New babies and what new bae calls me

New Bae

My colleague Pooja had a second baby in August and I have been busy with office work in her absence. It's been intense but also a lot of fun.  Not only did I think I could manage all the office work simultaneously, I also decided it was a good time to date someone new. This is someone I knew but wasn't sure if I wanted to date. Having not dated anyone in the same city for... lets just say a considerable amount of time enough to make one feel like an avid swimmer out of the dating pool and I wanted to dive back in (Makes sense?) The point is, I always juggle a lot of things when I am busier with work than when I am not. I have even updated my blog more times in the span of a couple of weeks than I have this year yet! I've done it all (not everything of course, but you know what I mean) I don't know how efficiently, but I'm focusing more on the tasks at hand and enjoying the process extremely. Yes. The twenty three year old me will not believe the thirty seven year old me. The increased workload is manageable because of the wonderful architects and interns working with us. But I really miss Pooja during client meetings. I have to speak twice as much and I'm parched all the time.

Of the many meetings over these last two months, I was on a zoom call with a client... Let call him Akshat Malkani. I addressed him as Mr. Malkani on emails and on the call as I wasn’t sure if he was okay being on first name basis with me from the start. He asked me to call him Akshat since (his words, not mine) “Mr. Malkani is my father.” It was funny and relatable, but this point hit home when the person I'm dating started calling me by my surname endearingly and all I could say was “sure call me that, but Kulkarni was my father.” I’ve never been called by my surname much and I don’t mind it, but whenever someone calls me “Kulkarni” I imagine my father because that’s what his colleagues and friends called him. It's a warm gooey feeling in my heart and brings a smile to my face. This came spontaneously and sincerely from the bottom of my heart and my client’s comment resonated wonderfully. These two moments have made me smile whenever I think about it... and I’ve thunk about it quite a lot lately!