Charlie Mike.

Charlie Mike is a classmate of mine from school with whom I've had some fantastic times over the years and we continue to be in touch with each other though he's based at far away Madras. Life has been unkind to him in more ways than one and today, he's a far cry from the fun loving and crazy guy that I've known him to be during our formative years in the navy.

He joined school in 1965 and I'd joined the same class two years later, in class VII. I must admit that we weren't the best of buddies while at school as we'd a different set of friends since we were in different divisions and in different houses -he in 'C' and I in 'A' and housewise, he in 'Shivaji' and I in 'Tagore'. The one thing that I remember of him in school is the fact that he was the first and only guy amongst us to be stricken with 'Trachoma' and consequentially, sported red eyes for quite a while!

We actually became close after joining the IN on graduating from the NDA - as cadets on Delhi, his number was 60 and mine 61 - and I'd the privilege of knowing him from close quarters. He'd a ready wit and his arguments on any topic had a crazy twist, though essentially relevant to the situation. His ability to quickly read and appreciate a tactical situation, in a war scenario, was something that I've always admired.

Charlie Mike is a simple soul, hails from Palakkad and has always been close to his family. His brother and sister, whom he was rather fond of, had a tiff following the division of their ancestral property and he's still to get over the jolt, though the event had taken place many years earlier.

His wife, Sasikala, is essentially a simple and fun loving person who can never be harsh with anyone and they've two sons, Arjun and Aneesh, who've done the engineering course. Arjun, however, has had certain medical complications and hence, Charlie Mike has been dejected in a sense. He also has a recurrent problem in his right knee that had taken an impact, years ago, during a road accident on the Palakkad - Coimbatore route.

I'd spoken to him last evening and to my utter sadness realised that his zest for life is not what it was. May God give him and his family all that they wish for in life. And I'd like to be with the gregarious Charlie Mike of old and God, don't tell me that I'm asking for too much!