The (only) other Dharan
I wanted to write about someone who is as close to me as anyone can get.He grew up with me .We have played , fought , studied , travelled and freaked out together a lot .It is kinda tough to trace back on my first memory of him.The earliest I remember is that of a three year old who was still sipping milk from a feeding bottle , and at that age he was going to school.The reason: I needed company to go to school.I am talking about my brother Sashidharan.The only other Dharan at home !
The Age difference between us is about 3 years , but I never even once remember calling him the "little one" or him calling me "Anna" .We were and will always be buddies on a first name basis .That is what I like about our relationship the most.It is mostly a no formalities very straightforward and fun thing.No fancy stuff there .
We two were "THE two annas " for all the other kids .But between us , you would probably not see better buddies .There is an uncanny rhythm about us.We can kinda see what the other sees very easily.That comes from the many years of growing up together at Sabapathy Street in Chennai.
There are many many moments that I treasure of the time we spent growing up.The most precious of them would be the time when we were at school and used to commute to and fro by rickshaw .One evening , I was playing with my friends and the rickshaw arrived .In the spirit of the game I asked the rickshaw guy to wait for a few mins and he hastily left.Only to return after two hours or so .This meant that we reached home very late .Sashi was all set to go earlier itself , he stayed back as I had .And when we arrived at home , one of our uncles(dont want to name him here ) decides to discpline us and takes out a stick and actually beat us up very severely.This guy(Sash) went thro with it just for stickin by me .I felt thoroughly terrible for that.The after effects of that day were many , not within the scope of this posting .One of the good ones was that I knew I had a trustworthy guy around me always .
We almost always went to the same school , except for the last two years of my schooling where I went to a different school due to unavoidable reasons.This meant that we spent roughly 10 years 24x7 with each other during the school days .
When it was time for us to go for our first movie without elders , We went together .I remember the movie : "Ghostbusters".We took along a whole contingent of kids (about 10 of us) and the onus of management was on me and Sash .We did a great job ! That was fun too .
The many many cricket matches we played at home , where one of us invariably was cheating (Sash more often :)) and ended up quarreling and deciding not to talk to each other for the rest of our lives ; invariably "no-talk" dint last more than an hour max .
Almost every vacation that I have been to any parts outside Chennai was with him.
As we grew up into fine young men (ahem!) , there wasnt anything that we dint talk about .Then after school Sash decided that he wanted to Engineering , (incidentally , me too !!) .After Engineering , I chose a different path and he preferred doing his masters in the US .
Well before that I got married to Hema (ofcourse you know that by now!).I remember how genuinely happy he was for me and how active he was at my wedding.But like they say , as men become husbands and then fathers , they cease to be boys , and our respective careers and other duties have made us kinda far from each other (we are on different sides of the earth now .This means just that , we are far away , but whenever we do catch up , tis always fun! .
Did I tell you that he is very good with the guitar ? He is !
Sash , miss you man !!!
The Age difference between us is about 3 years , but I never even once remember calling him the "little one" or him calling me "Anna" .We were and will always be buddies on a first name basis .That is what I like about our relationship the most.It is mostly a no formalities very straightforward and fun thing.No fancy stuff there .
We two were "THE two annas " for all the other kids .But between us , you would probably not see better buddies .There is an uncanny rhythm about us.We can kinda see what the other sees very easily.That comes from the many years of growing up together at Sabapathy Street in Chennai.
There are many many moments that I treasure of the time we spent growing up.The most precious of them would be the time when we were at school and used to commute to and fro by rickshaw .One evening , I was playing with my friends and the rickshaw arrived .In the spirit of the game I asked the rickshaw guy to wait for a few mins and he hastily left.Only to return after two hours or so .This meant that we reached home very late .Sashi was all set to go earlier itself , he stayed back as I had .And when we arrived at home , one of our uncles(dont want to name him here ) decides to discpline us and takes out a stick and actually beat us up very severely.This guy(Sash) went thro with it just for stickin by me .I felt thoroughly terrible for that.The after effects of that day were many , not within the scope of this posting .One of the good ones was that I knew I had a trustworthy guy around me always .
We almost always went to the same school , except for the last two years of my schooling where I went to a different school due to unavoidable reasons.This meant that we spent roughly 10 years 24x7 with each other during the school days .
When it was time for us to go for our first movie without elders , We went together .I remember the movie : "Ghostbusters".We took along a whole contingent of kids (about 10 of us) and the onus of management was on me and Sash .We did a great job ! That was fun too .
The many many cricket matches we played at home , where one of us invariably was cheating (Sash more often :)) and ended up quarreling and deciding not to talk to each other for the rest of our lives ; invariably "no-talk" dint last more than an hour max .
Almost every vacation that I have been to any parts outside Chennai was with him.
As we grew up into fine young men (ahem!) , there wasnt anything that we dint talk about .Then after school Sash decided that he wanted to Engineering , (incidentally , me too !!) .After Engineering , I chose a different path and he preferred doing his masters in the US .
Well before that I got married to Hema (ofcourse you know that by now!).I remember how genuinely happy he was for me and how active he was at my wedding.But like they say , as men become husbands and then fathers , they cease to be boys , and our respective careers and other duties have made us kinda far from each other (we are on different sides of the earth now .This means just that , we are far away , but whenever we do catch up , tis always fun! .
Did I tell you that he is very good with the guitar ? He is !
Sash , miss you man !!!
posted by Shakthi @ 12:31 PM
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