A Slice of Life

My husband has so many real life stories of people down his sleeve, that it amazes me. He loves non-fiction. He is inspired by success stories of small town folks who make it big in their entrepreneurship journeys.

Recently he's been reading a book on the Munjal Brothers - The Making of HERO by Sunil Kant Munjal. Shoe Dog is one of his favourites. So is Shantaram. So is the movie Guru, and the life of Dhirubhai Ambani. The grit and commitment towards achieving one’s goal. He devours Shark Tank India and comments that the ideas and the urge to solve problems is far better in the Indian version than the original one. He tells of housewives, of middle class background students who have learnt the tricks and maths of running a business solely by learning on the journey and teaching themselves. Few have created a business in the pandemic, and few have honed their technical skills learnt in college to craft a masterpiece patented product. Such abundance of ideas. He gets so excited while listening to people’s ideas and stories. One of the things he said to me during our ‘courtship’ days, was that he wanted us to be like Narayana and Sudha Murthy. They were his ideal couple. 

He was awaiting Rocket Boys in SonyLiv very eagerly, for months, after the trailer was released. Based on the lives of Homi Jahangir Bhaba and Vikram Sarabhai, he wanted to witness on screen the two scientists' journey in creating the first space mission and the first tryst to harness the atomic energy. But the show was a bit disappointing, as per him, I am yet to watch it beyond the first episode. For someone who expected something akin to 'October Sky' from the series, the humane portrayal of the great men - their personal lives and controversies around relationships, their flaws - wasn't the best way to represent, as per him. Atleast the stories have now gone on screen, I think, making way for more curious folks to read about them and research and represent better in future. And the endearing part is APJ Abdul Kalam's character. I want to read The Wings of Fire again, as I remember nothing. I want to feel the awe and wonder I had felt then. 

He tells me peculiar tales of events in world history, some I had never heard before. Yesterday he was telling me about the Chinese population in India before the India-China war of the 1960s - the Chinatowns in Mumbai and Kolkata which saw people celebrating Chinese festivals as well. I had no idea. One amazing article on the topic I found here. Do check the references too.

Then he told me about the mass migration of Indian businessmen and their families from Uganda and most of Africa - especially Gujarati families, in the 1970s after Idi Amin took the President’s seat, and the collapse of the economy there in the months that followed. Such incredible stories. 

And he makes delicious Cream of Mushroom Soup. And grilled chicken. I make lovely mashed potatoes to go with it. Today we had it for lunch. And it's difficult to believe that it's almost a year to our marriage. Time flies. Especially during lockdown, through covid fear, short travels and through time having fun with family.