When the dark lord comes calling …

Santa was a rolly polly chubby fellow who was possibly the epitome of a “bindaas” dude on campus. Originally christened Amitinder Paul Singh, somehow fate contrived to give him the nickname Santa and it was with this name that I first met him sometime in the first year of my MBA. A jolly good natured big guy, I took an instant liking to him as I did with many of his other hostel mates like Nimish and Bomma and several others. The fact that I used to be in H6 and these dudes where in H 11 – separated by possibly the longest distance between two hostels, never seemed to hamper our jaunts and our sutta sessions. Santa didn’t touch any of those but he was nevertheless there keeping others around him in good spirits and cracking weird PJs that for some vague reason he found funnier than any of us did. Over the carrom board we met and across the TT table. In Punya’s room when we had our sessions of teen patti (I don’t recollect Santa being an avid cards player but he was there). He would be peering over Vipul’s shoulder as Vipul tried to get his Indian team combination right during the World Cup online competitions. When it mattered most to be awake, i.e. when you had to go to class you would find Santa at the peak of his lethargy. But that would last only during class hours cos later in the evening, you fill find this 6 foot 90 kg plus giant abounding with joy with his effervescent talk and laughter. The amazing thing at B-school was that these tall huge guys were either the most gentle or the most athletic – two qualities I find hard to vibe with the stereotypes of big guys on the silver screen. The list runs endless – Deepes, Bomma, Santa .. and a lot others who prefer to remain in the shadows than bask in the limelight. The best about Santa was undoubtedly his belly. Always it was Santa’s tummy that entered the room and then Santa himself. And so we lived our lives at B-school, each unique on to himself and yet inseparable to the group. Before we knew it , it was placement time and all of us were there, trying to get the famed jobs that the B-schools normally advertise about. Placements on campus is an experience that is character forming to say the least. It separates the really great guys from the ordinary mortals – and the really great guys are not great because they cracked big jobs. The really great guys during placements were guys like Deepes – for his overwhelming selflessness and consideration for others despite being in a spot himself, Himanshu – for being icy cool in the face of tough situations, Radhesh – tirelessly cheering on his classmates while still being in the fray and the entire bunch of H11 – who banded as a group each being the crutch for the other to lean on. And so in a dramatic twist of events, I found myself with a job at Pepsi and Santa found himself with a job at Coke. Nimish joined me at Pepsi as well and we were all quite ecstatic for we had fared reasonably well at Placements time. As soon as I got my Pepsi offer, the first person I met was Santa and I told him that I had made the job. And we hugged for dear joy, and I could see tears well up in his eyes as he stood there. I wish I had held on to his hug for a few seconds longer…

Now its my turn to shed some tears for Santa expired in a tragic road accident yesterday morning.

Its not me to sit and brood that Santa is no more with me, with us. Santa wouldn’t want me doing that. No way. What Santa would have wanted me to do would have been to draw strength from our cherished times together few in number as they may be and never let the memory of him die in my heart. And that’s what I do.

I pray for his family, his closest kin who must be the hardest hit by this tragedy. And I tell them this that they have been both privileged and fortunate to have been blessed with the person that Santa was, for the times he spent with them, and the laughs that I am sure they enjoyed – just as much Santa would have regarded his good fortune for having been in the midst of the family that was.

When i was young somebody told me that when people pass away on the earth - they become a star above us, continung to shed their light on the rest long after they are gone. Santa – you have become another star in the sky. And the light that you shed from there will ever make your presence felt among all of us. May peace be with you.