To Mahesh Gopan…. The Boy Who Lived

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To Mahesh Gopan…. The Boy Who Lived

“Dude, you got any food?”

“Dude, give me a smoke man.”

“Light re baap, Peace Bro!”

And then the floodgates of my mind open up and I remember my first day at NALSAR. 15 minutes into NALSAR Gopes (as we called him), Aneesh, Shayak and I hit Shankar’s and the rocks outside the 55 acres of Justice City.

Today he is no more with us. At 7.15pm on 28th June one of our closest friends breathed his last in the arms of his best friends.

Our batch was devastated. I remember all the 70 odd weeping sitting outside the mess. It had not hit us then. Yes, it was confirmed. Gopan had breathed his last.

He was the first to get up and wake me up from my slumber. Yet he could never attend the first hour lectures. He couldn’t care two hoots about what class it was or whether he would need to carry a book or pen to class. He would come to class five minutes before the end of the first hour and say. “Duuuuude I slept off man.”

He would never wear a t-shirt in the hostel. Bear chested came the Gopes-man. The best part about him was his smile. He just could not stop smiling. Even while being ragged he would be smiling. Nothing could ever get him worked up.

He was a genius in music. From composing his own covers to lending vocals at music events Gopan was always right there on the stage. He would come up with the weirdest theories about anything and everything in the world. He always had a theory of his own. He always knew something about everything which most often was tail first and devoid of normalcy.

His poetry was brilliant. His singing was even better. Especially while in the loo. At 6.30 if you heard a loud voice singing Morrison you could be sure Gopes was in the loo and know in your heart that even though he was up so early (by hostel standards) he would not attend the first hour.

He had the spark in him. He was an ardent supporter of Marxist ideals though he would have the choicest of swear words for the Marxist Party in India. He was the one who could come to you 1.30 in the night and suddenly ask you if you concurred with Hegelian philosophy.

He was the life of our batch. From those wise cracks from the last bench (yes he always sat in the last row with the rest of us who looked ‘down’ upon the front rows with disdain) to the heavy philosophy Gopes was a character loved by all. There were people across batches who had spent more time with him than they had maybe with some of their own batchmates.

Academics was always low on his priority list. Not that he was not good at it but because he did not believe in the system. He was the proverbial rebel who never had the chance to rebel. As Nuten put it, “He was a punk who never rebelled.”

His icons were Morrison and Kurt Cobaine. He always said he did not want to grow old. He wanted to die early.

Maybe God granted him that wish.

Sorry, Gopes that I never could play football with you. I was too lazy to go to the stadium right after class. I could not be the “Bong-defender” you wanted on your team while we chatted even before coming to law school. As cruel fate would have it the first time I played football in Nalsar was at the fateful time when you were breathing your last.

Never again would we bunk the fifth hour just because we felt like it.

Yes you indeed knew how to live life. You were the boy who lived.

As I saw your lifeless countenance, as we bid our last adieu I knew in my heart that you were happy wherever you were.

I am sure you would agree to what Dumbledore had to say about death.

“Death is but the next great adventure”.

Mahesh Gopan. May your soul rest in peace.

P.S. I know if you read this you would say, “Chill re, light re baap.”

Yours ever,

Sandipan,

On behalf of the CG Team.

Peace Bro \m/  !!!

 

 

 

25 COMMENTS

  1. a fitting tribute to such a talented frnd of urs……………….maybe god has some other plans for him…may his soul rest in peace!!!!!

  2. There sure was a lot to learn from the boy who lived… It reminded me of someone i know. How dear they are to us. They are actually the ones who know how to live. May his soul rest in peace. However, if i may ask, what led to his last breath so early in life?

  3. I Don’t know who he was but you make him sound like he was “something”. At least, he did not have an average existence. May peace find him.   

  4. How cruel the fate could be…..it was indeed very shocking ! May his soul rest in peace. It’s time for everyone to b there with his parents,who had a terrible loss.

  5. Hey Sandipan..

    I really Dont know who you are.. But i love this whole thing abt Mahesh! 
    He was My Senior In School, JHPS .. V all admired him so much for the way he was.. every single person remebers his speech at school for the school elections!
    He was the one of the most Amazing persons i knew.. Mayb v were not tht close! But this Sad news abt him made every single teacher n the students who knew him to jus cry!

    Will Miss You So Much Mahesh!
    R.I.P

  6. It is said that Death is just a way of life,he will continue to live in the hearts and minds of all his friends.Hope his soul finds happiness and joy and hope his life serves as an example for other generations to come. 🙁

  7. I vividly remember this boy the first ( unfortunately the last ) time I saw him near the ATM M/C inside NALSAR on the very first day with his parents, wearing a blue shirt with a careless hairstyle. May God give his companions the strength to bear this loss. Pray may the soul of this young boy rest in peace.

  8. Hi Sandipan …. I don’t know the writer of this touching story but I know Mahesh who is related to me. It is indeed a fact that when I visited the funeral of Mahesh, I saw few hundreds of friends and relatives, some weeping, some crying and many were really shocked. I think nobody could stop crying seeing his body. He is liked by all and may be Almighty selects good people to be with Him.
    I sincerely thank you for your tribute. May his soul rest in peace.

    • the same we are asking every day. As fate knocks the way cleared for his death. No body could not notice him drowning.

      Gopakumar.

    • some slip in swimming and no body could not notice as he joined friends later. No life guards available in the pool to notice and save.

      • It was so unfair. I always imagined i would meet him again someday, or watch him at work, when he became a lawyer. It was such a treat to watch him speak.

  9. he always told me about his friends….but now only i could make out…how much he was loved by his friends….im his cousin brother..and i would like to thank you all for being part of us ,,..its difficult to accept this….still i havnt come out of this shock….im sure wherever he is…he will be happy….but he should hav thought of us….his parents….his brothers….we all loved him a lot…and we want him……

  10. hey sandipan u had given a very good tribute to ur frnd…………………….nd mahesh is a very lucky guy 2 have frndz lyk u who are remembering him whn hez no more…………….its a gr8 thng………………nd the story of mahesh is reli heart touching……….i got tears in my eyes…………
    MAY HIS SOLE REST IN PEACE!!!!!!!………….

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