2008-05-21 - 11:46 a.m.

...friends forgotten and remembered...

It's Wednesday and I'm feeling a little blue, but I think it's related to the weather and questionable sleep these past few days.

I had a dream that I was on a summer island, dancing with an old friend from grad school - a gentleman named Abhijit. Abhijit wrote a very successful couple of papers and then left science to make money in industry. He was one of my favorite buddies back then, always smiling, supportive, and making jokes. Everyone liked him. In my dream, he and I were swing dancing, except that he didn't have a clue what he was doing. I was trying to show him a few things (I was an avid dancer in grad school.) Anyway, he couldn't learn a thing, but he smiled and laughed through the whole event while I was taking it way too seriously. When we finished our first dance, we looked up and saw that we had an audience. They applauded loudly. But I knew that they were applauding him because of his contagious smile and laughter - not my serious attempts to teach him. I felt sad and a little misunderstood.

I wonder where Abhijit is now. I hope he is still the wonderful, cheerful guy I knew back in grad school. I imagine him still hopelessly in love with his sweet wife. I remember his saying that he left science for her - so that he could live in one place with a stable career. He was one of the few people I tried to convince to stay in science, because I respected him and his work so much. I was depressed when he left. Now I'm only saddened that his leaving the field has caused us to lose touch.