhile, you try to arrange
for your accomodation. Then you can move out there," Sally said.
"Is your granny at home today?," Hari asked.
Sally burst out laughing. After a while, she said, "It is
hilarious that you call my grandmother granny. If she ever
heard anyone say that, they would defiantly be on her
"you know what" list. She has never in her whole life ever
been even called grandma. This is the biggest no no. She
has always been called Gran, and I actually thought this
was her name. Until my teens, when I found out different.
I remember being very disappointed for some reason. If you
ever met her you would never think of her as grandma. She
just sent me a newspaper clipping that has a picture of her
and a younger gentleman, Ice sailing. And need I remind you
of her age -- just ninety-six."

Hari joined the Project team of Mr Roundtree and began his
work in earnest.
Sally lived in Hartford, a two hour drive from New York city.
It's a small, wealthy town in Connecticut. Sally told Hari
"Our place is 45 minutes from the shore. We have nice walking
trails, a pond with a beach, many pools, tennis courts, golf clubs
with a mile long waiting list, indoor soccer clubs, and numerous
fitness facilities. And the town is getting bigger and bigger
as I speak. We also have a wonderful library. "
Sally introduced Hari to her husband as a promising young Indian
writer. "He's also a good friend of mine," she said.
Sally's husband was a Kenyan. A very hard working man, he remained
extremely busy throughout the day and even on weekends he had
no time to spare.

After a few months passed, one day Sally asked
"Would you return back to India, or stay here?"
"I don't know. It all depends on whether I can manage a good job
here," said Hari.
"Don't you worry about that. I'll help you get a good job.
I know many people working in the computer industry" said Sally.
Sally continued "And if you settle here, choose the East Coast.
The East Coast is the best place to raise a family, feel safe and
make a good living. You can experience all four seasons. There are
many quaint New England towns, and if that doesn't do anything
for you there is always the big apple, New York city! It's a great
place to live if you're single, and don't mind watching your back."
"Thanks for your advice," Hari said.
Sally carried on "Last night I had a dream about you. We were in
this huge open area of very dry land. There were a lot of people,
and everyone was holding hands and dancing around in a circle very
fast. I was hugging you very tight, and I felt you were a little
embarrassed. After that the circle broke up, and everyone started
playing some sort of hiding game. I don't think I saw you for the
duration of the game. You must have crossed my thoughts before I
went to bed, but I don't remember."
Hari heard in silence.

On most weekends, Sally and Hari would visit and see some beautiful
spots in the vicinity. During such trips, Sally kept her daughter with her Gran.
Sally was playful by nature, and loved pulling
Hari's legs occasionally. Once she said, "It's funny I don't
know why, but I can't picture Indian people working out to stay
in shape. I hope that doesn't sound terribly westernised, and
stupid." At this, Hari just give her a sneaky smile.
On one such outing, they had to halt for a night at a small
hotel owing to a stormy weather. Only one room was found available, and they had to share
the double-bedded room that night.
A mini-cyclonic gale engulfed the surroundings. And then the
thunder became quite frightening.
And it showed no signs of abatement.
"Haaree," Sally called out "I'm so scared." She inched towards
Hari's bed.
She entered and slipped her almost naked body within
the blanket. She held Hari tightly, and kissed him gently. Hari held
her firmly. And then ...
Exhausted they fell on the bed and soon went off to sleep.
The first rays of the sun woke them up. Hari had barely opened his
eyes, when he saw Sally lift her bare body and gently pull a
shirt over herself and slid within a pair of jeans.
On that day they explored the area leisurely. And in the evening, they returned
to Hartford. Hari had to go back to New York the next morning.
Hari has managed a job in a software firm in New York and works there.
In fact, he has entrenched himself in NY. In a few years, he has worked
up the ladder in his company and has bought a three-room apartment. And Sally
has moved into this apartment.
14/5/2001