Last week was a hectic week at work. We had an external (client) audit for entire week. My US colleague, Marc, had specially flown in for this audit. Overall, the audit went well.
This was also an opportunity for me to meet Marc in person for the first time. We interact regularly over Zoom and phone calls, but meeting someone in person is a different experience altogether.
I have a habit of taking good care of my team members and people I like and I am generally a good host (not bragging, but I have heard this feedback often).
So when Marc was in Pune for a week, I had planned many things for him and for the team as a whole so that the audit doesn’t become a burden.
We used to have a variety of Indian cuisines and Marc tried and liked them all (which included Pav Bhaji, Biryani, Misal, Vada-Pav, Samosa, Bakarwadi, Gulab Jam, Shrikhand, Jilebi, Alphonso mangoes and daily 5 cups of Masala Chai!).
Marc is someone who has always given me positive comments and who appreciates my knowledge and insights. He is also an avid reader and a finance enthusiast. So I decided to gift him two of my favourite books – Joys of Compounding and Almanack of Naval Ravikant.
I neatly wrapped the books with gift wrapper, added a card along with a hand written note and gave it to him on Friday. I also gave him some Bakarwadi and a box of Alphonso mangoes.
He was really overwhelmed by my hospitality and thanked me multiple times. The gratitude in his words and body language was vivid and genuine. We also spoke about his roots, his native place and I was surprised to see that he opened up so much (usually Americans are not so friendly about their personal details).
Marc probably felt that the gratitude he showed while accepting the gifts was not enough, so he sent me a very warm message thanking me again! 🤗
I always thought that I come across as a self-centred and anti-social person; and that’s probably true as well.
However, I have also been blessed by many such heartfelt compliments and I treasure those moments a lot! That’s why I thought of posting this here; so that when I’m going through lows I can feel good by reading such posts.
ekoshapu 
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