My first 'workshare' project was with the Netherlands office. Workshare is where work gets shared between two offices, with one of the offices acting as the main office and reporting directly to the client and the other acting as the engineering office, where most of the work is carried out. In this case, Netherlands office was the main office and we were the engineering office.
I was around 7 years old at the time. (Not my age, my experience in years !!) And was assigned as the lead engineer on a particular project with around 5 colleagues working in my team. For the 'kickoff' meeting, we went to The Netherlands, where I met everyone from the Instrument dept and then taken to 'Eric Van Beek'. He was introduced to me as my counterpart of the main office.
I looked up at him.
A balding gentleman with all his remaining hair white, approximately 6 ft 3 inches tall, with large glasses and a stern looking face was looking at me - from atop a tower, it seemed. Apart from being twice my size, he seemed to be atleast twice my age. At that moment, I remembered my father back in India, who might've been younger to the guy !! He shook hands with me and smiled. He had uneven teeth, looked kind of 'fierce' and reminded me forcibly of a certain character in Asterix comics. I smiled back and we exchanged the niceties. Over the next few days, we became familiar and I realised that, contrary to his fierce appearance, Eric was quite friendly. There were a lot of jokes and laughter when he was around. However, I got the feeling somehow that he wasn't interested in work. Looking back now, I think maybe it was just me - I was a bit too eager to start off work on my first workshare project and as a first time lead !!
Once when I went upto him during that 5 day visit to the main office and asked him whether we can discuss a few queries which I have, he said yes. However, he simply noted the queries, without providing answers to any of it at the time !! A bit annoyed, I asked him when could I expect a response on those, he replied very curtly and directly that "I cannot provide you the replies to it anytime soon. I am yet to read all the scope documents. When I complete doing that I will tell you."
I was kind of taken aback at this reply. Half of me was annoyed and the other half was unpleasantly surprised at the curtness of his reply. Perhaps, at the time, I thought it was even rude !! Annoyed because, you would normally be prepared for a critical meeting atleast. Also, I tended to think that he wasnt taking me seriously because of my age or experience. Later on, as I worked with the dutch, I came to know that they are very 'direct', as in - they dont care about mincing words. They tell you everything very 'to the point' without beating around the bush. Maybe that is why he said it the way he did.
Later on Eric came for a co-ordination visit to India. When I went up to meet him as he arrived in our office, he looked like a small kid who'd just been given the biggest ice cream you've ever seen !! He shook my hand vigorously, told me that he just loved the warm weather in India and was waiting to eat the spicy food !! He was very eager to find out more about 'Indian culture' which he knew is very colourful and vibrant. He even asked me about 'Bhagavad Gita' and where he could get a copy of it. He said that he had heard a lot about ancient Indian scriptures and books and he thought that they should be a part of the country's school curriculum - to which I agree.
Once during the same visit, we took all our dutch counterparts for a treat to a popular restaurant which served Rajasthani food. Eric was very adventurous in trying all sorts of dishes - right from the ones which were VERY HOT and SPICY to those which were VERY SWEET. At one time he dipped his big finger in a 'Rajasthani lehsun ki chutney' (Chilli garlic chutney) known to be very hot -even for Indians and licked the whole of it in one go, as if to prove a point and said, "Oh, When, I stayed in Saudi Arabia for sometime I had eaten lots of spicy Indian food".
Later on, when I went to the Netherlands on a long assignment, I found out that his wife had some prolonged illness. He had to travel frequently to Spain so that she could live in moderate climes which was good for her. In the times that he was in office, we chatted easily with each other as if like good friends - of the same age and as if we knew each other for a long time. "Ravi, you are the next stage of evolution" He used to say for fun. "You're small in size, must be consuming lesser food and are very intelligent !! - so an efficient and evolved human being, just like computers getting smaller in size with time."
Another one of his favourite statements was, "We have taken so much advantage of nature, reclaimed so much land here in Netherlands that one day all of this will be under water. But then, I will be no more at the time !!"
After my assignment, I was connected to him via linked. He once messaged me about the health problem that he had, but also said that it was fixed so he is getting better. The year 2017 was when I went out of the country on another assignment. I wished him a happy birthday that July. He replied back saying that he likes it that so many people remember him on his birthday and hoping that everything was good at my end and to keep in touch.
Last year I wanted to wish him a happy birthday, so I asked a colleague whether I could have his watsapp no. My colleague informed me that Eric was no more. He wasnt keeping well for sometime and had finally lost the battle.
I didnt know Eric that much or that well, but felt shocked on hearing that he'd passed away. He was one of those persons, whom you are in contact with only for a short period of time, but somehow, they stay in your good memories forever.
