I would stare at pictures of course participants from yesteryears at the IIJ corridor and wonder, actually fear, that soon I too would be joining them on the wall. A wall which people would pass by without thinking for a moment who those smiling faces were or where they came from or what happened to them.  It’s funny in a sad kind of way how in the race of the present we all tend to forget that we too become part of a dead past.

So what did I do when that sudden realization dawned upon me? I made a decision, my friends. And that was to make sure that I made the most of my time in Berlin and do something worthwhile. Something memorable which people would talk about long after I’m gone and hold me in good memory whenever my name, if ever, is mentioned. Where teachers would remember me as an excellent student, friends as a party animal and colleagues as a team man. I’m not sure whether I was able to achieve all that, but I sure did give it my best shot.

 

There’s a verse inscribed on my father’s grave, the English translation of which goes something like this:

The world will go on forever and ever,

I will not be there tomorrow but someone like me will be