Recall: Ritesh Chettri

Ritesh Chettri, SMIT 2000-2004

It began with a "Namaste" directed at me. I returned the greeting. The person in front of me was disheveled, needed a shave, looked like he could use some sleep, and had canvas shoes on. Yes, I mean the Bata canvas shoes. It was all fine except that I could not believe what I had been told. I had thought that this was some bahun-baajey, which is Nepali for Pundit (a Hindu priest). However I had been corrected by Vivek, who introduced us, and told instead that this guy was soon to be our batchmate in SMIT.

Meet our very own, Ritesh Chettri aka Gangu.

Gangu's journey with Vivek and I began a few days before we joined SMIT. After the "Namaste" incident, we decided to take Gangu out on a tour of Gangtok as it was his first visit there. We headed to Laal Bazar as Gangu had some shoes to buy - the good part was that he didn't have to convince us too hard for that! After some shopping, we went to watch the movie "X-men" which had just been released at Denzong. During the interval, Gangu excused himself for about 15 minutes , and was back smelling all minty. I too had gone out during that time for a smoke break. It was only later that we got to know that we'd in fact both gone out for smoke breaks, but separately, since we didn't want to be seen as a 'bad boy who smokes'!

The very first day at SMIT, Vivek and I had to do some coolie work for Gangu. It was known that some of Gangu's family friends stayed in Majhitar, but what we didn't know was that our smart friend had decided to keep his heavy trunk and bedding there before shifting to the college hostel. So, being Gangu's friends, Vivek and I had to literally carry the bedding and that huge steel trunk which was heavy as hell all the way from Majhitar to our college hostel - on foot. It was about 2 kms maybe, the distance. Grand way to begin college life!

The first few months in SMIT hostel were enough for Gangu to establish himself in the group. He was also a Nepali from Assam, like me. However, because he'd been born and brought up in Assam, let's just say his Nepali diction and accent were a bit unfamiliar to us initially. One can never forget an incident which, quite literally, had the audacity to challenge Ritesh's well established nickname of "Gangu". While fooling around with one of the boys one day, Gangu started screaming "Dhaw-ra, Dhaw-ra". The bunch of boys standing nearby had no clue as to what he meant. When nobody responded and the other person eluded him, Gangu got livid with us.

"Why didn't you guys catch him?", he questioned. We said we didn't know we had to.

"Why do you think I was screaming 'dhaw-ra, dhaw-ra' from that time? That's how we say catch in Nepali. Don't you know?", Gangu retorted.

When he drew blank faces from all around him, Gangu realized that he'd been saying the Assamese word for catch - "dhaw-ra" - which we didn't understand. Not his fault either since he'd been using that word ever since he was a kid! When this understanding finally dawned on him, that was when in utter bewilderment, Gangu let out his second most famous phrase ever - "Raam, Raam!". And that was how Gangu also started being known as "Raam, Raam".

His nickname "Gangu" has an equally interesting origination. How it started as "Gangatay" thanks to the big, bold ECKO t-shirt that he would always wear during the first year, and finally got shortened to "Gangu" is quite a tale in itself. However, me thinks that me should leave that discussion for later. In all fairness to Gangu, actually.

One of the tankers of our group, Gangu had his way with booze that's for sure. Almost synonymous with Mc Dowell's Signature whiskey during those days, or Romanov Vodka or even Old Monk rum for that matter. The guy who taught us how to mix gin and lime cordial for those awesome shots!

Not to forget Gangu's close association with the sense of smell. Be it his socks which were kept outside the window grill of his hostel room for they also served as a very effective mosquito/insect repellent; or be it his week-old detergent-soaked clothes which evicted all the residents of I-3rd block for almost an hour due to the unbearable stench. Yes, Gangu and the sense of smell have been good pals as far as we know!

Gangu was the only Electronics guy in our group, and it was fun to watch him spend nights at his desk writing his lab reports while we, the Computer guys, would just smile and take print outs. Those were some good days for sure.

Now married for about 5 years to his college sweetheart and also the proud father of a very handsome toddler Vaydish, let's just say that he has come a long way from his canvas shoes days. But to us, Gangu he is and will always be.