Its way past midnight, I knew it was Alyosha. Voice on the phone " Arrey! Mayank chemistry mein kitna Chapter kiya tune?". I reply " Nearly finished dude". Alyosha says " waat lagi hai! Organic rehta hai".
Alyosha and I were classmates at Modern School Barakhamba, New Delhi. That was most embarrasing time of my life because I was struggling with my grades. Alyosha was in the upper crest of mediocre students of our class. Alyosha never complained about grades. But he was concerned that he was a slacker like me. We had same taste in music and movies. We cheered the same premiership team and our abhorration for studies was same . He was identified with a crew cut, slanted eyes, big smile and black Nike sneakers ( which were usually purchased from Palika Bazaar at mind boggling low price ). Alyosha knew all the the treasured bargain shops in and around Canaught Place. And he was the encyclopedia for everything you don't find in books and the irreverent. His school mates Neelabh, Ankur, Luv, Dinkar and dozen others still remember him and remember all the fun we had together.
As students we had the same dilemmas in life. Will Sachin hit a cetury? Will U2 release his next album? Is the Wife, the Cook , the thief... the next avante garde in cinema? and yes, What after class XII?. I realised he wasn't that lost. He finally made it to NLS. He went to B'lore and our communication was not regular. I left shores for Masters and spoke to him couple of times on the internet. Due to my busy schedule and due to my proffesional commitments I couldn't get the news of his murder. I got to know from the internet yesterday when I was doing couple random searches on blogs. I wish I was in India and perhaps I could have met him on my next trip to India. I extend my heart felt condolences to his parents.
Alyosha and I were classmates at Modern School Barakhamba, New Delhi. That was most embarrasing time of my life because I was struggling with my grades. Alyosha was in the upper crest of mediocre students of our class. Alyosha never complained about grades. But he was concerned that he was a slacker like me. We had same taste in music and movies. We cheered the same premiership team and our abhorration for studies was same . He was identified with a crew cut, slanted eyes, big smile and black Nike sneakers ( which were usually purchased from Palika Bazaar at mind boggling low price ). Alyosha knew all the the treasured bargain shops in and around Canaught Place. And he was the encyclopedia for everything you don't find in books and the irreverent. His school mates Neelabh, Ankur, Luv, Dinkar and dozen others still remember him and remember all the fun we had together.
As students we had the same dilemmas in life. Will Sachin hit a cetury? Will U2 release his next album? Is the Wife, the Cook , the thief... the next avante garde in cinema? and yes, What after class XII?. I realised he wasn't that lost. He finally made it to NLS. He went to B'lore and our communication was not regular. I left shores for Masters and spoke to him couple of times on the internet. Due to my busy schedule and due to my proffesional commitments I couldn't get the news of his murder. I got to know from the internet yesterday when I was doing couple random searches on blogs. I wish I was in India and perhaps I could have met him on my next trip to India. I extend my heart felt condolences to his parents.
