To invaluable friendship.

Dark, scrawny, awkward, timid — aren’t characteristics that make for a lasting first impression, of this lad that I chanced to meet a few days into college. Yet, I was drawn by an aura of intrigue, to this boy — from Aundipatty a village in Tamil Nadu whose acquaintance gained through a Tamil movie — Vignesh Kumar who later began to be referred to as the now infamous ‘Jackie’.

Ploughing through the trove of memories accrued over four years, brings forth waves of nostalgia. The warmth of companionship, torrents of laughter brought on by his innocent misdeeds, stupid jokes that drew stares of absolute disgust and queries that made you ponder almost every moment of your existence. Ah, the questions! So many that you wondered how many waking hours he spent conjuring them. Enquiries which took me through a revealing journey of self-introspection and self-discovery. Amongst many other transformative experiences in my college life.

Gratitude is but one among the sea of emotions that I now harbor, for the genuine zeal with which he wanted me to lead a more fulfilling life, cannot be encapsulated by a solitary sensation. ‘Jackie’ is now pursuing dance, being the proud flag-bearer of exploring the less trodden career paths— having come a long way since the very first time that I met him in college. You’d wager that I have long since relinquished my initial impressions.