It's been quite a while since I've blogged. Haven't felt like writing for a while. After quite a wait, I decided to get back to it. I had something in mind, and I thought I'll just put it down. This post is more along the lines of my old posts, a post dedicated in full to a friend of mine.
I first heard of him in class 9. As someone actively involved in the math olympiad circles for long, I was fortunate to meet a lot of brilliant chaps at quite a young age. One of my most nervous moments came during the INMO-TC camp in 2005, just before my first INMO exam. In the camp, when everyone else was older than me, there was just this one guy who was of the same age as me, another class 9 student, far more timid, but equally intimidated by the occasion. The situation repeated the following year. The year after that, we met at the KVPY interview at Hyderabad, but never got to talk to each other. This was around during class 11. Within a year after that, he started being talked about in JEE circles in Chennai as the Tiruchi terror, especially after some state level competition which he single-handedly blasted through! I think it was some AIEEE mock test if I'm not wrong! The image that had been built up about him was that of someone walking down a solitary road in Tiruchi, with a "murukku" moustache, if you got what I meant, and an "aruvaal"(sickle, not exactly, but almost) at the back of his shirt, ready to wipe out every single scumbag who dares to challenge his intellectual skills. To think of it today, it's ironical that one thought of HIM among all the people, to be such a rowdy!
In spite of all the fun we used to have at his expense, without even knowing the guy that well, we began to bond with him in a group once we got into the institute. I got to know him well mid-way through the first semester. We pulled him along to Varanam Aayiram at the end of the first sem when everyone from the Chennai Tam gang were going. Also, we started corresponding over mails in the vacations, a habit which we religiously follow during the holidays to-date! :P The second sem was the time we actually got to know each other on a real personal basis. The guy was drafted into our Spirit of Engineering project, and what an addition! No one's talking academics here, with him in there, and with the others also, it was a riot! The second sem was one where we had a lot of fun, in the name of working for a project! Following that we only got closer. A summer in Delhi, mathematics nurture camp, roomies for 15 days, unlimited fun, malls, football, lots and lots of badminton, and it just got better with each passing day! It was during this time that I also cribbed so much to him, and realised what a good listener he could be! Since then, there's frankly been no turning back. Ever since then, he has been associated with almost every good and bad deed that's happened to me, has transformed into someone I bank upon, someone I trust as much as I trust myself, and someone who is also my punching bag when I need one!
Sometimes you have friends who can sit with you through your lower moments, and there are some who can pull you out of them. This guy predominantly belongs to the second category. He listens to one patiently like an infinite sink, and rarely gives advice, but when he does give advice, it turns out to be kickass! Well, it's worked really well for me atleast! Another thing about him is that he is a wonderful diplomat. Those who know me well, know the fact that I am not a great fan of diplomats. Even if I am a fan of theirs, I would atleast hate their diplomacy! But this guy is a revelation! His diplomacy is unique. You would never see him make enemies, but at the same time, he would talk to you like he is all yours, and that is such a morale-booster! He, in effect, gives everyone the importance they deserve without undermining anyone, and at the same time, sees to it that no other person bleeds in the process! There are people he doesn't like also, like any other human being, but he keeps it out of his reach to hurt the person to prove his point to them, whatsoever it may be. Overall, this post is just to convey that he is one wonderful human being, someone whose friendship I'll cherish forever! And this is to tell you that you just rock man, Shail! :)
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