Rajesh L S

There are some incidents and people whom after lying dormant in your memory for a long long time and the first instance of re-collection it all comes back fresh and vivid.
He had left a note at my home that said "just tell Ashok that Rajesh had called"; and I thought it was another person by the same name. So he called again and when I picked it up "Guess who this is?"; he said. I said "give me more context. talk a little more and give me some swear words or something, as many people have their own trademark words which give them away". In this case there was none, no accent of a particular district. Straightforward Malayalam for someone who lived in many places in the state and who can change the tune specific to where he is at any point in time or place. He said "edaaa idu Rajesh aanu". Oh "L S!!" I exclaimed.
Truly so, for Rajesh LS has faint roots in Tamil Nadu or bordering Palakkad somewhere which makes him rather at ease at Tamil as well as the Palakkaad graamam bhaasha. Then Calicut and then Trivandrum; he had actually lived across the state before he had turned 15.
There were two Rajesh's ; Rajesh LS and Rajesh P; so one was called just "LS" and the other RajeshPea; with no space in between the name and the initials. There is a second standard school photo; which went it gets dusted up from my mother's carefully preserved albums to see her sons in the way she always would like to see them; which is the picture I remembered Rajesh in till I saw him in March 2008; may be more than 20 years later. Big eyes, neatly combed hair and comparatively less gawky than the rest of the boys in the photograph.
And for some reason; some brothers are remembered in school as packages - and Rajesh had one too Ramesh L S. So it was only obvious that I asked him about his brother to only know that in he lived only 6 kilometers away from where I lived in Bangalore. He too led the exodus that happened from Presentation to Silver Hills after class 5th or 6th. At Silver Hills may be he had his circle and I had mine; am unable to remember too many instances at Silver Hills where we were in a story together. Then all I knew is sometime in high school he had left for Trivandrum. I was told Christ Nagar and later when on a school excursion to Kovalam, Kanya Kumari, Kodaikanal, Madurai etc; we stopped over at Christ Nagar school on a Sunday and I remember remembering "this is where L S studies".
On March 2008 one day he took the time from his office to visit me at the hotel and we met up for lunch. Rajesh had changed in his looks. We could have easily sat next to each other in a bus for about 5 minutes and got up without knowing who each other was. The neatly combed hair had not changed one bit. No shades of hair loss ; and not one strand out of place. If you morphed the hairlines against the second standard photo, it would overlap 98% may be. He worked in an investment banking firm and played a part in the Sensex movements in Dalal Street. If you be nice to him, he will let you where to put your money in the market - for free, else he charges you a fortune. I don't really remember what we talked - other than ramblings of what does one get to do in the city post office hours and some beer joints between Techno park and the airport - but I got the sense that LS had the potential to go wild; given the right amount of crystal glass, spirits on the rocks. Curious enough to tap that part of his I suggested we go meet up later in the evening before I my flight. My official event got delayed. We ended up meeting at the airport and wandered around to find a good sit and drink place which was not to be.

Am sure I will tap the wild side of Rajesh sometime soon. May be Bangalore is an easier venue.