Saturday, August 15, 2009

Humne kya khoya, humne kya paaya?

My short US visit is coming to an end. I(along with a couple other engineers) were here to support our client through an important release and though I didn't expect much of myself, I am happy that my team did a great job and made valuable contribution to this client. It has been hectic 7 weeks here but now that it's coming to an end, my team has every reason to feel satisfied and celebrate. It's friday night and we have just returned from the office, One of those rare days when we know there is nothing pending for tomorrow! One of those occasions when we will be happy we won't be needed. We fly back home on Monday and I can't help reflecting upon this journey and how far we have come in these 7 weeks. More importantly, how far we have made this client go in these 7 weeks. 

Content and excited, I call home. Wife fills me in on the kid's progress. She tells me how he has started picking new words, how he mimicks her sometimes, that he has learnt to climb down from the bed, how he is getting friendlier to strangers, how he....

I listen intently with much joy but quickly a throbbing pain grips me. I realise what all I am missing--and man, ain't I missing a lot! True, it's only been 7 weeks but as a colleague puts it--7 weeks away from a 15 month old is an awfully long time if you count the percentages!

Alas, how far have I gone in these 7 weeks!