Happiest Birthday Swetha!

Oh Swe, where do I even start? It’s only fair to start from the very beginning. The first time I ever met you was back in 2015, when you were part of Uma’s wider team. We didn’t get to interact a lot, but I remember your smile, the very-genuine-reaching-up-to-your-eyes kinda smile. There were the occasional hi-byes when we crossed paths during the day but don’t quite remember a lot of conversation happening.

Cut to June 2022, I join back Barclays, but this time into your team. I didn’t know this until I started, and honestly you were the first best thing that happened to me at that time. I used to tell a lot of people that rejoining Barclays felt a lot like Homecoming, because of all the people, and you are definitely in the top of that list. Somehow the conversations right from the beginning felt very natural, as if some old friends reconnecting after a long gap. What with having a lot of things in common, like, sharing birth years, mat leaves (lol), kiddos sharing same birthday months, the mutual love of food - Gosh, all these things that connected us closer. You are such a joy to talk to. Always bustling with enthu, and a warm smile.

The one thing that always stands out about you, the one that always inspires me is - your care! All these 3 years, I have seen you care, for every one of us in the team, the kids, your family, friends and anybody that you know. The amount of care and love you shower to the people around you is something that’s truly admirable. It seems so easy and natural coming from you. You diligently follow up when someone calls in sick or has any issues. I still remember the one time I called in sick, and you had whole list of remedies that I should be looking at, and constantly followed up with me. Thanks for always being there, Swe. No matter what, I’ll also be there for you, always and forever. 

The next thing that probably has us, or rather our whole girls’ gang connected is FOOD. That’s possibly the one topic that we never tire of talking about or experimenting. The ideas that are shared over lunch, tried in the respective kitchens and brought in to taste another day, has got me feeling orey the wow, what did I even do to deserve such a lovely gang of people. I sincerely think we could start a food blog with all the recipes that we’ve shared amongst us and enjoyed savouring. You are our gang’s best man(woman) to pull everyone for a break when we are sulking over long spreadsheets or never-ending meetings. Oh my, those 6-8months when you were on mat leave after the birth of Jaanu, we really felt the vacuum. The breaks were never the same and we couldn’t wait for you to come back. So glad to have you back at work since November. 

Guess I should probably stop here and tell what I’ve been skipping to in the first 20 lines - Happiest Birthday Swetha!! May you light more souls with your care and talk and, let the universe shower you with abundance of joy and happiness for the years to come :) Thank you so much for coming into my life, and I do hold our relationship very dearly. 

Love,

Gayu