Pramod, he's different

Pramod Biligiri and I met for the first time in Vijaya High School. We were in the eighth standard then. Our classes had begun just then and the students were still getting to know each other. Pramod and I hadn't met as yet. At around the same time, a teacher in the math department was putting together a team for a group song performance. Somebody had misinformed her about my singing skills and to my horror I found myself in her cabin staring at two pages of complicated Kannada poetry, not a word of which I understood.

Along with me in the teacher's cabin, was Pramod, who was observing the manner in which the teacher was selecting students for the event. The teacher obviously had no clue about the students in our class, let alone knowing who sang well or who played the tabla well. We were still new faces. She was being advised by a group of senior students who were leveraging their "network" to suggest names from our class.

Teacher: OK, I need two more male voices. Also, is there somebody who can play the veena ?
Senior #1: Uh..my friend Divya told me that her brother's friend Dramod T K plays the veena really well. We should probably take him.
Senior #2: My sister's classmate's brother is apparently an awesome singer. We SHOULD take him. Else I won't participate !!
Senior #3: There's this guy who attends the same music academy that my cousin's neighbour does. I don't remember his name....perhaps starts with A

Soon we had our two "male voices" and Dramod T K for the veena. The teacher now wanted to talk about the song she had selected. Just as she turned her attention to the script, Pramod interrupted her: "Ma'am, I think we need to adopt a more democratic process in selecting the team. I believe in freedom of expression. I believe in public opinion and equal opportunity for all. Do we elect our leaders in the same manner as we have put this team together ? Hearsay ? Clearly our knowledge about our class is limited. Perhaps there's somebody out there who sings much better than this guy ...pointing at me..me nodding vigorously in approval.. How do we know ? We should conduct a Talent Show...provide an unbiased platform for all the kids to display their talents. And then we can proceed to choose our team. My conscience doesn't permit me to be a part this team. I am out. " What the hell was Pramod talking about ? Democratic process of decision making ? Freedom of Expression ?? hello !! The teacher was shocked at Pramod's maturity. She sent us back to our classrooms immediately and canceled the day's practice. Soon, a talent show was announced for the eighth standard students !

So that's how I met Pramod.... over a lesson on democracy, public opinion and equal opportunity.

I won't be wrong if I branded Pramod as the "true geek" among all my friends. When the gang wants to talk about Sushmita Sen in her latest movie, Pramod wants to discuss Ron Paul. When Avinash and I raised a minor complaint about prices of coffee at Cafe Coffee Day, Pramod informed us about the effects of Fringe Benefit Tax on the prices of mosquito repellants. When Kandarp wanted to discuss a certain girl in his class, Pramod wanted us talk about Ubuntu instead. He once made me write a ruby program in a movie hall !

Back in 2000, after we had completed writing a million engineering entrance examinations, Avinash, Kandarp, Pramod and I set off on a trip to discover coastal Karnataka. We were going to visit several beaches and also spend some time in Mangalore. One of the beaches we visited was Kapu. We reached the beach at 5 in the evening, tired after a really strenuous bus ride. Each one of us bought a tender coconut from a peddler on the beach. We threw ourselves on the sand and sat facing the beach with the sun setting in the background. At a distance, very very far away, we spotted a ship that was disappearing slowly into the horizon. We sat there for several minutes, our eyes riveted on that ship. We seemed to have been overcome by a sudden silence that was interrupted every now and then by the sound of the waves and cries of "yellneer" from the peddler. Nobody spoke. Everyone watched...simply watched.

Finally, when the ship had disappeared, Kandarp broke the silence: "Guys, what do you reckon of that ship ?"
Avinash: Don't worry. It's a cargo ship. I have seen several of those in the movies. It won't destroy us.
Me: I wonder what it is carrying...marijuana ? Trafficking human beings ?
Kandarp: What crap ?! I think that ship resembles our life, as it stands at this point in time.

Avinash and I were a bit puzzled, but we managed to put a philosophical look on our faces to suit the occasion.

"That ship was perhaps at a harbour a couple of days ago. It was anchored there in the company of several of it's "friend" ships. It has now embarked on a journey, with a destination in mind. It doesn't know when it is going to return to the harbour, when will it ever get to meet it's friends again. Some of them may meet again, some may never meet at all. Each one of us is now embarking on a similar journey...a journey called life. Will we all stay in Bangalore ? Maybe we'll go to different cities. And what if I decide to go to the US after my engineering ? Will we ever get to meet again ?"

Avinash and I were suddenly taken over by the gravity of Kandarp's remark. All those scenes of we being together, cracking jokes at each other, hanging out in 4th block for by-two coffee by-two idli flashed before our eyes. We were going to be separated, and no one except Kandarp had realised it !! The emotional crescendo had reached a peak. One more word from Kandarp and we were probably going to tumble down with tears in our eyes. Were we really going to be separated ? Avinash searched for his handkerchief.

Kandarp, sensing that Pramod hadn't spoken at all: So Bili, what do you reckon of that ship ?
no answer
Kandarp: BILI !!
Pramod: Uh ?? monopoly, absolute monopoly

Monopoly ? Did he actually say monopoly ? "There are so many coconut trees in this place. There are so many people on this beach. Yet, there's only one guy selling tender coconuts here. Plus this is summer. I am sure he has an exclusive license to sell coconuts on this beach. Perhaps, he has bribed the local politician to ensure no one else is allowed to sell anything here. No wonder we paid 20 bucks for the coconut, while back in Bangalore, we would have paid just 5 bucks. I wonder what the license costed him though."

Kandarp: OK OK, but what about that ship ?
Pramod: What ship ?

Kandarp, Avinash and I buried our heads in disbelief.