Crazy! Can this really happen?
Mali is a great friend. He was next door to me in Ruby hostel at REC, Trichy. One time we were talking about nail-biting finishes and he shared a story about his friend Kalyanaraman from high school who managed to get the last seat in Chemical Engineering at the prestigious IIT Madras (now Chennai).
A year or so later I was in the city of Coimbatore, waiting for a bus. It started to rain and a guy wearing gold rimmed glasses, about my age, offered to share his umbrella.
“Are you an engineering student?” I asked. He nodded.
“IIT Madras?”
He was a little startled, and he nodded again.
“Chemical Engineering?”
“Wait, is this some sort of a trick?” He asked.
“Did you get the last seat in Chemical Engineering?”
He was evidently confused and taken aback.
“Yes….”
“You must be Kalyanaraman”.
Mind you, I had never seen him or talked about him since my brief talk with Mali a year prior. No internet, no way I could have looked him up.
Freaky? Wait, it is not over…
About two and a half years later (during the mid- late eighties) while I was doing my Masters at Drexel in Philadelphia, I was trying to locate my friend Narasimhan (Nurse for short). I finally found his phone number. His roommate picked up the phone and said “Hello?” And for some reason, I asked “Is this Kalyanaraman?” And it was. I had only spoken to him once before at the bus stand.
Ready for one more?
During a summer break from Drexel, I was driving with a friend to Rhode Island. I was narrating the Kalyan phenomenon to them and as he was reacting to my story, my eyes glanced over to the car to my left, and guess who was sitting on the passenger side in the back? You guessed it- Kalyanaraman!
Blog Bites
There is no particular lesson or takeaway from the Kalyan story. However, each time I tell it, it brings joy and amazement to my audience. So I felt I should include it as a post. It is great that life throws these delightful surprises at us. I don’t know where Kalyan is now, nor have I met him since. I am in a plane now with Anjali, on our way to San Jose, Napa and Sacramento. We are in seats 3E &3F. Wonder who is in 4E or 4F? Let me look…