Recall: Vivek Raj Karki

Vivek Raj Karki, SMIT 2000-2004

It was 1995 and my first evening as a hosteler or 'boarder' at St. Augustine's School, Kalimpong. I had just shifted to the school hostel after having stayed with my distant uncle and aunt for close to 7 long years. There I was all alone on a parapet, gloomy, sad and a bit scared, waiting for the evening studies bell to ring. That was when a lanky fellow with Ajay Devgan hairstyle came and asked me, "You're Rahul Pradhan, no? Class 8-D?". I nodded. He introduced himself as Vivek of class 8-B. We shook hands and headed to our study hall, making formal conversation on the way.

From then till now, after almost 15 years, I am proud to say that he has been, and still is, my best friend. Meet Vivek Raj Karki, aka Karki.

It was no coincidence, therefore, that we both landed in the same college - SMIT - to pursue our higher education. And I'm certain you wouldn't be shocked either to learn that we were room-mates in the SMIT hostel. Of course, it helped that the person allotting the room, Mr Ashok Chettri, was Vivek's distant uncle who was then working as a lecturer in SMIT. That was in September, 2000.

One of the first things we did before joining SMIT was to go to Laal Bazaar in Gangtok, and buy two t-shirts which had "School Mates" written on them. One was dark gray, one was light. The day we reached SMIT and had settled somewhat into our room, we wore those t-shirts proudly and went on a tour of the college campus. Many people asked if we were twins - and we only looked at each other and smiled.

The first semester in SMIT and we sent a lot of rumor mills running. Vivek, being the smooth talker that he was, used to spend a lot of time with the female I had a crush on. He was trying to get her to like me, while the rest of the college thought that they were a pair. Yeah, I won't lie but Vivek and I did have some awkward moments during that phase. However, after spending months listening to my non-stop chattering and answering my questions that ate well into his sleeping hours, his hard work paid off and Garima and I became a couple. I think it was only then that he slept well for the first time in months!

First year and we, the entire 'Zitarians' group as we called ourselves, got into a lot of fights (as you probably know by now after reading the other Recalls). And more often than not, it would be Mr Vivek Raj Karki who would be the one spearheading the attacks. We would follow suit and take the poor fellow's "class", making sure that the fellow understood that this was a class that was not to be repeated (wink, wink!).

Like I mentioned before, Vivek knew (and still does) how to persuade people really well. And this talent of his did not discriminate between the sexes. No wonder that many, many times I'd come to my room and find some of the best brains of our engineering batch studying with or tutoring Vivek. Be it theory, or practicals, or programming - you would find only the best of the lot in our room. And it was one such escapade of brilliance that made Vivek and his tutor, one of the toppers of our batch named Prashant Agrawal, miss one of the sessional exams. Why? They both overslept on the day of the exam! And because Vivek interacted so much with so many people, he knew people whose names we would'nt even have heard. From our own batch. But being Vivek's room-mate meant that I was known to them, though!

To really have felt Vivek's presence in the SMIT hostel, one would have had to come during the exam season. That would be "The" time to see Vivek at his best. In the quietness of the exam fever, when one would be looking at the book but instead of studying would be busy day dreaming, a piercing shout would rudely bring one back to the real world. It would be then that one would realize that exams were near, and so was Vivek! For during his break during studies, Vivek had this uncanny habit of screaming, suddenly, at the top of his lungs. Then he would sit and laugh watching the bewildered look on the person he had just shocked. Sometimes, the shouts would be substituted by songs - ones that you probably heard once and forgot all about. However, the songs and shouts served their purpose and served it well - they always got us to study!

I will also never forget rushing Vivek to the Central Referral Hospital, Tadong, Gangtok when he fell ill because of food poisoning. And rush we had to at 8 o'clock at night from Majhitar to Gangtok. Trust me, 8 o'clock in Majhitar is equivalent to 12 o'clock in Bangalore. And add to that the time factor of 7-8 years ago, and you'll know what I mean. So, me and another friend, Amit, accompanied Vivek in the college ambulance to Gangtok. Midway, I remember Vivek waking up from his stretcher and telling me, "Please ask them to turn off the siren - it's not letting me sleep!". Off they did, and it was a peaceful ride thereafter for sure.

There are many, many, many incidents if I had to write them down. But because a lot of them are censored items, I dare not post them here! More so because Vivek is getting married to his college sweetheart, Nancy, this month. So if I publish those stories here and if Nancy reads this, then I run the risk of having ruined my best friend's wedding!

Karki, it's been a great ride so far, and I hope this ride just gets better. See you at your wedding in Imphal, my friend!