My Friend Dasu

"Men Are Haunted by the Vastness of Eternity and so We Ask Ourselves Will Our Actions Echo across the Centuries? Will Strangers Hear Our Names Long after We're Gone and Wonder Who We Were?".
A famous quote from the movie Troy and Sean Bean says it all !!! I believe it is the crux of human struggle and it has always been. We all want to make a name for ourselves: amongst friends, relatives and strangers.We always imagine to achieve; we imagine to stamp a distinct identity different from others and our actions most of the times unique. As I dwell into some of the premiere business schools I have started believing that Imagination is always powerful than knowledge. But the question remains will our actions be remembered ?? If not all but some of us definitely leave a lasting impression on others, knowingly or unknowingly, by the sheer audacity of their actions. One of them is my friend Dasu.
Dasu, probably the most talked about figure amongst the group of nomads (we people), has operated in many regions in India and now active in USA. Ranging from the suburbs of Jaipur, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune and now USA, his actions have always been box office hits. I recall my first hand experience with Dasu while in a training session in Infosys campus,Hyderabad. The guy was late into the session, a characteristic that he had developed (and which I believe is very uncharacteristic of him) and if I remember correctly paid a Rs.50 fine almost everyday. Inspite of those funds he donated everyday, Dasu would walk into the class with utmost grace and charisma, and grab a chair adjacent to Aruna. Now Aruna is the only person who can honestly tell you what did Dasu do during those sessions. Knowing him I assume he was always focused, eventhough he pretended playing HangMan with us all the time. So this is the guy's number one quality - "Focus". So what everybody is focused, everyone has goals, ambitions - whats the big deal ?? What makes him unique ??
By Focus I mean Animesh always knows what he wants. He knows he want to hit the gymnasium, he knows he want to study for a MBA entrance, he knows he wants new half shirts, but - he needs somebody to accompany him all the time in achieving these great feats. Again I recall an incident that happened in Aundh, Pune. After a tiring evening gym session, I was relaxing at home as Dasu walked in and immediately urged me " Chal .. Chicken on Basmati Khaate hai". Heavily motivated to loose weight and complete my regular sutta session, I politely refused saying " tu ja .. mera mann nahi hai". Pat came the reply "Akele khaane mein kya maza hai !!!". By the way he loves to be around friends, cares for friends, one of the payment banks which offers no interest and no deadlines to return the money back, use his bike no matter how much he will never refuse to hand over the keys. Most of the times I remember he would hand over the helmet and keys to me and enjoy being a pillion.But other times, doesnt matter even if you bang your head against his helmet, wont allow you to drive - "Moody"!!!

His transforming moods have always been a subject of appreciation and disapproval amongst the near and dear ones. But I must say that doesnt take the credit of being "Hardworking" at all from him. If somebody walks up to me and boasts his quality of hardwork, I just have one question for him - "Did you ever drive to your office at 4:00 a.m in the morning just to study and do practicals??"
Genius men always have had a history of amnesia. They will never remember anyones birthday, never remember that a cell phone requires battery power to operate and never remember to pay their telephone bills. Sometimes I wonder whether "Carelessness" is a subset of being "Genius". Antisocial, these are the people who dont believe in making use of emerging technologies for social networking. By personal experiences I found that if you approach such people and try to address these issues, they will mostly give you a scowling look and reject your mere presence by a simple "huhhhhhhh".Anyways,coming back to our point, Animesh by nature has been a silent observer. Talks up to the point, listens more and thinks a lot. Be very careful while talking to him. His interpretations of what you intend to say might make your head spin 360 degrees. Though, he is correct in a few cases.
Another gripping incident I recall tends to show the "humorous" side of the person. These were the days when we were fighting with bed bugs,"Khatmal" as we call them in India. While we were struggling everyday with different anti khatmals, Dasu seemed to be enjoying his time on his bed. One fine evening, Dada (who had eventually developed excellent detective skills) prompted me to follow him to Dasu's bed, and slowly pulled the bed sheet. The sight was horrifying !!! Hundred's of bed bugs hugging each other on the mattress. Dasu was very alert to the situation and promptly covered the mattress with the bed sheet again.Out of goodwill and love for Dasu, Dada wanted to use the spray to kill atleast some of them . The reply " Abe Khatmal ko disturb mat kar`.. Sone de unko". A one liner but I could not control myself bursting out.
I do not claim to know the man but I have always been a fan of his actions. As I write this, I can guess what must be going through his mind ( if he at all reaches this point) and I know I will have to face the consequences. But again you have to utilize your time in some way or the other. I would have love to deliver this post to his new Gmail Id or it could also have been an orkut testimonial, but it doesnt matter, neither to him nor to me. But yes writing excerpts about a great person is a decent achievment and this will definitely be my official first blog.