FRIEND

I did not usually think of this guy, let us call him Rahul, as a
friend. "Friend" to me implies a person I can be sincere and open
with. In my life, I did not have many like that.

Rahul had a classic marathoner built: on the short side, with a slim
frame that revealed stamina and power. He had keen, a bit bulging
eyes; crooked teeth but sincere smile and warm demeanor. He colored
his graying hair that was getting to be a bit thin on the top of his
head. He appeared to be about my age.

One of the things that attracted me to Rahul was his fascinating life
story. Rahul was the youngest in a large peasant family in one of the
South Asian countries. His father owned a coconut farm and was a
respectable elder in a poor village. His brothers are still farmers
there.  Rahul told me how he had to walk barefoot to school and how
his school building had a single classroom with no walls. Rahul,
however, showed talent and an ardent desire for learning from the
young age. He did extremely well in the elementary and middle schools.
His country then funded his education in one of the prestigious
private schools in the capital. He graduated with honors.  He told me
how he was a voracious reader and read some really dense Soviet books.

I do not remember where he went for his undergraduate studies but he
got his PhD in one of the natural sciences in the US. He did his
graduate work under one of the luminaries in the field. His advisor,
however, did little in the form of direction so Rahul did most of his
work on his own. Rahul then got a faculty position in one of the
universities near the place where I live. He was apparently an
excellent researcher.

Rahul was not much of a listener. He liked to talk. So our
conversations went a bit strange. I directed him to the topic I cared
about and let him talk. I interjected a few sentences now and then so
that he can bounce off of them and keep on talking. His views were
often naive. He did not read much outside of his field for an extended
period of his life. So occasionally, when I barged in with my opinion,
I came off rude and probably offended him.

His English was a bit stilted. However, since his arrival to the US he
so thoroughly forgot his native language that he found it easier to
speak English even to his fellow countrymen.

Yet, Rahul had an ability to meet and talk to all kinds of people:
from young college girls to retired jazz musicians. Occasionally, it
seemed like half the town knew Rahul. I am usually withdrawn and
distant so it was amusing to watch Rahul in action.

Yet again, Rahul managed to combine his social nature with somewhat
gullible and direct approach in his business and personal
relationships. He ended up stepping on the wrong toes so his contract
at his university was not extended. He then got a prestigious post-doc
position in Europe. There, he ended up discovering something quite
promising. However, he had most of his results stolen from him by his
grasping superiors. He had to quit and come back to the US. Stateside,
he continued working on his discovery. He believed he can turn it into
something incredibly valuable with a large variety of
applications. So, he went through all the joys of a penniless
entrepreneur: working odd jobs, pursuing a patent, setting up a
company, finding investors, writing grant proposals, begging people to
let him use research equipment.

To top it off, Rahul was a bit scatterbrained. He combined his
activities with charity work: he wanted to build a school in his
native country. He canvassed for Obama. He was learning to play 
drums.

Rahul was a born distance runner. He ran a 3:04 or so marathon off of
35 miles per week training. He ran Boston several times. He did not
follow any kind of training plan. He did not know what interval
workouts or tempo runs were.  Although he enjoyed an occasional race,
running for him was what it is for me: just pleasure on its own. He
told me how he regretted that he could not join a track team in his
high-school because he did not have enough money to eat properly to
train.

We occasionally met for coffee or went for a run together. Sometimes,
he asked me to get a book or print a paper for him. I tried not to get
too involved in his activities and on occasion politely declined his
invitations to do this or that. He usually took it in stride. He did
get a bit miffed when I said I am not going to canvas for Obama with
him and started telling me how important this hope and change
was.

Rahul chased girls. He was not just trying to get laid. He seriously
searched for the right one. He was apparently a passionate guy. He
told me that he once fell for a Russian girl and went all the way to a
remote town in the Russian hinterland for her. She turned him
down. Poor guy.

His general optimism and energy was endearing. Yet, I remember how
sharply I felt his loneliness when he mentioned that he says "hi" to
his favorite trees on his daily runs.

I went to Russia for a month this summer. When I came back he did not
answer his cellphone or email. I got a bit worried but thought maybe
he went to his native country for a bit. I ran into a mutual
acquaintance last week. He told me that Rahul died of a ruptured blood
vessel in his brain. He lived alone so they found out only five days
afterwards.  He turned out to be 11 years older than me.

He was agnostic so there was no church service, just a memorial
service in a shelter in a park. His body was cremated so there is no
grave to visit. Yet, I wanted to do something in his memory so I wrote
this.

Rest in peace, friend.