Saturday, July 17, 2021

Zodiac 97 boys - An extempore, unedited observations of a most cynical observer, 2 dozen years since the beginning!


 

Zodiac 97 boys - An extempore, unedited observations of a most cynical observer, 2 dozen years since the beginning!

 

Ajay

 

A childish rotund guy who found his growth spurt after joining college and has turned out to be mature and Maddy-like guy now. And an incisive mind as always with severe right leaning

 

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Arunkamal

 

Simply superb. Need I say anything more about the cool and composed guy?

 

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CRK Balaji

 

Another cool and nice guy of the batch. It's easy to propose to someone in the college days, but to raise a beautiful family with the same person and still stay friends with her is very commendable

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Deepak

 

Immensely talented guy of the batch and spiritually and philosophically a lot of notches higher than many of us

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Dhanasekar

 

One who's not swayed by the city life and has gone back to serve his own people- Looks like nothing great, but not many people go back and serve their own people

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Gopal

 

The most perseverant of the lot with a steely resolve. Chiselled his body and mind to achieve his ambitions. I suppose he achieved what he sought out for. It's a loss for all of his many girlfriends.

 

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Pradeep

 

Immensely focussed and talented guy who I suppose has got what he wanted to make of his life

 

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Vaiz

 

A really cool guy. Apparently introverted guy but with a really good sense of humour which was likely hidden only for his closest friends during college days

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VijayAnand

 

I have never seen a guy who has always put on a happy and cheerful face, hiding his hardships, as he has always done.

 

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AC

 

Through sheer hardwork and dedication , he has chosen the field he wanted to , so that he can give back to the society,  what he got during his formative years at KMC. Cool guy without any unnecessary buzz surrounding him.

 

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GK

 

Undoubtedly the most humorous fellow of the batch.   Soft spoken and non arrogant orthopaedic- an oxymoron.

 

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Guna

 

Undoubtedly vying to be the comic of the batch now. Again it's great to live happily with someone you loved in college. And personally unforgettable for me , since without him I couldn't have got someone who could have tolerated me for more than 10 years!

 

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Naveen

 

Most eloquent of the batch or should I say the college. And it requires quite a great number of good neurons to keep posting daily on everything under the sun. Always informative. And the best organizer without doubt.

 

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Selva

 

Another one who has sculpted his career like how he wanted it. And one with a mature outlook on life.

 

Unforgettable about you:

 

Your Vijay fanboy moments( though you won't like it brought up)

 

Your crush on Martina Hingis and Mary Pierce

 

And the way we lost your bag on the suburban train!

 

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Sivakumar

 

The most sincere and hardworking of the batch, na the college. You cannot get a better employee than him in the whole world.

 

Quirky bits:

 

Unpuctual Army Officer

 

One the most dramatic love stories of the batch. Sorry loverboys of the batch, your stories could be nothing compared to him.

 

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Veeravenkatesh

 

He was the richest guy I knew in my acquaintance at college level. I have never ever seen him waste a rupee. Some might call it miserly. But I  thought that's discipline.

 

Unforgettable moment.

 

We both or me alone could have landed in obituary column ( due to my faulty logic of riding pillion with him on a borrowed 2wheeler , thinking that one drives a car would know to ride a scooter. I learnt it to be false, the hard way in the 2nd year near Taylor's road signal)

 

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Vivek

 

The editor who reads a lot. And one who writes a lot too. Has a balanced view of things now.

 

Unforgettable:

 

His letters to me and others too ( I guess) during the 1st year vacation! Do you still write letters Vivek?

 

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This is the order in which the names appear on my phone in the Zodiac boys whatsapp group. Will continue after sometime if possible

 

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Chenduran

 

Armageddon and Ega theatre

 

Always thought of him as sleepy , but looks like he was dreaming about his life in the United States while being disinterested in the drudgery that MBBS curriculum turned out in the college

 

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AK

 

Smiling and amiable.

Looked like Kunal.

No wonder he was the heartthrob of the batch. And to get an Ortho seat in a govt college after spending a few years outside the country in another direction is no mean achievement at all.

 

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Reddy

 

One of the most talkative guys. Was a good company during train travel. The guy was always confident, very hardworking, brainy and never shied away from things

 

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Arun vijay

 

Nice soft spoken, ever smiling guy. Hard looks but very genial person. A Dwayne Johnson look alike with a little exaggeration.

 

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Nagaraj

 

I guess he never did not know nothing about anything. Or did I only feel like that about him?!

 

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Ajmal

 

His lungi and Tirunelveli accent. Never thought he would settle in the UK when I saw him in the hostel. That's always great to come from non metro places and dream and achieve them too.

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Prashant

 

Another genial guy.

Shatrughan Sinha resembalace with a little exaggeration

 

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Mahendran

 

Phenomenal. That's the mildest word for his achievements

 

To be a best selling author before 30

To run a successful coaching centre with him as the brand face and to mentor so many fellow doctors

And to dream only of SGE and establish the department at his native place ( only a handful achieve it)

 

Unforgettable:

 

His words - 'Manja maakkan"

His close love-hate relationship with SK

 

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Thangam

 

Nice guy, who came from an ordinary background like me and many others and one who had to shoulder the responsibilities of the family soon.

 

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Gopinath

 

One guy who always tried to understand whatever he was reading during MBBS time. And that's stood him good stead now I think

 

Unforgettable

 

He's the one whose bullied me the most in the class and I hate bullying! It's a dangerous and mean thing

 

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Ganesh

 

Was always a little apprehensive about him because of his unorthodoxy in very little interaction we had then. May be a lot of reading can make us think out of the box only.

 

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Abdul

 

Gentle guy on a yamaha ( or a bullet), not sure. Surprised to find him metamorphose into an argumentative voice in the main group. I should thank him as I left the main group when one of their discussions turned very hot during the Covid beginning

 

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Manivannan

 

True to his nickname Poppy. Remember his dragging tone and husky voice and his fondness for persons from Salem (am I imagining?)

 

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Kapil

 

Not much of interaction with him. Gentle giant type guy. They must have found it tough to adjust to Tamilnadu in those pre- mobile era

 

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Devesh

 

Energetic fellow. And another one who always wanted to understand whatever he read, however long it took. That has enabled him become a national teacher of his subject.

 

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Gowtham

 

Nice fellow, whose dad was even better to talk too..

Ideal brother-in-law / co-brother material 

One of the Woodies.

 

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Gokul

 

The only Gen Med and Cardiologist trained and practising in India, from our batch. Maybe he achieved what he envisioned.

 

Athlete. kulfi. Nicknamed because he was the softest guy of the G batch.

 

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Jonathan

 

His smile. Non confrontational. Still wondering about his bold decision to take a subject based on his decision to lead a cool and calm lifestyle without considering the monetary aspect at all. He could have chosen any of the clinical subjects I think.

 

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Kathiravan

 

Supremely confident, based on the anectodes from his hostel mates. Unfortunately for him, he thought he could clear his MBBS exams with the same strategies used for 12th standard

 

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Murugesan

 

Sincere, hardworking. Cannot remember his meticulous and  dedicated approach in the anatomy dissection hall. I am sure he as well as many others could have had a different trajectory, if the 1st year medical books were available in Tamil. They had a huge bridge to cross in the medical college from std 12. And they heve done it quite well.

 

What is he doing now and where is he placed? Never heard about him after college

 

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Rajan

 

One with the professorial looks from the 1st year. Not one to mince words. Slightly similar to me with strong likes and dislikes. And he has been a caring son too.

 

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Sreenath

 

Brilliant guy. Wondering how such a nice guy could only be the 2nd favourite son in this own family!

 

Settled in US appropriately for his knowledge and attitude. He couldn't have survived in the Indian medical setup I guess.

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Mallikarjun

 

Another soft spoken PMPD guy. Beautiful calligraphic handwriting!!

 

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Prabhakar

 

Introverted and soft spoken.

 

Finding peace without marital or filial trappings. It's for his closest friends to let him be or force him into the universal  norms.

 

Unforgettable

 

Bought a guitar from him which was probably destined to doom. It just broke into pieces of old age without being strung much.

 

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Ramesh

 

Too little interaction with him. But for the first year, his life could have been different. Break in the first year in MBBS is cruel. I am sure I couldn't have taken it at all. All those guys had lots of guts to survive it .

 

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Manoj chand dayan

 

He was the real dramatic guy. Used to travel in the train in the 1st year. Another victim of the 1st year break

 

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Santa

 

Another know-it-all guy with extreme confidence owing to his cute dubbing Tamil-like- diction. Could move well with the Hindi guys as well as the localites.

 

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SK

 

Bully- like appearance but soft guy inside.

 

I still remember him sleeping heavily most of the time.

 

He was so close to Mahendran. I have seen Mahendran teasing and scolding him so many times (almost Goundamni- Senthil like) and wondered how he put up with it. But later I understood that it was due to such a close bond that they shared.

 

My funniest interaction with  them was when both SK and Apple came to 'unofficially' see a prospective bride for him in JIPMER. Those 2-3 hours were real fun.

 

I will remember him for the way he invited me for his marriage. He told me that only if I attended his marriage would he find an alliance  for me in the future.

 

Never did I think I would attend his funeral almost 6-7 months after attending his marriage.

 

Heard he went sleeping which I think was his favourite apart from cricket.

 

Really unlucky guy.

 

I hope I have not misses anyone else.

 

Thanks to anyone who has reached this point without just scrolling to see how long the rant is!

 

It was nice reminiscing about those 5 years which were enjoyable for each of us in our own ways

 

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