An Ode - To a Seed of Thought
One Californian summer evening in 1985 a young 24-year-old and his wife were walking back to their hotel after attending a dinner hosted by the President and CEO of a company his family business represented in India. Though it was a private annual event, the CEO had invited the couple because he took somewhat of a shine to the young Indian who was going to spend three weeks learning and understanding the American end of the business. “Let’s just stop to take it all in,” said the young man to his wife. “Let’s stop for a drink, a coffee if you want, before we return to the hotel.” Glancing at a menu on a pavement cafe and checking his wallet discreetly he declared they could barely afford this place, but what the heck. There was so much to talk about! The grand setting of a marquee in a garden, the flowers, lights, catering, all those new faces, the special attention paid to them and of course the conversation. The host, a big, burly, gregarious American of Irish descent, Jack O’Hara (n
