#Blessed #Grateful

Reflecting as a working professional on a memory from this summer and childhood….

When the tiny, bright-eyed chipmunk helped Lord Ram’s troops by adding pebbles as they built a bridge to rescue his queen Seeta, he was humbled and touched. The bridge would take him to the island where Seeta was being held captive by a demon king. Lord Ram gently stroked the back of the little creature and that is how chipmunks got their stripes – being blessed by God himself- so the story goes! I retold this tale from the epic Ramayana*, as we watched chipmunks play in the shrubs by a lake in Grand Teton National Park on a warm day earlier this summer; and my younger one in true Gen Z fashion remarked “#Blessed”!

Blessed were we – spending time together on a family trip in a serene landscape dotted with lakes flanked by the Teton mountain range. The sight of these majestic mountains with their jagged peaks as our flight landed at Jackson, Wyoming was breathtaking. In the following days as we hiked and explored the area, the rugged mountains were always visible. Our base was a cabin at the Jackson Lake Lodge. Huge glass windows in the main reception area of the lodge framed a view of the Grand Teton and Mount Moran peaks. During our three-day stay there we enjoyed hearty breakfasts at the Pioneer Grill, which has been in business since 1955. As a framed newsprint article noted it was tastefully redesigned around 2017 and still maintains some iconic fixtures from the 50s! There is a long dining counter that curves around the room, and we enjoyed the friendly atmosphere interacting with the service staff and other guests from all over the country!

Life seemed to move at a slow, relaxed pace amidst all the natural beauty. We enjoyed a scenic float on the Snake River drifting in a large raft maneuvered deftly by a single rower. We marveled at his outdoorsy way of life – navigating rivers in the warmer weather and zooming down the slopes as a ski instructor in winter. He seemed to be so much at ease with nature – a stark difference from our suburban, behind-the-desk lives!

 And that is the life we have chosen and love, and the one we returned to after collecting memories and insights watching the wondrous landscape at Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.

This Thanksgiving week as traffic thinned on the roads and the office was slowly getting quieter, I was reminded of the serenity of our summer trip and also the playful chipmunks. I retold the building of the bridge story to my team and how it was not just about the origin of the chipmunks’ stripes but really about how every single individual effort counts and makes a difference to the ultimate goal.

For any corporation some initiatives are critical to advance the business and many more are critical to keep the business running smoothly; to “keep the lights on”.  And each effort – small or big – towards meeting the broader goals of the organization is invaluable.

#Blessed and #grateful this Thanksgiving to be part of a capable and collaborative team in an industry that delivers life-changing therapies!

~AK Irvinekar

(*) Stories from the Ramayana have been told over hundreds of years in India and Southeast Asia. Ramayana is a Sanskrit epic from ancient India and narrates the life of Rama, the prince of Ayodhya, the seventh avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu. Ramayana – Wikipedia