Latest / Chavadi: The Meeting Place / Episode #30 - Guraz Buhariwala

Transcript

Episode #30 - Guraz Buhariwala · Chavadi: The Meeting Place

• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Hi there.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Or as we say in Tulu, Namaskarla.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Chawdi.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: Chavdi means the meaning place.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_02: Architecturally, it is a veranda, sometimes outside a home, sometimes within.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_02: Always to welcome guests, to swap stories, debate the news, and pass the time together.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Each episode we will bring you voices that reflect the rich tapestry of life, memories from childhood, lessons learned along the way, and the moments that stay with us forever.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Some humorous, some poignant, but always special.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Lalita Shetty.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm Sidan Shetty.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_02: Today we invite you to our chavi.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_02: Today we have Guraz Buhariwala.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_02: He was born and brought up in Pune.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: He has a younger brother in Seattle, and he's been married to Devina Shetty for six and a half years.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_02: They moved from San Jose to Austin in 2024, and they've been in Austin for the past two or so years.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome, Guraz.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_02: How are you doing today?
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_03: Doing well, Sid and Auntie.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much for having me on your podcast.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm looking forward to talking with you, Guraz, especially since you are an SOB and you know our Austin joke.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Though, like you told us earlier, your childhood, you really didn't have much exposure to Bant culture because your dad is a Parsi, your mom is a Punjabi, again, uh you know, different uh communities.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: So tell us a little bit more about your childhood, about some fun stories about things you got up to with your brother, maybe.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_03: So, I mean, yeah, so basically born and raised in Pune, um, kind of spent my entire childhood, college years there.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, pretty normal, grounded Indian childhood, you know, very family-oriented.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_03: Parents were kind of strict about education and studies, but in general, pretty chill, I would say.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, they gave us a lot of freedom to do what we wanted.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, we could spend time with friends, play sports, do whatever, right?
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_03: So it was a good balance of sort of freedom and responsibility.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and yeah, I had I have a younger brother.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he's three years younger.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_03: We had sort of this love-hate relationship just with any boys.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_03: It's we've grown up, you know, fighting and wrestling and throwing each other up the boat down the staircase and all of that stuff, but uh, but yeah, he's now here in in the US, so and we're much we're much closer.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so Siddhan, do you relate to that?
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm guessing Karthik and you have kind of similar or are you closer?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Karthik and I'm only what 18 months apart, but uh okay, like we definitely used to rough house a lot growing up, and Papa's only rule was you can hit the head, but everything else is fair game.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um obviously we don't do it now, but yeah, it was it was fun while it lasted.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, yeah, no holes bar.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_03: It was like so.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Did you and you said you talked about going to Goa a lot?
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, uh as for yearly holidays.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so we traveled quite a bit, uh, you know, as a family growing up.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_03: It was like international trips one on time.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Goa was our regular or favorite family holiday destination.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_03: We would kind of go there every year.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_03: I ended up later on in life going there back every year with my friends when we were studying as well.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, so that's one place.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_03: Another place we used to always go to is Udwara because that's where the when the Parsiis came into the US.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_03: Uh sorry, yeah, that's where they landed.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_03: So we have our main fire that's burning there, and the main temple is there, and so that's somewhere we go to or try to go to at least once in a couple of years.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so yeah.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: So uh sorry, uh, when you were growing up, you said your dad was a Parsi, mom was a Punjabi.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Did you kind of celebrate both festivals, Parsi festivals, as well as because the Punjabis also are pretty like a close-knit family, right?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_03: So it was not like uh I in fact our parents taught us at a very young age to, you know, just respect and be open to other religions and cultures.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_03: So it was not like, okay, just because I grew up uh, you know, I did I have done like my thread ceremony and now Joe call in Parsi's.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but that doesn't mean that okay, I don't uh, you know, I I still go we go to the Gurudvara and the temples and Vidwali and everything, right?
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, we we that was never a restriction, and that was okay learning and culturally and things like that as well.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: So and there was a large uh community in Pune that you kind of hung out with?
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so Parsi community in general is much smaller.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_03: Uh but in ja yeah, but again, my mom's side and you know, just family friends, because they've been they also grew up for most of their life in Pune, so we knew a lot of friends and family there.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_03: Um but yeah, I mean, pretty much Pune was home and and um everything pretty much happened there.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: Nice, nice, and then moving on to your teen years slash college, right?
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um I think you may you go on to do your uh PUC in Pune and then you do an undergrad in mechanical engineering.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but you sort of like didn't know what you wanted to do, right?
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_02: So give us an idea of um maybe what your parents wanted you to do, or like what that whole sort of high school phase of life looked like for you.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure it involved a lot of fireworks.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um but yeah, give us an idea of how that went.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so I was in I studied in Pune, I did my schooling in in the Bishop's School in Pune.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_03: Uh it was one of the well-known schools.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, I mean, after 10th grade, it was like, okay, you gotta choose between science, commerce, and arts.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_03: And I kind of went with science, and honestly, again, without you know, just kind of going with the flow sort of thing, didn't have a clear plan or whatever.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_03: Uh dad always at the time said, Okay, you need to do engineering, and in order to do that, you need to do science.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_03: That was just like typical Indian parents sort of thing.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_03: So, and then you know, your friends are kind of doing the same thing, so you're like, Okay, so 1112th was was kind of science.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then from there, I did my undergrad in mechanical engineering in Vadir College, which is part of the Pune University.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, so engineering was just kind of a natural progression.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I mean there was like mechan, there were different types of engineering.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_03: I I just didn't want to do anything related to computers or electronics, and so there was just mechanical that was left, and that was of more interest.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_03: So that's kind of how I ended up doing that, and I'm happy I chose that.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, fair.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_02: And remind me, what did your parents do again?
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, did they have any influence on you picking mechanical engineering, or were they doing totally different things in their profession?
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_03: No, so my dad has his own uh we have a family business, so he does um he I mean engineering, yes, there's some sort of relation there because they we do like uh maintenance and service work for sugar factories, right?
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_03: So it's again all heavy engineering and things like that.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and so, but that was not something I uh I mean again at that time I didn't know if I would ever end up joining the family business or wanting to join the family business.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I mean that's probably where he was coming from to say, hey, you know, you gotta probably get into engineering and you can figure out what you want, but that's probably where you should start.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_03: And my mom, uh my mom had a cake shop, still has a cake shop, uh a franchisee of it.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, she was I mean, she also made sure that we studied and did whatever, but she I mean she's like whatever makes you happy, or or you know, that sort of thing wasn't like you gotta do this or do that.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: Oh wow, that's pretty awesome.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: Both parents having their own like little shops.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: That's I mean, I'd say that's pretty cool.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you never hear about both parents having their own set of businesses, which is a unique experience, right?
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_03: And then dad, I mean, because my dad had his business, he he would travel a lot, and so my mom was kind of the force behind everything and the kind of the anchor of the family.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_03: And she had her shop and her work too, but then still making sure playing all the roles in the house, doing everything, exactly, all the hats in the house.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_02: And did you ever work at the cake shop growing up or the pastry shop?
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_03: I did actually, I did, yeah.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_03: So we would go and help out mom.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_03: I had to open the shop, close the shop, or sometime in the afternoon just to kind of or if she had some errands to run, we would go there and just be there for a couple of hours and things like that.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_03: So that was that was good.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_03: It was a good experience.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but yeah, I used to actually go to my dad's office too during the summer break.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_02: That's the that was the next question.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_02: Are you are you guys like one son over there, one son at the other piece?
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_03: So dad was like, hey, you're not gonna get uh, you know, and you gotta earn your pocket money, and so you're not gonna get anything for free.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_03: And so you gotta come and do your time in at work, you know, whatever it may be, make calls or write some emails or do whatever, but you need to do some actual work, and then we'll um then you'll be compensated.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: And was the pocket money usually spent on your mother's cakes or something something a little bit better?
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_03: It was on food for sure, not on cakes.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um I I'm a big foodie, but uh so food and just spending with friends for sure.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: Cool.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_02: So uh fast forwarding a little bit after you did your undergrad or during your undergrad while you were majoring in Mackie, um, I think you had a couple of hobbies there where you played soccer for the college, or you had a huge friend group associated with that college group or the soccer group.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then you also did like this annual boys' trip to Goa, right?
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_02: So it sounds like you had all your your quote unquote boys in college to soccer and obviously this Goa trip.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: So tell us more about that and and those fun little traditions.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so undergrad was yeah, for four years, and uh I did uh play, I enjoyed playing soccer.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_03: I still follow it today.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_03: I played soccer for the my college and my university, and and uh I mean I started getting uh injured later on, but you know, that was kind of prime time, and I enjoyed playing that.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_03: Um that was pretty much the I mean we used to play other sports as well, like cricket and and tennis and things like that, but soccer was big for me, although we call it football in our part of the world, uh so it's actually still football, but uh but yeah, uh so that was that, and then yeah, friends.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_03: So I think we made a very close group of friends during college or undergrad, and they're still very close today, right?
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_03: Even though everyone kind of completely took different directions, different careers, cities, countries, everything.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_03: But I think the friendship has lasted for sure.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_03: So during the four years of our undergrad, every year at the end of the year, we would make a boys' trip, like 10 of us, and take an overnight bus, go to Goa, spend a week there, just chill on the beach, pool.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_03: Beach bums.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_03: Sorry, beach bums, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, enjoy good food and stuff like that.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_03: So Goa was kind of fun.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_03: Now it's a lot more commercialized, but back then this was like what 10 years ago.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_03: It was nice being with friends.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's awesome.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: And then I guess like the most important person or event in college is actually meeting Devi Naka, but you also were neighbors with her with her growing up, right?
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_02: So give us basically let's dive into your love story, which Alanti will take.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, so I actually met uh so it's kind of a uh uh I mean she calls it creepy, but uh so this was back in junior, this was after we finished the 10th, right?
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_03: And we had to choose our you know whether sites or commerce, and um my parents wanted me to go to this specific college called Choksey.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_03: And um we in our community where we live, you know, yeah, because my mom has a cake shop, people come and they talk and stuff like that, and so it just kind of came up in the conversation that oh, Kishore and Ratna Shetty's daughter is also planning to go to the same college.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_03: And so my mom told me, and I was like, I mean, I don't know who she is, and I don't my mom also didn't know because we didn't know the family at the time.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_03: So um, you know, I I just and I didn't know anyone actually going to this college, so I said, okay, you know, might as well let me just I and that time basically wrote to her on Orkut saying, Hey, I heard you're going to um uh Chokesy, and um so she thought it was really creepy, and she never ever responded to that.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_03: And then the college actually started and they would do like this roll call, right?
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_03: And they would so this is the first week they kept calling out her name, but nobody would answer.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_03: And then uh because she was in the in the US on just kind of completing her holiday at the time, and then a week later is when she came and they said, Okay, then I could finally put a face to this.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, and then so yeah, so she had her own friend circle, I had my own friend circle, and then it kind of became one group, and you know, we kind of became good friends, and uh yeah, that's how that's how we met.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's how you met, and then the romance started early or after uh undergrad?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_03: Actually, it started early, so it started early.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_03: It uh 20 2007 is when we met, 2008 is when we started uh dating, right?
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_03: So that's I mean, she initially didn't want to kind of pursue that because you know that's when I came to know more about the Bunt tradition and culture or you know, of like within the community and all of that.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, you know, even though my parents, as I said, right, because my parents they had a love marriage, right?
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_03: It was never like it was never enforced by them that okay, you need to look into this religion or that religion or anything like that.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so it was they were very open.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_03: So for me, it was very different from my own family experience.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but then it's just we became really good friends, and then I said, you know what, let's just you know, let's just see, right?
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_03: We'll we'll figure out and so she kind of agreed, and then yeah, we started going around, we started dating in 2008, and we've now yeah, now it's what 2026, so we've been together technically for 18 years, we've been together more than half our lives.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um wow, so yeah, yeah.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I was gonna say, you know, some guests have talked about our Bund community is pretty large and pretty uh nosy, and want to know about everybody's life.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: And and Pune has a fairly large uh Bunt community.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: So were there stories that got back to her parents before you guys wanted them to, or did she kind of tell them fairly early?
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: Or uh because, like you said, uh an a mixed marriage would have been a big deal back then.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I mean, even though for you back then it's just 10-15 years, and for me it's like 40-50 years, but uh uh but still, like how was it telling her parents, meeting her parents for the first time?
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_03: So it all kind of happened organically because so our parents, I mean, our parents knew each other, right?
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_03: So they were kind of friends and you know, sort of okay, yeah, that makes a difference.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_03: But so, but when we when we were going uh uh going around, right?
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_03: I don't think they I mean obviously they didn't know we were dating, uh maybe they did and they just never said anything, right?
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_03: Uh at least our side.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_03: My parents knew because again, you know, very chill about about it.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_03: So they knew.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_03: Uh that side not so much, but so she was always kind of, you know, as you said, there are a lot of chatties in Pune, and you know, at that time want to um say anything.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_03: It was also we were very young, right?
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_03: We were like 18, so we didn't even know what to do.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_03: We were just you know, yeah, taking it as it came.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then later on is when again our families got to know each other a lot more and stuff like that.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_03: And so it just kind of organically happened.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_03: And then also when I moved uh to the US and actually was waiting to get my first job.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_03: It was only after I got my job and my ED2 work when suddenly they're like, Okay, now you got your job, now you gotta get married.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um for us, it was more it was not about uh it was more about when we would actually go for it.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_03: And so that's how it kind of uh, you know, one thing led to the other.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_03: Her sister, one day's sister just told her parents that hey, you don't need to worry about Devi, she's you know, and that's when I think they actually officially came to know that okay, something going on there.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um the advantage of little sisters, big sisters, whatever exactly.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_03: So she did all the hard work for me, I would say.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I'm I'm sure that's hard for you guys to understand, but right?
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Siddhant.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like all this uh secrecy.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I feel like it's it's easy to be pretty open nowadays.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: It is, it is yeah.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_03: There was a lot of uh like whenever we would go out, also it was like, okay, nobody you know, you can't like I would I had a bike and I would take on my bike, but then she used to wear my helmet just so that no she was not allowed to have a bike.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um so that sort of thing.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_03: Uh but yeah.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure the stories you're telling us are they being approved.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I need to.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_03: I think she'll do the final round of edits.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then even between like when you guys started dating in 2008 and finally got married in 2020, I think what's overlaying some of this uh this timeline is that you you also kept moving around because you went to get your master's in the UK for engineering also in 2014.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_02: So you were there for two years, and then you came back in came back to India and then you got a job in Pune, and then I think Davinaka was in the US.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_02: So you guys kept missing each other from a timeline perspective.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but tell us a little bit more about like living in the UK and getting your master's there.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_02: How was that coming from India?
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: How was that cultural like that change, that shock?
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um, how's that whole experience?
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_03: Um so I think the master's my master's in the UK was actually the first sorry, the first time I left home from Pune.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, you know, I went to Coventry in UK to pursue my master's in automotive engineering.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_03: My mom actually came with me to the just help me drop off and settle in and stuff, which is very sweet.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but that was kind of a big moment, right?
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_03: Because until then I I lived my entire life in Pune at home, right?
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_03: And so this is now first time, new country, away from family, you gotta, you know, make a new friend circle, you gotta figure out your food, you gotta figure out your studies and that sort of thing.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, so I think it was a it was a great experience.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_03: I would say I gotta learn a lot for sure.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_03: The program itself was also uh, I mean, I wanted to do something in automotive design, and so that's how I even ended up choosing automotive engineering.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and uh again, I got to meet a lot of friends.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_03: We actually did a whole road trip in we did 10 countries in 15 days in while we were studying, yeah, by bus.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_03: So it was amazing.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_03: That was my first exposure then outside, uh, you know, at that again, just with friends um internationally.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_03: So that was fun, and then I actually ended up doing an internship in the UK with Jaguar Land Rover.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um, yeah, so I did I worked there for a couple of months.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_03: Now, the thing about UK is that okay, you get just 16 months, you get a 16-month visa.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_03: Your program is for 12 months, so you only have four months to look for a job and do an internship.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_03: And I think at the time there were a lot of changes happening with you know the visa regulations and stuff like that.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_03: So I I'd got a job, but it just wasn't working out from a timing perspective and compliance perspective and things like that.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_03: So I had to eventually leave the UK and come to India.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, in general, I think UK, so London was is is, I would say, still one of my most favorite cities every once, like every month, we would try and make a again a trip to go to London and just do things there.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_03: If there's any place in the world I would be is London.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's one of my most favorite cities in the world.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_03: I hope.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_03: I keep wishing that the whole uh my career or job situation had worked out then.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_03: I mean things would have been different probably.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_03: But anyways, that that's the past now.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_03: And then I came back to India and then started looking for jobs in automotive design, but then I think that also wasn't very prevalent in India at the time.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_03: I think it was too ahead of its time.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_03: So I ended up doing, you know, start joining as a trainee in uh in a in Thyssen Group, which is like a German multinational company.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_03: You may have heard of Thyssen Group Elevators.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so this was more on the heavy engineering side.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_03: So I did a couple of years there, one year in the workshop and one year in sort of uh project management.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_02: So when you first came to UK, I guess that was your first big adult move.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_02: What do you think, like looking back on it?
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: What were the I guess what are what were some difficulties that you like didn't really see for yourself?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: That were actually very difficult, whether it was the cooking side, living alone for the first time, um, like looking back on it, it really pushed you to be a better and more productive person.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_03: I think uh it kind of taught me to be independent, right?
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_03: Because until then it was like everything was done for you by your parents back home.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_03: You have to actually do everything by yourself, right?
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that was a definitely a big learning.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_03: And then obviously, yeah, you gotta because you're away from home, away from family, you don't know anyone there, right?
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_03: You gotta make sure you're in the right friend circle and you know, and they're also going to going through the same thing, but that's what you uh you know learn, or that's what I learned from so independence for sure.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_03: Uh just to be more independent.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_03: That's where I I I figured out I can cook or I enjoy cooking.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um so I would just go get stuff, try it out, and be like, okay, not bad, uh, sort of thing.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, definitely.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_02: And then the second question is how did you um like any any uh what was a sudden change from Meki to automobile engineering or automotive engineering?
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: Was there like did you suddenly become an F1 fan during that time or what what was going on that sparked your interest in in that field?
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_03: So I was always interested in cars, right?
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_03: When I grew up, I had these, I don't know, you like these small Hheels.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, the small Hheels, yeah.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_03: I had like I don't know, maybe two or three hundred of them.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_03: Oh wow.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_03: So I was always interested in cars and stuff like that.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_03: If there was a course in automotive engineering in my undergrad, I would go for it, but unfortunately that wasn't the case, right?
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_03: So it was only after mechanical, and I was doing my research and I came across this program and it looked interesting.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_03: And um, so that's what kind of got me there.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_03: And then when I actually went there, so one of our courses was actually aerodynamics, so they take you to this F1 wind tunnel, and you have to do a whole project on that.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_03: That is where I got Formula One, yeah.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, the whole I mean, it's it's a lot of um engineering, right?
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_03: Formula is like the pinnacle of engineering, so it has a lot of stuff going on there.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_03: You don't really, it just looks like just 10-20 cars racing one another, but actually, there's a lot of strategy and engineering involved behind that.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_03: So even one small nut or a piece of bolt can slow you down, sort of thing.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_03: So that was really interesting.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_03: All the different programs, all the different courses that I did also tied to engineering or automotive engineering were interesting, and that's that was then where I thought probably what I want to get into from a career standpoint.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, life happens and you don't always get what you want.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_03: And so when I came back to India, then when I was trying to look in the same direction, it wasn't really um I I couldn't find anything in that that way.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: So so then there was a couple of years, I guess a few years in Pune, but then the love of your life was not in India anymore, right?
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_03: So we did our junior college in the same, we were in the same college, that's why we met, and then our undergrad also we were in the same college.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_03: Uh she was in a different stream, and I was in a different stream, but we were in the same college, and then for some reason, which we still don't know today, and we keep asking why.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, she she always knew she wanted to go to the US because uh, you know, her she had some family here.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: Family, that's what I was thinking.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_03: For her, it was always like uh that she won would want to come here.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_03: For me, it was like we didn't really have uh, I mean, we had relatives, not close relatives, but I don't know, it always was like okay, US is too far.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so maybe it's not an option as such.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_03: So that's why I looked at UK when I went to UK, she went to US.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_03: We were still together, we were doing long distance, that was hard.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_03: Uh-huh.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_03: We saw that through.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so before I get into you coming to Santa Clara for your second masters, I have a question quickly about you know, we've had guests who've done talked about long distance uh relationships uh way back in the day, my sister's time and things like that.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: They wrote letters and wrote the print as small as possible.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: Phone calls were expensive, then came the email, uh not emailing, there was something else in between where phone calls became a little easier, then was emailing, then people talked about typing notes or something like that.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then uh Srena talked about uh sending reels, so we've had the full gamut.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: What was your uh long distance method of communication?
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: And now, of course, there's WhatsApp, there's uh Facebook, there's all these easy, inexpensive ways.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: What about you guys?
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think there was it's pretty much similar, right?
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, there was WhatsApp and and FaceTime, uh Skype.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_03: I think there was Skype at the time.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um so yeah, that's how we would that's how we would connect.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_03: The problem was always time zones, right?
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_03: Because you know, there's that time difference.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_03: So it was like, you know, either I get done from class or she's going into class, that sort of thing.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, because you were you said you started with or cut, so you went from or cut to Facebook, I guess, or FaceTime rather.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: FaceTime.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: You came to Santa Clara for your second masters.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: What made you want to study even more?
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'm trying to get my kids to do a little more, and they keep saying, nah, we're done.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: We don't want to get any more degrees.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: So uh what was your motivation?
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I think so.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_03: I'm so I I was working in this company in Pune, right?
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_03: And I don't know if I was enjoying it as much as I thought I would.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_03: Um it was like okay, you go to work and come, it was like you wake up every day saying, uh, I just wasn't getting that right feeling that okay, I'm enjoying it or anything like that.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_03: And so I think my parents saw that, and then they were like, Okay, maybe why don't you think about this?
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_03: And even Devina is there, and um, you know, that we all will kind of be closer together as well.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um so why don't you think about it?
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_03: And I was kind of very against it at the start because I did, I just didn't want to study more.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_03: It's like after you do uh already a master's, no way that you're gonna do another one for sure.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so yeah, I mean, I uh I I don't know.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_03: One day it just kind of hit me that okay, this is not meant for me, and I should probably let's consider it, right?
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_03: Let's try and do it and let's see because it wasn't that easy.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_03: Also, you had to give like the GRE and all the different things to kind of get in.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and I gave the GRE, I didn't have a great score, but uh I said okay, I'm gonna just apply and see what happens.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_03: And I applied and I was still working and and it worked out, right?
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_03: I I got an admit, so I was like, okay, maybe then probably I should consider it.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_03: My parents were, you know, my dad was willing to back me up financially as well because doing another master's obviously is not easy, it's yeah, it is expensive for sure.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_03: So anyway, they said don't worry about it, just whatever makes you happy and things like that.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_03: So that's kind of what led me to then uh going for it.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_03: And then I was actually looking at different programs there and all, and then I wanted to again see something which is related to mechanical automotive sort of thing, but then I ended up finding a course in supply chain and analytics at Santa Claus.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, and so that I thought is a good mix of what I probably have done or would like to do, and there's also some sort of analytics, so it's more data and things like that, and that's pretty much my bread and butter now.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_03: Uh yeah, that's that's how one thing led to the other there.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: But then there was another break because uh you then went to Canada.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like, tell us about that.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so it's I mean, even though we've been together so many years, it's like okay, we've still done a lot of long distance.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so yeah, I basically came in 2018, 2017, graduated in 2018, uh, started working for HPE in 2019.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so I interned with them and then that became full-time.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Devina actually helped me.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I was studying, she was working, she would send me links, I would apply to jobs, and I didn't even know what the company was, but I applied, I interviewed, and I got in, and that's how I started my internship.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, and she was a great helper, even when I came to the US, right?
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_03: She knew the drill and things like that.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_03: So it became very easy.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, to assimilate was easier.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, very, very easy.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so yeah, so then I definitely better than UK.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_03: So oh, for sure.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_03: For sure.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean it was like okay, I didn't have to do much because it was all kind of you know done, sort of.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so yeah, so so I started working at HPE.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_03: I was we were in San San Jose, and because I was on a student visa, and so um got to keep applying for the work visa, which is the H1B, and it's kind of a it's a lottery, and uh yeah, my luck uh just wouldn't have it, and after like three attempts or whatever, I still didn't get selected, and so I had to make it, I had to basically leave the US.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_03: So that then my company was supportive.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_03: They gave me a couple of options.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_03: There was like Canada, Mexico, India, things like that.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_03: And then I chose Canada because I thought, I mean, it's still a new country, it's still far away, but closer to her.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_03: I was there for a year and a half before I came back to the US in 2023.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm curious when you visit a country, it's a different experience, a different feel.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_00: But here you have lived and worked or studied in three different countries, four different countries, if you count India.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: So India, Canada, UK, and the US.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: What are your thoughts about assimilating into each of these countries?
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like how do you do that, or is it easy?
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: What what's your take on that?
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_03: So I think I mean India was definitely, I mean, again, because I grew up there, it was I didn't have that sort of independence or or knowledge of what to expect.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_03: Then I did obviously learn a lot in UK because I had to, right?
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_03: And so and then coming to US because Devina and her friends all were here, it was again much easier.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_03: When I went to Canada, I actually felt similar to what I felt going to the UK.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: UK, okay.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_03: Even though I met, I lived with uh a friend who I studied with in undergrad, so he helped me get started with whatever I needed to, but still it was just a very different life.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_03: I went during peak winter when it was like minus 37 degrees centigrade in uh in Ottawa.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, so yeah, so I didn't know what to expect.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_03: It was just like yeah, so it's like six months of heavy snow, and uh so that was hard, right?
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_03: I think that was a that was a tough time because again you're away from family in a new country.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, it was just hard, yeah.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so I guess what I'm hearing it sounds like India and the US common factor there is Devina.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what made you like those two places.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_02: So I mean yeah, so not talking about work, um, school, everything else like that.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_02: So your hobbies now, I think you're still mostly into sports, right?
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_02: So I think in Austin you picked up a new sport, which is pickleball.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um you enjoy playing that, and then also obviously watching soccer, different outdoorsy activities.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_02: I think you're getting more into cooking, hopefully more than you were during the UK stint.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, tell us more about those hobbies and extracurricular activities.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so I still enjoy watching soccer, following soccer, football.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_03: I am getting uh a little more familiar with the American sports, the the NFL as well.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I do definitely do want to go for a UT game.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um you're in Texas, you better American football, I mean.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_03: So I've been I've been uh you know, someone explained the game to me, and then so now I'm on and now I've joined these fantasy uh leagues.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_03: I still don't know who's who, but I'm just like on an autograph sort of thing.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, uh so that's been fun, and then I've been following basketball as well.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_03: The recent Knicks game and the win.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_03: So that's been fun as well.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_03: And then yeah, after moving to Austin, I kind of picked up pickleball, it was a new sport, and that's the the new fad right now, and everyone's playing pickleball and paddle.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_03: Although lately I haven't been playing as much, but I really enjoy because as a kid I played tennis.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_03: So this kind of you know, I I found it it is kind of similar, you know, smaller in size, more controlled, sort of thing.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_03: And uh yeah, I love going for just outdoorsy stuff.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes I just take my car, I just go for a drive or a hike, or you know, it helps me relax on the weekend.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um and then yeah, cooking is something that I I have been um I've been doing uh a lot of at you know, even here.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I try different things.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_03: As I said, if it works, I I don't like to follow recipes, I just do my own thing.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_03: I start I start with a recipe, but I'm like, I know I can do do it better.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it's it's been fun.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_03: If I like and now it's it's hard when you're working, right?
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_03: Because you're you kind of got to at the end of the day, if you ask me to start cooking, I don't really enjoy it.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_03: So I kind of do meal preps over the weekend and then make easy things during the week.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, it's a stress buster for sure.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_03: Cooking.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_02: Is there a big new dish you're trying to crack still, or like the next biryani or the next, I don't know, like dish you're trying to.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_03: I'm actually trying to make um so I so there are some famous parsi delicacies, right?
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if it's like dhansac, which is like yes, like pulse and vegetables and meat.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_03: Basically, everything's around meat and eggs.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_03: I've made it once, I I don't think it was that good, and I've never ever tried it again because there's a lot of steps to do, and that's something you gotta actually follow.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_03: Steps that's probably why I've not even got to.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, I think that's that's something I want to do, and then because now I'm in Texas, I want to start grilling a lot more, so I want to get a nice grill and do these barbecues and you know, smoke, yeah, smoking sort of thing out in my patio.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_03: I haven't got to it yet, but that's that's something I want to try my hand on.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_00: I volunteer myself as your taste tester.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_02: All right, done.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_02: I'll be the second person right after that.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no problems.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, you know, earlier we talked that though your parents were friends with Devina's parents, uh you didn't really know a lot of Bunts growing up, but then you met her, met a few people, but your big Bund influence maybe started when you got married, right?
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh what was your reaction when you first uh I guess experienced the Bunt culture, or what was your first experience of Bund culture?
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like what are some of the things because like we tell our guests, Susantha and I are both Buns, and the Buns are a community from India living in coastal Karnataka, South Canada.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but of course they've moved all over the world.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_00: So tell us some of your experiences with being one uh being married to a Bunt girl lady.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_03: So my my first experience actually started at my own wedding, actually at the wedding during the wedding festivities, right?
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_03: That's why I was like thrown into it because I hadn't met anyone from her family, extended family at all.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_03: And that's when I was like, okay, I have 10 first cousins and 30 second cousins, and you know, it the list never ended.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_03: And so I was like, why we why do we have so many people?
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_03: Because we have just 100 people coming from our side, and suddenly there are like 500 people more from your side.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so yeah, I think I think uh I think one thing that really stood out was like family and community, you know, just how people are, how willing they are to help someone who's new, um, just welcoming me into their family as well.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, sometimes their cousins, like her first cousins, they call me more than they call her, sort of thing.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's pretty cool.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_03: I never experienced a lot of that when I was growing up, so that was kind of new.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_03: And obviously, food is uh one of the easiest connections, right?
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, I've always loved South Indian foods.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_03: I always like the idlis and the dosas as a kid.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_03: My family would always make fun that oh, you're gonna find a South Indian food.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_03: That's what happened.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, uh, so food for sure.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, I think one fun fact is so I know just like in the Band culture, there's uh you know this tradition of eating on the banana leaf.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so in parsi, yeah, in Parsis, it's the same.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, on all uh the you know the special occasions, we call it patra, patra is basically the leaf, yeah.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_03: So we call it that.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_03: We actually have a dish around that as well, patra ni machi, which is like a fish which is in the banana leaf.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, food I think was uh an easy connection, and then once we got married, I visited Kundapur for the first time, or Manglore Kundapur.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I was taken for a whole long uh visit of uh temples.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_00: Siddhans will relate to that.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_03: I don't think I've seen or been to that many temples during my whole life on as much as we did in that those three days.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_03: But that was good, and then you're also trying, you know, in Kundapur, they have that famous Shetty lunch home where you get the ghee roast and stuff like that.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_02: That's really good, yeah.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_03: So so that was good, and yeah, so I think one thing I learned from this whole Bunt uh culture is just how big a role family plays, uh, you know, there's unconditional love and support, even the community in Austin, right?
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_03: Now, in all of y'all, I think y'all have been incredibly welcoming and everyone's been very warm, genuine, always willing to help and reach out and things like that.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that's definitely stood out for me for sure.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_03: And um, yeah, really thank you.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, that reminds me of a story that uh a previous guest told us, Sri Mam, and we had asked about the Vodungila or the wedding ring that buns often wear.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a V-shaped ring.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, she was telling us how they were at a restaurant, and I think you guys were there at the same restaurant, and she saw Devina wearing that ring, and then she went across and said, Are you bunt?
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that's how y'all connected.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so I guess there are things that are you know keeping us connected, uh, no matter which part of the world we're in.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, I mean that's true.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_03: She's actually the first bunt we met in in uh in Austin, and it just happened out of the that was the time when we were visiting.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_03: That's when we begin to just uh just visit our friends in Austin, our close friends in Austin, and we and we happen to be in Mozart and uh suddenly she came up, and so I mean there's some power in that.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so the power of the bunch, yeah, is the way I'm gonna take it.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_03: And there's a lot of people, like a lot of my uh lot of Devina's American friends, right?
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_03: They they want to like copy that design and they're like, oh it's so cool, and we want to we want a ring like that and stuff.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like that.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's so funny because Karthik always talks about his Aggie ring and how that like how that attracts all his Aggie alumni, his AM alumni.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's like we have a little like bunt bunt ring that bunt ring.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_00: I need to get one.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um but yeah, wrapping up as we come to a close, one of the questions that we usually ask all our guests is um looking back, we've done this full inventory of your life, right?
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_02: So looking back on your different moves to what four different country, three different countries, um couple of different jobs, um like thing just establishing new life in the States.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_02: It obviously comes with lots of difficulties, lots of different challenges.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_02: So curious, like what are some things that you think that you do really, really well that have helped you weather these different waves in life that you think is very valuable for the future generation or um just anyone that could learn from you.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um so I think life is definitely full of experiences, right?
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, I don't think there's you can like when like what I set out, I don't think that I don't think there's any book or plan in terms of what you can follow.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_03: There's no recipe book in life, right?
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_03: You you just gotta take it as it comes.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_03: And there's definitely a lot of learning.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_03: Uh there'll be times when you got to there'll be pushbacks or things that don't work out for you, and that's fine, right?
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_03: Like I've always been uh I'm an overthinker, and uh it's I'm trying to get out of that.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_03: So Devina keeps, you know, she's very positive.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_03: She keeps reminding me that hey, you gotta be positive, you gotta manifest things, and the more she says it, the more I I I kind of see it, I I kind of am inclining more to believe it.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_03: Uh you know, there's a famous saying they it says, This too shall pass, right?
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_03: So the good times will pass, the bad times will pass, everything will pass, everything is temporary, nothing is permanent.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but I think it's just the experiences in life that will uh come a long way.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_03: They'll you know, I've that's what I've I think all the experiences that I've learned from uh you know, be together, being away from family, everything has kind of taught me something, and so I think that's a very important lesson to for everyone, right?
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_03: It's um you just you know enjoy what you're doing, learn what you're doing, connect with people.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_03: People, network with people, uh be kind to people, be there for people.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, and then obviously also know where you come from, right?
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_03: Your roots, um, you know, that sort of thing.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that's definitely a key takeaway.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's a great message to end on.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I also think that like the this two shall pass message is it's very apparent in your like very like chill, cool demeanor.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I feel like you're just almost a go-with-the-flow person, which is sort of in line with your advice, right?
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_03: I I mean I think so.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, my wife wouldn't agree, but uh yeah, I I like to have I'm like a man I like to have a plan, right?
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_03: And then now recently I've realized that hey, it's not a good idea to have that because it never ever works out that way.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um so yeah, yeah, you have plans and then life decides otherwise.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_00: But your advice of just responding to life as it happens and learning from it is super, super important.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_00: But today is I forgot to wish you today is Parsi New Year.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I did want to say Navroz Mobarak on our podcast because I appreciate you coming on to uh do this recording.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not sure whether you have big plans to celebrate the new year, but uh hope you do.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_00: And as we conclude or get into the end of it, uh my request maybe is I would love to tr for you to try making some ghe roast and some fish and banana leaves and inviting me over, Goras.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be there.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_03: I will, I will.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_03: I I have tried making the the Kori Rasi, uh the Kori Gasi, the chicken curry.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but I make it my style, right?
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_03: So I I mean Teveena, her mom, they don't agree to what I make.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_03: It tastes good, we eat it, but uh it's like an Indian Thai curry.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_03: Uh but yeah, I'll no definitely.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_03: I as I try more, uh, you know, next time Ozzy.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm teasing.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm teasing.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_00: But of course, I also have to give a shout out to your other the other love of your life, who came on our podcast a little earlier because yeah, he was a little curious.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_00: Your puppy, your little dog.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, his name was Mozzie.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, after Mozzie sticks.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_03: Uh he's the love of Devina's wife, uh life.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_03: He's super attached to her.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_03: It's only when she's not around that he comes and just checks in on me.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_03: Uh honestly, yeah.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_00: He he was uh he was actually he's learned from you, she's the star, right?
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_03: He was actually the most disappointed when I came back from Canada because now suddenly uh he had to let go of the bed space that he had occupied or taken over from me.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_03: So so yeah, but yeah, no, he's been great.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, he's a he's our COVID baby, and uh yeah, he brings a smile to our face.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_00: For sure.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_00: Dogs do that, but anyway, thank you so much for joining us.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_00: Wish you all the best in the days to come through the bad times, through the good times.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh manifest as much positivity as you can, I'm sure, with Devina by your side.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, like you said, everything is temporary, nothing is permanent, and just keep learning from your experiences in life.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks for having me.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_03: It was great talking to you guys.