Hey Sriram!!!!!!

It is PLUS two (+ 2) results , this time 23 years ago!!!!

However, first I would like to apologise for the boring length of this blog.

Life is a mere chain of incidents and possibly co- incidents, I suppose. I still, vividly remember a mallu friend of mine called Suresh, arriving breathless on the doors of my brother’s video shop to drop a bombshell on a May hot week day afternoon of 1986!

Yes, I was blown off completely by the news. I had just become the top achiever in our school. The exams were State run Plus two exams, which provide the gateway for higher studies, on merit basis. Well, I scored a meagre 1086! It shows indirectly, the standard of my other classmates in St Gabriel’s School, Broadway, in 1986.

The state record was around 1180 out of 1200 marks, awarded that year. The top notches from State toppers went to students with primary aim of scoring high marks and with ease, by taking up FRENCH, instead of Tamil. However, we in our school studied Tamil and not Sanskrit or French, which was out of bounds. Those days scoring high marks in Tamil was only in your dreams. Now a day, the plus two students of Tamil Nadu score a centum in every possible subject in their plus two exams. I am not entirely sure how they manage it? Probably shows off the standards that were then and now or is it leniency from the scorers? I will leave it to your imagination.

Anyway my pride that day did sore up to LIC (the then tallest building in Chennai) mainly because of my achievement considering the following facts; both by my parents were high school drop outs; my Appa’s monthly salary was a meagre 3000 rupees in 86’; coming from a ordinary middle class family and also supported by our corner shop “Mahesh Store”; and considering the hardships, a middle class family and children go through. Needless to say that my mallu messenger’s Appa was a tailor and owned a small shop.

Well, I scored very well in the main subjects, Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology and reasonably so in Languages. My English pulled me down though and I scored just 145 (not surprising), however, managed 175 in Tamil.

I was offered seats in Anna University, AC tech, Karaikudi and Stanley Medical College, after my not so good performance in the entrance exams. Though I was a hardcore Chennaite those days and even to my surprise these days, was not even aware of all those coaching centres, which were training the students in entrance exams techniques. Or possibly, was not bothered to find them out with the knowledge that even I would find one, could not afford the same. There were so many things we couldn’t afford those days and that include a good coach, guide, or a mentor, fortunately was not my case.

My life now wouldn’t have been the same, if not for the three people, who literally turned my life around and guided me. One is my AMMA; the other is a mentor, guide, cum coach during my school life called SRIRAM, also happened to be my immediate senior. The third one is MADHUSUDHAN, from Bangalore, an ophthalmologist, about whom I would have to explore later. You may very well notice that it is possibly co- incidence that all these chaps, who turned my life for good, share Lord Vishnu’s names, like mine, which incidentally also belongs to the same Lord!

SRIRAM, to me was the epitome of knowledge, humility coated with subtle arrogance, the brainiest kid in our school. He was a great orator with the most beautiful hand writing I had ever seen, full of logical and practical progression of ideas, clarity in thoughts, and anathema to every one around, in the process making people so insecure.

He was God sent for me and those days we literally worshipped and venerated him at school. Kids would love to talk to him and to attract his attention, would do anything. So popular, he was in our school and even amongst the teachers. His popularity was so high that our school almost went on unofficial mourning, when he failed to get into school or state level ranks both in the 10^th and plus two exams. The grief was so near that my school mates almost filled up the play ground with water from their lacrimal glands!

Well, by God’s grace the God moved into our locality with his very humble family and became one of our local. He moved to New Street which was not far from our Coral Merchant Street. And he also, by this time, with a surge of hormones, started frequenting our Corner shop area during those busy evening times, chasing a beautiful local bird, whose house bordered our shop. He must have from his corner of his eyes noted this very humble local fellow, clad in his lunghi, sat in the shop, trying hard to balance the demands of the school and the livelihood, which is sure, must have impressed him.

Thus how he became my mentor, guide and coach during my higher secondary school years and the rest is his history… (Clichéd)!!

I wish, I knew his whereabouts now, so that, I could walk down with him, the nostalgic memory lane, which was Saalai Vinayagar Koil Street. The last I have heard of him, he, after graduating with honours in Mathematics from the great Loyola College, Chennai, went to New Delhi, to pursue what; though not entirely sure.

However, I am certain that he is possibly, something like a top notch civil servant or a brainy kid planning budgets or, if not, with few doctorates added to his name, somewhere in a famous institution in India, mentoring, coaching and teaching, like what he quietly used to do!!

HAIL SRIRAM!!!!!