Delhi Airport

A Family Room at Gate 56

At Gate 56 of Delhi Airport, I sat waiting, initially weary from a 14-hour flight delay that felt like a test of endurance. Yet, in His mysterious way, God turned bitterness into sweetness. There, I met Jason Thankachan, a warm, smiling coder who shuttles between India and Indonesia, living in Bekasi. Simple and courteous, he sparked our connection with a question: “Do you like video games?”

I chuckled, memories flooding back. “I used to play Dota and Mobile Legends,” I said. Jason eagerly shared updates on characters I still recalled—Skeleton King, Berserker—reviving nights at ITB’s multimedia lab, where I installed Dota, learning software by day and battling in tournaments by night. Then, he showed me a tiny emulator packed with hundreds of games, affordable yet brilliant. I pictured my sons, Miracle and Heaven, delighting in it, their eyes bright with joy.

Sayan Bose, a DOP (Director of Photography), joined us, intrigued. “What’s that?” he asked, eyeing Jason’s emulator. From casual gaming talk, we dove into Kolkata’s culinary treasures: sweet desserts, potatoes, biryani. The three of us laughed freely, as I tweaked slides for my RAW Architecture presentation at FOAID later that day. The air felt light, like a family reunion unfolding unexpectedly.

Then came Pavel, a humble film director with a curious spirit, asking where Jason got the emulator and its price, peppering us with questions about Indonesia. I later learned via Google that he’d produced films like Kolkata Chalantika, Asur, and Rosogolla. Our chat shifted to life’s deeper currents—children, education, growth. Pavel shared that his wife, Smriti, whose name means “memory,” is a teacher. Her work shaping young minds resonated with me, reminding me of my own efforts to nurture through architecture and community. We spoke of Smriti’s dedication, how she crafts lessons with care fostering curiosity and kindness in her students, a quiet yet profound act of building the future…(continue in comment)
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