Welcome Home Sunil!

My cousin Sunil. Last month he returned home to Burhanpur on retiring from a long and successful stint in Kuwait as Specialist Asset Integrity at an oil refinery. Life has come a full circle for him. As pictures of his homecoming appeared on the family WhatsApp group, my mind went back to the time when Sunil had left home as a 16-year-old lad to get admitted to a premier engineering institute in Indore. He was staying close to our house in Indore, and would often drop by. He made several friends at the institute quickly. He would share updates about his life at the institute with us. He became a member of Maharashtra Engineers, a students' wing of Marathi-speaking people at the institute. We used to get invited to social and cultural events organised by them. Those evenings were very enjoyable, with music, dance, and theatre performed by enthusiastic students.

Time flew, and Sunil passed his engineering with flying colours. He spent about a year with private companies in Mumbai, and then got a good job at the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). He moved to their refinery in Haldia, roughly 124 kilometres from Kolkata. He adapted to the lifestyle of that new place, and started settling into his profession. He met his life partner Jolly, an accomplished gynaecologist and obstetrician, also working at the IOC in Haldia. They settled into their family life with the arrival of their baby boy, at the same time both contributing wholeheartedly to their careers at the refinery.

Sunil has always been very energetic, adventurous, active, and hardworking. As life presented him with an opportunity to move to Kuwait, he accepted it heartily. Supported by Jolly, they made Kuwait their home. Both of them had challenging careers, and they gave their best to their work. They made many long-lasting friendships there, and took part in social, cultural, and religious activities of Maharashtrian as well as Bengali communities enthusiastically. Of course, Marathi and Bangla are Sunil and Jolly's respective mother tongues, but with exposure to different communities, and a cosmopolitan lifestyle, they are world citizens really!

Photos courtesy Sunil

An avid traveller, Sunil along with Jolly has travelled far and wide to interesting destinations across the globe. He is also a keen golfer, having spent many enjoyable hours at the sprawling greens and desert golf courses in Kuwait. He has a good knowledge of rituals, and he made proper use of his knowledge by officiating at pujas and religious events regularly. He is a people's person, always bubbling with energy. He likes to remain in touch and maintain contact with his friends, relatives and acquaintances, sometimes going out of his way to make efforts to meet someone.

He is very down to earth, and adapts to any condition quickly without any complaints. I remember, once he and Jolly visited us in Bangalore for a couple of days. We had moved to Bangalore just a few days before their visit, and had not even unpacked all our stuff. The apartment was strewn with boxes, and was far from being ready to welcome anyone. They are close family, and there is no formality with them. But still I felt bad that I could not make things more comfortable for them. But both of them made me completely at ease with their natural, easygoing and simple demeanour, not only taking things as they were, but also finding enjoyment in them!

Similarly, they played great hosts when I made trips to their homes in Haldia, Kuwait, and Kolkata. When you are with them, time passes by with chatter and laughter. I wish the same laughter fills their lives as they make India their base now. Wishing both of them many more years of adventure, fun, travel, and good times with family and friends!