Chapter 1

It was 8.00 AM on a bright sunny day in the month of May. As expected it was hot outside, 80 degrees one would guess. Weather forecast said it was going to rain that afternoon! No signs of rain clouds! Well how often is the handsome looking, well dressed, almost 6 feet weather guy right! Well I just watch it because he is very handsome, and not a bad way to start off my mornings. Of course I am counting on the fact that he is going to be wrong and it will not rain, or definitely I am going to miss my flight or it might get delayed and I am screwed. Let’s see, what are my plans tasks to be completed today? Go through last months expenses, talk with Chari about hiring new interns, work with Lisa to reschedule the meeting that got cancelled last week, and oh! I almost forgot; I haven’t packed my suitcase for my trip!!! 3 days! I don’t even know why I agreed to go this time. Maybe I should have asked Chari, never mind, his daughter is getting married 5 days from today and he needs the time off. Maybe I should have asked Mike, well never mind I have almost packed and I have to catch my flight at 2.00 PM. Its almost 8.30 AM now, I better hurry or I will be late; hope there not too much traffic today. With all these thoughts racing through her mind, finished her breakfast rather quickly; which she normally enjoys and savors every bite. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, having a nice fruit, and an egg and a toast with a glass of cold milk, checking out the headlines is something that she normally wouldn’t easily give up. She gathered her belongings and disappeared out the door in a flash and one could hear the sound of the elevator going down.

The welcome mat always looked new to anyone who walks past it, since the house was actually two huge condos combined into one, with a sleek, architecturally rich but elegant modern door. The door opens to a huge but well decorated space, which must have been the passage joining the two condos originally. Now it has been opened up and restructured with architectural highlights throughout the ceiling, with a small fountain in the middle with water coming out of a little girl’s water bottle, instead of the traditional pot. Two tiny pillars provide support to the mantle on the left which boasts a modernized Tanjore Art, originated from India in a modern frame. It leads to the living area on the right, with a spicy beige sectional overlooking the fireplace which has hardly been used, One can easily be deceived into thinking it to be a real, with the cherry mantle boasting a plasma television, accompanied by family pictures in traditional frames, accenting the sectional, complementing the oversized but slender table lamps on the cherry wood end table. The coffee table is a piece on its own with a miniature meadow similar to the one we see at the museums underneath the thick glass frame, a complement to ones vision. Japanese bonsai plantation decorate the room through out with green and cobalt blue decorative pillows and accents bring a warmth to the room with the recess lights over the peachy walls, with a set of birds flying across the wall is definitely a conversation starter. The rest of the house carries the theme with the emphasis on the unity of modern and tradition does make ones mind open to new ideas and brings out the ones artistic capability in the marriage of the west with the east and the collision of the north and south.