The Air France Girl...9

The Air France Girl...9

A month passed, and there was no news from any front. I called up Saurabh (actually I wanted to call her :)). Again he missed the call, as usual. 

I went to kitchen and started cooking Paneer masala (yummy, isn't it?). I had become a cook over the time and I was loving it. My female colleagues used to tell me "my future wife (I wish it were her), will be very happy with me". 

My phone sang the music from "Pehla Nasha" song. "Saurabh calling". 

"So, where have you been?" I fired. "I was with her"."Oh cool" I said. "I asked you for something, no updates on that?" 

"What, Priyanka did not call you? I am astonished. She got that job in 15 days only. She must have shifted to Jersey City by now. She did call you?"

"No" I replied with a sunken heart, "maybe she is settling at the new place."

"What settling?" he said. "When she needed you she used you and now she can't even thank you"

"Oh man" I sighed. 

"Don't worry, I will try to get her whereabouts, she does not know her Boss is my master's mate".

"Don't bother, yaar, I am fine, I must stop thinking about her, she is from a rich family and she will obviously have rich tastes and she has double masters, I stand nowhere close to her". I sighed again.

"So you are developing feelings for someone who does not even thank you, silly you", he started scolding me. "Anyways I will still to see what happened; has she actually joined Jersey City or not, bbye" and he hung the phone.

The Air France Girl...8

The Air France Girl...8

I wanted to mail her immediately, but did not. I did not want her to feel that I am desperate. Ok yes, I was. "But she needs you". Ok, so I sat to write her the mail, asking her the details Saurabh would need. 

"Binggggg! You've got a new mail!" My computer shouted (it does that several times during the day). I put my head up and clicked on the "Open" button. 

From: Priyanka Mehra; Subject:RE:hi.

Thanks a lot for helping me. I have attached my CV with this mail. I have 5 years of experience mostly as a functional tester. I have also worked on some tools. I am ready to relocate. (so many details, is she trying to impress me? may be). 

sincerely, (this got changed, why?)

Priyanka.

I could not resist to see her CV, just to see her phone number. I know this is unethical, but still I wanted to be that, at least at that moment ;). 

I saved her number as "The Air France Girl". I sneaked some more details in her CV and then forwarded the mail to Saurabh. I knew he will take care. He is a genius!

The Air France Girl...7

The Air France Girl...7

"Saurabh can help her more than I can". I picked up my iPhone 3 and called Saurabh. After some rings, it went to voicemail. "Hero, sometimes find some time for your friends also. Enjoy life, BBye", I left the voice message and hung the phone.

Seven months had passed when I had first met her. The Air France Girl was back in life. I started to remember the time when I introduced myself to her. Thoughts kept flying into my mind as I kept gazing at the evening getting darker. I had told about this girl, to Maa, who had swept me off my feet. Maa had suggested not to think much about her and also that if she has to be in my life, she will ping me someday,and she did. Wow!

My phone sang the music from "Pehla Nasha" song. "Saurabh calling". 

"What's up dude?" he barked as I picked his call. "Where have you been?"

"Nothing special, I am seeing a girl nowadays." "Great", I replied, "and when will you have time to tell how is everything going between you and her?" 

"I am still thinking, let's hope she is the one". "You say that for all girls you meet", I mocked him.

"She is different", he said. "Repeat dialogue" I mocked again. 

I continued, "Anyways I have called you tell you something different", I changed the topic. "I need some help from you, for someone". "And that someone is...", now he started his mocking. "You remember I told you about this girl, whom I met when I was travelling here". "Oh yes, Priyanka, that's her name right?", he replied.

"So what's up...", he continued. I said - "Well, I received a mail from her. She is searching for a job in US.  

And you are one person, I know, has huge contact list, I am sure you will be able to help".

"So she called you when she needed you, what happened to that guy whom she came to meet here?", he said. "It seems that her journey did not turn out that good. Whatever is the case, I wish to help her and you can help me...", "In getting her..." he interrupted me. 

"Yaar, it is not like this, it is just that I want to help someone in distress...", "...and that someone is special for you," he mocked again. Ok, as of now, I remember that there is a requirement for QA Functional Testers in New York office". 

"You work in Chicago and you have database of New York office, awesome!". "Contacts, man". "Just get her CV and mail to me, and ask her if she is ready to relocate to New York. The work location will be Jersey City.I will take care of the rest. Don't worry, I am just behind you."

"Thanks man", I said and we had departing greetings on the phone.

The Air France Girl...6

The Air France Girl...6

"Bingggg! You've got a new mail!" My computer shouted. I put my head up and clicked on the "Open" 

button. 

From: Priyanka Mehra; Subject:hi. 

"Why can't people have more elaborate subjects", I thought. 

Hi

I hope you remember me (of course I do :)). I accompanied you in your first journey to United States (and I 

loved that journey). I was coming here to meet someone for my marriage (alas, yes!). 

Things did not go that well, and now I am trying to find a job in Atlanta.

I hope you are doing good (I was doing good till today, but your mail made me remember you). If I am not disturbing you, can you just reply to my mail. I am feeling too alone nowadays.

your air france friend.

Wow, so that was an out of the blue mail, when I could see the Sun setting in the West on an early Florida winter evening. It was a bit cold outside and the Sun, as usual was beautiful. Okay, she is just a friend (as of now :)). 

So, how can I help her. I thought, and then something flashed in my mind.

St. Petersburg: A city in the Sunshine State

 As I was getting ready to fly to the US, everyone said I was lucky to be going to Florida since it is well known for its tourist attractions such as Miami, Key West and Orlando. My first place of residence was St Petersburg, a small peninsular city located in Pinellas County, Florida. I lived there for 13 months.

With the sea within four miles towards the east and west, and freshwater lakes and creeks, I had a fine time exploring the city and its beaches on foot, enjoying the cool breeze. St Petersburg is a beautiful city and enjoys a reputation for being a vacation spot for both domestic and international travelers. It is also the seventh most sought after destination for retired community in the US.

The city was a bit warm during the summers, and surprisingly, the grass remained wet all the time. I explored walking on the wet grass along the Jorgenson Lake, which was quite refreshing. During the weekends, I visited some other places on foot — Leslee Lake, Booker Creek Park, Joe’s Creek Park, Sheffield Lake, Crescent Lake, Mirror Lake, etc.

I thought I will include a painting of mine here:

St Petersburg is abundant with several tourist attractions. Tourists can enjoy fishing at the Pier, rent a boat and visit the aquarium. There are also weekly festivals that attract a good number of people. The Boyd Hill Nature Preserve is a 245-acre preserve with many endangered plants and rare wildlife of Tampa Bay, which is a large, natural harbour and estuary along the Gulf of Mexico. A bird exhibit houses bald eagles, owls, pelicans and hawks. Over 500 species of tropical and subtropical plants abound among pools and cascading waterfalls at the Sunken Gardens, part of a collection of more than 50,000 tropical plants and flowers.

Being a peninsula, St Petersburg is home to a number of beautiful beaches such as St Pete, Indian Rocks, Clearwater, Maximo and Fort De Soto Park. Tourists can use the Suncoast Beach Trolley to explore the other beaches. I would like to specially mention the Fort De Soto Park Beach, which I visited on my last day at St. Petersburg. The drive to this park was very beautiful.

Besides the natural beauty of St Petersburg, what made my visit eventful were the friends that I made during my stay there.