Singing the unsung

It's been quite a while since I blogged for or about a friend. I am not exactly the kind of guy who goes shouting my friendship for someone from the rooftops, nor do I see the need for any kind of friendship or any relationship existing to be reinforced by regular telling and re-telling it. But sometimes, you feel you just don't give someone their due.

There has been this guy who has been with me for four years now. By with me, I literally mean it. My first memory of his goes back to the class 10 board exam study holidays, when KKA sir called me to tell a topper from SSK had joined SMART, and PS too. Then, I didn't meet him face to face till school began in June. At around a time, when I needed friends, and was facing a great shortage of them, the LastBenchers were formed, and as an integral part of both P.S.Senior and SMART, his participation in the group was inevitable. Initially, in all our eyes, he was this highly studious fellow, who slogged his way through everything, and fought it through all KKA sir's physics tests. A couple of years was a good time to strike a very close friendship. He was on the parallel making it big in the acads too. Though he was this physics stud, he made it to IChOTC. It was then we realised, that he was a huge chemistry stud too. As on today, he gives explanations to Chemistry principles which one can hardly comprehend. Towards the end of class 12, we did our CPP Project together. I got jaundice and was bed-ridden for a while. We were a team, and hadn't proceeded anywhere on the finishing front. In the process,he ended up getting blasted on my behalf too. Shre, him and I were a successful quiz team in our school days, and made the most of almost all the quizzes we attended, though he wasn't a too avid a quizzer. Then we moved on to JEE, his progress towards JEE had been slow, steady, and increasingly good, and I still can recollect our convo on the morning of JEE results. I call him after talking to Appa and KK Sir, and ask him, "What rank da?", He says "654", I was delighted. I ought to have been furious, he'd beaten me by 40 ranks, but the greater good, we got a chance to select the same course in the same institute.

We've only grown closer and closer in IITM. 4 semesters, one project and a thousand treats and outings later, we've grown terribly close. He's probably the only friend of mine, who's listened to me crying my heart out, and then all he did was put his hand around me. It was probably the only time I freaked him out. As for our relationship, he was always the more sincere, the more good-natured guy. I was probably the rowdy of the two. When his mom came and told me, "Love madhiri edhuvum pannadheenga pa, avana paathuko", little did she realise that she was undermining her own son, and asking this to the more corrupt, more guilty partner in crime of his. He is a revelation. He is some sense my opposite, inspite of we having so much not in common. He doesn't like CPP, I love it. I generally have more flair, he is more hardworking. I love my math, this guy's a chemistry god. He is always the more deserving, while I am the one with whom luck has stayed more so often than never. I couldn't resist this statement: If I am Johnny Fontaine, he is Michael Corleone. He is the more deserving, while I'm the more lucky one. I'm KKA sir's close aide, while he is his true protege, a devoted student who made the most of what he learnt from sir. We have all had our share of fun with him, talking about him with Radhika, and Rot ( I wouldn't elaborate on the latter, as that will steal away two more years of fun), but in some sense he has been the most underestimated friend of mine, someone who I have always taken for granted, and he has never reprimanded me for that.

The Sheikh of Dubai, Shaikh Prasad Bin Sarangapani Al Iyengar alias Pinku, man, you just rock! Never underestimate his mokka skills, he is just way too skilled at it.
Thanks for all the memories, for all the togetherness, all the path-showing, and thanks for being such an awesome human being.

P.S: I know I might sound like I am a villain in this post, when I made Prasad an angel, but please believe me, I'm a good guy! :P :P