The inevitable, some say, took its course last night and Vikhyat, one of my closest friends from B-school, breathed his last!
As news of his struggling to stay alive started trickling in the day before and soon, as it became apparent that his was a losing battle, there was a mix of different feelings that went through me. Sadness and despair, anger and frustration, guilt and pain...they all struck me as one, immobilising me. Even when I saw people who hardly knew him gearing up to help him and his family, visit him at the hospital, trying to raise funds for his treatment, I sat in my car silently crying, knowing in my heart that it was already too late.
I couldn't bring myself to talk to his brother or wife, even if it were to just offer some meaningless words of comfort and as Vikhyat passed away last evening, my guilt at somehow failing him made me not do anything, not even bidding him a final farewell.
For some reason though, I started going though all my past interactions with him...phone messages, chats, emails, social media...stuff that memories over the last 15 years were made of. And I realised that my friend Vikhyat, or Setu as he was fondly called by his family, was more than just a dead body. He was a dear friend, a vivacious bundle of infectious enthusiasm, a starry eyed dreamer who wanted to invent, create, do what was never ordinary and somehow make you believe that all this was possible.
I was writing a small formal obituary for him when thoughts from many of my and Vikhyat's classmates started pouring in. It was strange and yet obvious how each one of us were remembering the same thing about him, his disarming smile and his dreams, his enterprise and his brilliance.
Having worked closely with him at the two editions of Backwaters, IIM Kozhikode's cultural fest, the team and he had become family. Endless nights of discussions and planning and activities, heartbreaks and successes, arguing and celebrating together...his face keeps flashing by and gets blurred only by the tears that spring up so unexpectedly. His long and funny emails to the team on how we need to pull up our socks, his undying hope of getting sponsorships from local businesses despite one rejection after the other, his fooling around on team meetings and then turning all serious for the job at hand, his insane and seemingly impractical "Yana Gupta" ideas and even more impossible execution...how do I let him go?
It's painful and tears me apart as I think of him playing the role that he had no clue about in that flop of a play we had at the Freshers' Party, him proudly holding the banner of "Bloody Freshers Rock" at our farewell, him fighting with me over rules of the Konnect Antakshari, him telling me at countless mess parties, of his frustrations with life's ordinariness that he wanted to overcome, his ventures that worked and didn't, his funny experiments with dating apps, him getting married not even a couple of years ago, him rushing to meet me to advise me in person on the startup idea I apparently had.
Perhaps he was headed this way for some time, perhaps he could be saved, perhaps whatever anyone did wouldn't have helped, perhaps something would have...I will never know and neither will many of my friends who won't sleep for a few days without him in their mind. What I do know is that I cherished the time that God had given me with Vikhyat in this world and that I will never forget what it was to know him. I will remember him not as what he had become in the hospital photos that I saw over the last few days but as the unbeatable spark that he was...my friend Setu!
Some thoughts from some of our friends came to me and I am writing them here so that others who couldn't write can read and remember Vikhyat. Please feel free to send me anything that you would like to add about your memories of Vikhyat and I will put them up here so that we can keep reading this post whenever we are reminded of our friend.
Sandeep Reddy
I have lost a brother today. We have shared so much of our lives together that I feel I have always known him from childhood and we have grown together. We have lived together, started a venture together, dreamt together, seen ups and downs of life together. I will always want to remember him as a dreamer and fighter with a smile always on his face. May his soul rest in peace. Bhai I will miss you.
Saurabh Goswami
Vikhyat to me was that bubbly guy who wanted to be an entrepreneur from day 1 at IIMK. I still remember, he coming to ask if one can use SMS for sending messages for credit card transactions. I had a previous background in telecom coding before coming to campus and maybe he thought that would help. His enthusiasm forced me to go back to the specs and find out. It was that infectious enthusiasm that he showed when were part of backwaters too - hunting for sponsorship from the random shops in Calicut. Post college, we were not in touch too often, but I always felt proud that my batchmate was featured on CNBC young turks. We again got back about 9 months ago when he called but in that conversation it never occurred to me that he was suffering. Still had great ideas. That was Vikhyat - he had an invisibility cloak that prevented us from seeing his suffering. Our world will not be the same again.
Qaynat Sharma
Vikhyat was the life of every group he participated in. He always brought positive thought and encouraging influence to the people around him. His calm smile and bright ideas endeared him to people across his academic and work life. Vikhyat means known to all, and he stayed true to his name, both in life and in death. We will always remember you Vikhyat. Rest in Peace and Happiness.
Malini Pande
It’s still not sinking in. I have been in denial ever since I saw the message for the first time. Initially it was it can’t be the same Vikhyat and then it was like he should be fine soon. And the very next day he has gone. We spent endless days and nights planning for backwaters at K but my most vivid memory of him is one night in Mumbai when I was dropping him after a party in Sandy’s house and thanks to Mumbai traffic a 20 min drive stretched to 60 min. It was the best time I had spent with him. He was his jovial best and full of life and I remember telling him that we need to meet more often. Wish we had! God bless you Vikhyat and hope you are in a better place now!
Rohit Gupta
Vikhyat was true to his name...VIKHYAT..well known..loved by everyone who came in contact with him...a brilliant mind but childish at heart..a guy who started even when the concept of start up was yet to start up...a guy with a mission for backwaters...will miss you my friend!!
Surabhi Prasad
I am tearing up as I write this for Vikhyat - “The most striking memory I have of Vikhyat is how full of life he was. Be it academics, organising Backwaters or simply entertaining us with his wit and humour, he sparked life. I cannot believe this spark is gone. Rest in peace, dear friend. You will always be remembered”.
Rahul Ranjan
That boy from Mankapur is no more. I always used to tease him as Mankapore is new Singapore. He told one day he would go to Singapore and write to me. That can't happen now.
Madhu Smitha
Vikhyat will always be remembered as brilliant person who always converse with cheerful smile and make others laugh.Felt proud of him when he made it to CNBC Young Turks though we aren't in touch with each other.Feel he would have achieved a lot more and brought lot more accolades to K.We will all miss him!
Sandipan Roy
Vikhyat, one of the few guys from campus who embraced me with my follies and became my best buddy. He was different – effervescent yet brooding, charismatic yet crude, loving yet nonchalant all at the same time. He was amongst the brightest minds I have ever met, a man brimming with ideas, a man who could see the future and knew how to disrupt it.. He lived for his friends and family and never cared about his own well being. I remember how he once missed my birthday and next day turned up with a guitar in a restaurant just to surprise me, even strumming and singing happy birthday much to the surprise of the people around. That was Vikhyat, living life on his own terms, rules were not meant to be for him, the world could wait while he orchestrated his own symphony. I guess geniuses self-destruct, so did he in the end, just too soon, too fast. Farewell my friend, do well wherever you are now…will miss you buddy, will miss you sorely..the world doesn’t make your kind any more Vikhyat!
Sharika Munshi
Vikhyat was the brightest, most enthusiastic person in our batch at IIMK. His energy and enterprise were infectious. He was loved by everyone. His adventurous, entrepreneurial drive inspired many of us. I have the fondest memories of spending time with him on campus and during our trips to Goa. He was always smiling, fun and kind. I am too overwhelmed by this news Vikhyat. You were a shining star and your light will continue to shine on all those you touched and inspired. Lots of love always to you and to your family!
Aditya Chaturvedi
Vikhyat is no more. And it feels sad, heart-breaking even, and yet a shade inevitable in some ways. The sudden news of his critical condition and subsequent passing brought back a flood of memories from campus. In a group of 130+ classmates, Chhote, as some of us and particularly I called him, was definitely among the few who were notable. Possessed of a winsome smile what stood out to me was his audacity of hope. He was irreverent, bordering on arrogant, but was also brilliant and a true entrepreneur at heart.
As somebody who shared with him three bonds - IIMK classmate, brotherhood of ITI employee children, and life membership of the longitudinally challenged club, I spent a fair bit of time with him during the two years we were together on campus. If there was something that defined him for me, it was the countless instances of him declaring 'Abe Saale tu dekh abhi' to declare his intentions of conquering many a challenge.
Not a guy without flaws, Chhote truly burned the candle at both ends as he tried more endeavours than most would even dream about. Issac Mizrahi said 'When you're a young person, you have these prescient ideas about the person you want to be perceived as, and so you act like this person. And then later you become that person..". Chhote lived this credo to the max but didn't live long enough to become that person.
Rest in peace brother!
