It wasn't supposed to be this way !!

Those who didn't know him labelled him a nihilist, to me he was just another young man, passionate about his beliefs and with a razor sharp mind that you did not want to face in a debate. He could discuss a point with total conviction, and when the other person started to relent, he'd abruptly switch his opinion leaving you bewildered. Not for him the mere win; it was the drawn out intellectual battle of wits that mattered.

Extraordinarily intelligent this young man was constantly on the look out for new challenges. No challenge was too trivial, no challange not worth mastering. I remember once he and his friend hacked into my Tetris score file so their score could be higher than mine. When I challanged him, he actually learnt to play the game as fast as I did, then gave up in utter disgust... but not without beating me first!

Whatever he did, he did it with determination and passion. He would criticise my thrown together mistmatched attire with as much fervour, as he would discuss his opinion of God and religion. Whatever he did that inadvertently angered, and even hurt others, he did with an almost childlike innocence. To him it was incomprehensible that anything could stand in the way of a logical deduction. It puzzled him, angered him and even saddened him to realize how people would rather stay deluded than accept a truth that is inconvinient.

Like all brilliant minds, his weakness was his vanity. His need to be recognised, appreciated and accepted for what he is. When he recorded his first song, he played the song for me over the phone to make sure I listened and gave my opinion. When he got his new Benz, he called me trying in vain to be modest about it. Being busy, I could not visit him immediately. He called me the next day saying the car already had a dent and I'd better hurry. Finally, he even offered to let me drive it around. All this from the person who few years ago had not let me sit in the driver's seat of his Ford!

Whatever his traits, I trusted him absolutely. Once when we had not been in touch for almost 6 months, he called me, asking for my credit card details! He had maxed out his card and needed to do some online purchasing. After that first time, he never called again asking for permission to use the info. I'd regularly see a mysterious deposit in my savings account, and few days later my credit card bill would show an equally suspicious entry.

It wasn't his impudence. It was his utter belief that having helped him once, I'd be willing to help him again.

I wonder, did I help help him enough? Did we all..?

I hope you had the last laugh Ligesh.