A caricature was done as a best wishes card for all of us to write our future wishes to him and presented to him during the farewell lunch.
‘Exploration Future’ GULF TODAY Dt. 25.09.2010
It is hectic these days as the start of winter season after the summer holidays bring in many new staff. This is the time when some of the old hands say good bye after their assignment period in the UAE gets completed. It follows with a farewell lunch and welcome parties and one such event happened this weekend.
It was a farewell lunch for one of our managers, who, unlike others remained in this region for two terms, i.e. almost six years, which is not common among our expats. It is a professional environment at office. Seldom do we get to speak personal matters between colleagues as we all immerse ourselves in our own area and scope.
Considering the long interactions with him and the bond and team spirit, I thought I should know a bit more about him than I know as a colleague. I took time out before our normal start and spent a few minutes with him.
Talking to him gave interesting insights and remembrance of my mother’s retirement from work. Into his late fifties, he refused to say the word “retirement.”
He preferred to use “professionally provided long term leave.” With more than 38 years experience, he has worked in France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Brazil, Indonesia and now the UAE, his last professional stop.
Being a sport, he has travelled extensively in all these countries and their neighbouring countries on road and sea. In addition, he has also visited, Yemen, Oman, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain several times and all the roads and important places are easy for him as the lines on his palm.
With his children now settled, he and his wife, have already bought a boat and plan to explore the un-explored and explored locations for another 10 years. To keep himself fit, he plans to continue canoeing, kite surfing, mountaineering, skiing etc as he is an expert in all those.
I know well, but even then I asked him, do you keep any photos or write blogs about your expeditions so far? Or plan to do any such thing in the future? He answered, “No. I do them and forget them to look forward to the future one. May be a few photographs here and there, which my wife takes. But not on a regular basis. That encourages me to always look forward to the future and keep myself young.”
Well, I listened to him silently and wished him good luck in the new assignment of his life, which I termed, “Exploration Future.”
Ramesh Menon
To read it in original, please visit GULF TODAY online.
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