Shana Koenig is the first person, in my life, I met from the USA. I met her while working in the animation studio I worked for 10 years. She joined us as our supervisor in 2004 and stayed us for few years in Mumbai.
She was the first human, from a foreign country, I worked with. In fact, not only we worked together but we had become good friends too. I remember taking her around the city and offering us our street food; especially the famous wada pav.
She’d always been compassionate and ready to help and this was in contrast to all that I heard since childhood. In my childhood, many Indians, settled in the USA, would come back for their vacation and share stories about the fast, harsh, and boring life they lived in the USA. I guess, those stories were false, and this false perception was deep-rooted in my mind and I thought that Americans are snobbish and inhuman people but she’s the one who turned the tables and smashed my false perception.
I’m thankful to her for coming into my life as a friend, philosopher, and guide. She has touched my heart as no American has ever had. And, I remember the whole team crying when she was about to leave back for the USA. I gave her a small idol of the Hindu Lord of Beginning.
