Kanna

My earliest memory of Kanna goes back to childhood. He was escorting me around in the scooter meant for kids, which was so much a part of growing up in those days. My latter day memories of Kanna consist of meeting him practically every day during my teenage days in the eighties. Adolescent that I was the early part of the eighties was truly my summer of 1942. Kanna and I of course discussed the great adolescent obsession—girls.
During this period Kanna introduced me to the delights of listening to Mohammad Rafi and the joy of watching Shammi Kapoor on screen. Rafi and Shammi Kapoor are now an enduring part of my consciousness.
More importantly through Kanna, I also met Shridhar who to this day remains one of my closest friends and whose advice has stood me in good stead over the years.
As we got busy with our respective careers (Kanna was a CA while I became a journalist) our meetings over the years reduced. After marriage and parenting we hardly met each other. On the few occasions we met, he made no secret of his joy at meeting me.
It was a rude shock when about five months back, I came to know that he had been diagnosed with Cancer and was fighting for his life in hospital. A quick visit to the hospital and I managed to see him on his bed. He was on life support systems and far from the happy soul of my adolescence.
Even then when four days later I heard the news of his death, I was shocked. The mind had continued to hope against hope.
To make matters worse, on that day I could not even attend his funeral due to my professional commitments and heavy traffic on the roads. I felt that I owed this to Kanna. Farewell dear friend. Time will no doubt heal this wound as it does all others. A friend like you perhaps will never be a part of my life again.