He was my close friend, my confidante and secret keeper. There were no secrets between us. I could discuss with him anything even those which I could not even discuss with my brother. We had a lot of fun and mischief together. We went to the festivals in Kavassery, Pooram, Kathakali and more. We watched sporting events together. Went to the sevens games in Alathur, went to volleyball tournaments together.

We read Malayalam novels and stories aloud for each other and for the muthassis at Ammini Muthi’s house and at Puthen Pera. While reading ‘oru deshathinte katha’ he suggested to write ‘our deshathinte katha’. He was also a good collector of all the stories and gossips around. Whenever he called we will recall such stories and laugh a lot. There were no jokes or laughter when he called last time. His brother-in-law had passed away. He was discussing seriously about helping his sister’s children. Who would have thought his own children will need help?

We went to movies together. He was very fond of Bharathan’s movies. After the movie, we will have porotta/beef from the restaurant and walk all the way back from theater. Those days, Hindi movies were my thing mainly due to the songs. Even though he did not understand Hindi very well, he never hesitated to join me. In fact, he never hesitated to any of my plans.

One such story. I was one of the shortest students when I started pre-degree in SN college. And my cousin brothers made me very conscious about it by comparing me to my cousin sister of same age. One of the NCC punjabi instrutors was very tall. When I asked about the secret to his height, he suggested me to swim. So I started to swim every day ten laps in the morning and another ten in the afternoon. It was Unny’s pond, choondel kulam. He will start swimming before I arrive. He used to swim thirty laps every day, fifty percent more than me. By the second year, I was one of the tallest in the class probably due to the growth spurt. He did not gain any significant height at all. Neither did my cousin sister.

Seeing the nicely cultivated pallam(vegitable garden) on the way to Nemmara college, I got the idea of making one myself. This also gives us the excuse to spend more time around the pond. All the girls(boys too) come here to bathe. And they bathe openly. Fishing was another such excuse.

Once I pulled him to watch a volleyball tournament in Puthukode. We barely had enough for bus fare and food. Since we did not have enough for a proper lunch meal we settled on some snacks. But we ended up spending too much on snacks and we did not have enough for the full bus fare. So we tried another trick after boarding the bus. We argued incessantly for the reduced student fare till we reach our destination. It was 7pm and there weren’t even a college on the way.

I feel guilty, terribly guilty. If it wasn’t for me, he wouldn’t have ended up in Kuwait. May be, it was my encouragement he stayed there for this long. He did talk about kid’s education. I mentioned how expensive it is and how he can easily afford if he earns in Dinars. I suggested what I thought was the best for him and his family. Who would have thought it will end up like this?

I am still in shock. I can’t stop thinking about these. He will remind me in every login form. His name is set as the childhood friend every form. He was the only one who calls regularly and inquire. There is no one like him. I am going to miss him terribly.