Stephan Francis - Life`s & Times .... Lives on...

I can`t believe its been over a year since I`ve written on Stephan`s blog! Gosh! Time does fly... 6-months more and it`ll be June 19th again and it`ll be 3 years since he moved on... can`t seem to believe that he`s just a memory that's left with most of us.... In fact his memory got rekindled as I spoke with laiju this morning and we spoke about some good times and the fact that he and Ashley did go visit Stephan`s mom and had a loooooong chat about ol`e times. Thats was really nice of the two of you Laiju & Ash. I don`t know, maybe CLEF should have a jamm session or a get together where all ol`e fiends gather and party and imbibe intoxicating beverages and intake mind expanding substances and celebrate Stephan`s life.... Lets celebrate his life! Kurien Korah - CLEF President - hey its just a thought.... its a Wednesday, and so you could shift that to the following Saturday or the Sunday before? Kurien and Wangler (Senior VP - CLEF) and John K Punnose (VP Communications) - its not a seed that's planted in your minds and you can take it from here. What say?? May his spirit and life live on..... Cheers! Cheers! Cheers!

Wake Up >> Its a new day & its time.........

Yo. It’s been a while I guess since we connected again….
Can`t believe its been a while since 19 June 2010. Time just never seems to stop…..

Before we know it, its 2011 and soon it will be 2012 and the days and the seconds and the minutes seem to wiz past  boy o`boy time does trudge on by….

Been thinking of checking out the blog for quite a few weeks, but never got around to it; no excuses  simply laziness and lethargy! Well, I didn`t miss too much as I can see that the rest of the blokes and gals have been busy with their own lives too  not a peep! Not a word! Not a dash of poetry nor epilogues …. “rest in peace” seems to be the motto here that’s being followed! Not the “jago-re-jago” bit as though a morcha or anndolan is on route 

Wake up you rumpelstilskins of the world – let’s rejuvenate! Let’s rejoice – lets at least celebrate life! Let’s get the ball rolling again now that India has enough of the balls rolling after the cricket teams unprecedented defeat at the hands of the predecessors of the almighty Indian rule from pre-1945`s. Lets celebrate Stephen`s life again....

I leave the blog with just a ‘wake –up-call” for all you so-called friends/ brothers/sisters/daughters/better-halves of Stephen Francis – come on and move/ shake your butt and start writing again - rekindle the flames!
jago-re-jago………..

Memories don’t simply disappear …

Foresight and logic went hand in hand with Stephen. And so when our world came crashing down in June 2010, Stephen gave me the strength and direction to handle life after him.



He shifted gears on 19 June 2010 and yet on 18 June we had breakfast together, he read the Financial Times, checked his emails and yelled at me for forgetting to bring the phone charger!

He flirted with his 62 year old nurse Diana and would fall asleep listening to his all times favorites – Jethro Tull, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and to make me happy even played a bit of Rod Stewart and Scorpions! Infact we had our last fight on the 18th when he played Achilles' Last Stand .. I can’t stand that song! And I am sure most of you on the blog won’t agree with me… that song is pure noise pollution! Anyways, we made truce – his way. That I watch and learn all about the internet banking he used to do and he will stop playing that s@#$!d song!!


I guess the point I am trying to make is we just got to take life as it comes – and I learnt that

best from Steve. Whether it was learning to drive a car or just learning to drive life – Steve was there all the time as my best friend!

The way I look at this as a small separation – he has just gone ahead to find me the best spot in the next sphere! After all he always made sure he got me the

best. If I yearned for something … whether it was cars, jewelry, homes or properties … it was almost as if magic! Steve would make sure my dreams came true … there were no limits or no compromises or conditions.


So if you guys have that ONE question on your mind – have I encountered Stephen after 19th June!


Well not in the mirage of his human form.. heck no! But plenty of times otherwise!


An instance was when I was at a mall. Running around like a headless chicken trying to wrap up grocery, laundry, mail and the car wash before picking up the kids from swimming lessons. Now, car wash was Stephen’s chore and this particular day I just had a tantrum. The car was almost ready to be collected and I refused to move from where I was seated – in the middle of the mall and nowhere in particular. I was annoyed with reality and just wanted to maybe see Steve .. even if I was hallucinating.


This man walks up to me and gives me a chocolate. He said to me ‘Have a nice day!’ and walks off. Instant reaction was to clutch my bag tighter and think in my head ‘FREAK!!’ I got up, gently tossing the chocolate on the couch – but couldn’t help pick it up again! Ofcourse it was my fav choc. Steve would buy for me to lift my spirits when I was down or annoyed!

So you see .. Memories don’t simply disappear! Its cherished and it gives one the hope and strength to [like Steve would say] ‘Ride the wave …’


Cheers everyone!


Amal, Ash … Thank you for being such good friends! Means a lot that you have constantly been in touch. SS

Wake Up Rise & Shine....

Its been loooooooooooooooooooong!

Yes its been looooooooooooong I guess as everyopne kindda got caught up in their own world.... plus the family binding on site was too overwhelming and so most of us did the - lets be on the sidelines kindda approach I guess! But hey even that seems to have quietened down..... so decided I`ll jump in a write again and perhaps motivate the rest of you to start writing again too.... Kool?

I dont have too mmuch news to add except we`ve had some civil unrests and the people here managed to overthrow the 30 year ol`e regime and get rid of their President :) Its been crazy as life want for a toss and is slowly getting back to normalcy. We are now left with curfews and no police or police stations operatiuon, but life seems to have settled in and people are continuring with life as normal. Lets hope peace prevails and life gets back to normal 100% in the region! Amen.

Only thing I see around in the country is that there are quite a few people usning the "peace-pipe" so I`m hoping that will help the process :) - statistics state that out of an 82 million population, 20 million approximately utelize the peace pipe regularly :) so much for an industry..... of peace lovers!

Stephen was a peace loving dude and was never the type to get into altercations and usually kept to himself and his few friends I`d imagine. Not the type to walk into a party and announce himself in a brash manner, but rather the type to stick to few friends he would be comfortable with. Infact its only recently all of us realkized that he did indeed have a uge friend circle and most didn`t even know that they all had a mutual friend in Stephen.

Time seems to have flown and it seems like yesterday that he was among us... ofcourse he is still among us in spirit and feeling and friendship.... in our minds, experiences and life I am sure he will continue his laughter and smile and life....

Live on matey!!!

just a new initiative....

Yup. It’s been a while……

Kindda been busy and a bit shy too I guess as I, like a few of the guys could see the family bonding on the blog and thought its best to shy away a bit and let the bonding continue…. Almost like the opening of an Olympics or so – Let the bonding begin ….

Anyway, now the gap seems to be widening and figured I`d jump in and start blogging again. Kool bananas!

To keep this alive thought I`d recommend that Shyla initiates a kindda quiz with a prize for each right answer and of course it`ll be participation driven and if there are less than 10 participant answers, then the quiz question automatically becomes void…. Very simply – Shyla, you’d need to run a quiz or post a question, every 3 days or so or maybe every week – something very intrinsic about Stephen that most of us or some of us or maybe none of us would know – the questions need to be creative and related to Stephens life, lifestyle, attitudes, experiences …. Gosh, whatever! But the games open to everyone and anyone who`s known Stephen over the years.

Needless to say, we`ll need to give some thought to the prizes and how we get these prizes across to the winner. I`m sure Ashley will conjure up some creative prizes that can be delivered creatively across the web/ internet 

Hey, this is just an initiative IO thought would bring Stephen and his memories and his colorful life back up and in our minds and bring out some creative insights – things that some of us may never have known about him. So what say gals and dudes? Would you co-operate and get involved at least by sending in answers if Shyla posts the questions out every week? The time`s come to separate the boys from the men (hey, gals are automatically involved) and so I`d imagine if we still have the men around, please do jump in and let your creative juices flow!!!!!

Shyla – over to you then!
Cheers!

The way I see him

From F1 Barbie dolls to pink and yellow rooms – I had everything a 6 year old girl could want. It would only take me one cute look and a couple of ‘pretty please’ to get my dad wrapped around all ten of my little fingers.

Mom on the other hand was the party pooper, or as dad and I liked to call her ‘The elephant butt’. Please say that you can see the OBVIOUS significance between the two. She was (and still is) the only woman who can keep me on my toes.

Even though dad never liked to result into ‘discipline’ he would teach me a lesson in his own special way. For example:
Me: Dad I want ice cream!
Dad: Not until you’ve finished your dinner.
Me: BUT I WANT ICE CREAM NOW!

*10 minutes later, a sobbing Sarah sits on the couch eating more than 15 ice creams, all brands, all flavours!*

And here’s another lesson I will never forget!
The happy Stephen family had just arrived in Germany to see an F1 race. Now the mom and the dad have already been to a few F1s, but for me, a very fashion conscious 6 year old, it was my first. Sitting pretty in the grand stands, opposite the Ferrari pit lane with Schumacher branded tees and cap, I refused to put the bright orange ear plugs in my ears. Mom went on and on about why I should put it and even resorted to threats! But dad said to me ‘You are going to learn your next lesson very soon young lady!’ And he smiled!
A few seconds into the race, my fashion sense dropped and common sense prevailed! I BEGGED with dad for the ear plugs! And I got it eventually after about 3 laps, my ears were finally protected.
Since then, every time we packed for an F1 race, I would make sure I ALWAYS packed my nice sore orange ear plugs too!

Most of the times Dad and I had special ‘father daughter’ bonds. That included me playing on his ‘computee’ or dad trying to explain a game of cricket, F1 or cycling.

Dad was always a ‘computer geek’. Something I call ‘unattractive.’ By the way, sorry to all the men on this blog who I just offended, you’re all attractive in your own special way! Back to my point, dad was always a computer geek – something I still call unattractive. Wait, I already explained that. Well the point is that he was a geek!! He was always the one to buy gadgets play with it and then toss it to mom or me!

Here’s another conversation:
Me: Dad, I think iPods are cool (Back in my day, we had iPods not Macbooks and iPads like now! Giggle! I always wanted to use mom’s back in my days dialogue!!)
Dad: Yeah … I think they are too
Me: How much does one cost?
Dad: About 600 dirhams … why?
Me: I was going to ask you if we could buy one, but I think that’s too expensive.
*45 minutes later* Dad: Lets go out to the mall
Me: OK.
*2 hours later, a happy Sarah gets into the car with a brand new iPod nano 3rd generation - which is later to be replaced by an iPhone.*

He wasn’t ‘cool’ in only my eyes – my friends thought he was amazing too! What with the blue shades and the puma shoes and the designer jeans – how can you not think that dude is cool?!
To them he was a rich guy who would be there after school, leaning against the hood of his BMW waiting for his daughter to come out but to me he was my dad, my mentor and above all my math tutor with little patience for the 12 year old who didn’t know how to find X. As a result, there were many unsolved equations, including the mystery of the flying math text books!

To me, X was only significant if you were a pirate. But to my dad – X was important for X amount of reasons. (-Ha-ha! See what I did there?)

Dad always encouraged me to learn from different cultures of the world and with that, I think I was the only girl in my class who would fly to Switzerland, Germany or Austria for the extended weekend and be back in time for the next school week.
Random father daughter bond fact: Dad and I liked to experiment: when we went to different countries. I would try the ice cream and he would try the beer and mom would sit there trying out the coffee.

Most of my hobbies have come to life because of my dad – I now have a growing passion for photography and creative writing. My taste in music is much wider than a typical fourteen year old. Instead of the normal “hip hop” and “R&B”, my ears are open to Heavy metal and Rock.

Which brings me to my next point – concerts. Listening to the kind of music dad had introduced me to had given me an ear for the band Simple Plan. Within a few short months – I had officially proclaimed them as my favorite band ever! And when Simple Plan decided to come to Dubai on the 5th of December 2008, guess who decided to put up with a screaming 11 year old? Yes, my dad.

May 30th 2006 little Rachel was born. Mom and dad had this expensive brand of Patchi chocolates for our guests. I asked my dear sedated mother if I could take a box of chocolates to school. As expected, through her sedation she screamed “NO SARAH YOU CAN’T!” Seeing that I was upset, dad secretly passed me a small box of chocolates and told me to stuff it into my bag. He said “enjoy!” It was our little secret… Until now!

I find there is no reason –whatsoever to cry over the fact that my dad is not here physically.
Instead I know better – to celebrate his life and remember all the great times we’ve had with him.

My dad was and still is my best teacher and instructor. He taught me the right things and when there was something I couldn’t do (suppose a self defense kick) he would guide me in his own special way (by telling me in tangled riddles and quotes) and help me achieve my best.

So dad, I say to you today Merci Beaucoup pour tout et je t’aime!!
French was one of the languages dad and I used to communicate, to make sure our beloved party pooper (hem hem my mother) wouldn’t understand anything we said!

Canon Warehouse Sale

Leute!
I guess this is the part where the blog begins to fall off!
It has been nice reading this blog. And getting to know a bit more about Stephen from the regulars who update this blog like Ashley and Koolest Kat (Dude, I am sure thats not your real name :))

Ofcourse Shyla is a regular here too, but we can discount her! She has no other work but to talk about her loving husband or then sulk and whine that he is not here! (Lassie I am expecting you to retaliate, bring it on!)

The updates from Stephen’s nieces have been very genuine and always touch an emotional chord.
If I am not mistaken, Shilpa is the one in the US and then moved to Canada? If I am right, then it is because he used to talk about you as well. On a few occasions, so I can say he was fond of you. Ofcourse he used to tell me about the child labor he did with his younger niece. He was fond of you both and never lost a chance to gloat about his perfect family.

Other than Lassie, I am glad to meet you all virtually!

So why am I writing today, you can ask? Its the smallest things that trigger memories. And mine has been triggered because of the Canon warehouse sale. The last time this bargain came around was in 2008. I SMSed Stephen if he wanted me to grab him anything? Would you believe the dude flew down to Germany? I thought being a CA, he would rather spend the money on camera equipment from Dubai than on tickets to Germany. He later told me his tickets were next to free becoz Lassie used to work for Emirates! That man’s style and focus was truly a cut above the rest eh?
For the past 3 years, we have had this ritual where we update our camera backpack together. And as I do so alone today, I thought I must give a tribute to the man who lived and enjoyed life to the fullest. He had the best of materialistic things and the perfect work –life balance! While it was difficult to stop envying him, I mastered the art of learning from him – so Salut mein Freund Stephen, I hope I am fortunate to meet you in the next round – wherever that might be!

To Stephen’s nieces, Ashley and Koolest Kat – have a good week and I hope to see more of Stephen through you. I know the effort it takes and please know it is appreciated.

And Lassie – you are doing good! You are doing exactly what Stephen would have wanted you to. Infact you don’t realize it – but you are pretty much doing much better than what you think!