Fear and Loathing in Law School

Last a week a friend of mine was stabbed to death in Bangalore.

He was not the kind of guy who would like mourning. So I shall not try to be too sappy. Furthermore, if you see my post on suicide, you will know that I do not consider death tragic. However, there are times when death can be brutally senseless.

I think I can remember four people who died in college– one smashed out of his mind hit a road railing on his bike, two suicides and another really messed up guy who O.D-ied on the street outside college. But I would lie if I said those people meant anything to me. And they were all practically suicides. You shook your head and continued with life.

Looking at a dead person’s Orkut page is like seeing a ghost. It makes your hair stand on edge. Alyosha Kumar’s tells me that he loved ‘ridiculousness’.

Alyosha had a complex sense of humour. ‘Ridiculousness’ is the kind of word that describes his antics and jokes. But I loved to run into him on campus or in the hostel. He said and did spectacular things all the time. Some people considered him weird but to me he was without a doubt one of the bright sparks in law school. Amongst all the Fuglies in the world with their head up some Professor, Senior Advocate or Partner’s ass, he kept a smile on my face.

He was a gifted defender at Football with great tackles. He was also a fantastic Basketball player. Alyosha was a supreme athlete and was tough as nails. Another quality extremely rare in college. But he wasn’t some weird stupid jock. We mooted together and were part of a firm that put me on a Vienna team something I will be grateful to him for that till I die. He may not have topped his class but he had a fantastic legal brain along with wide-ranging eclectic interests including music and books.

That is just one of the most senseless things about this particular death. Alyosha was someone who was so full of life. A genuine character who can never ever be replaced.

There are so many events that conspired in his death.

For starters he was never supposed to be in Bangalore at that time.

In Law School, the student body is supposed to be responsible for its own discipline. Then, came along this guy who I compare to Greg Chapell, who decided that he needed control over the disciplinary mechanism in order to fix the ‘wrong’ students. Since then, it becomes the responsibility of Appointed Students to report people to the faculty for suspension or even rustication. Nazi informants or Prefects for 23 year olds. You decide.

So a fellow student got Alyosha suspended for three months extending his stay in Bangalore. I think for possessing marijuana or something like that. He was stabbed hours before he was supposed to leave Bangalore for good. There will blood on the hands the people responsible for holding Alyosha back no matter how unintentional or good intentioned their actions were. The person who snitched must think- what if..

Then, there’s the present climate against non-Kannada speakers in Bangalore. My friends in Bangalore tell me that people are forever pissed off nowadays. Angry and itching for a fight. And Bangalore could rival Delhi when it comes to harassment of women especially once it gets dark. It is the only city I know that turns into a war/riot zone on New Year’s eve with biker gangs roaming around or setting up road-blocks to create trouble.

Yes, South Indians are mistreated by North Indians. Agreed. Yes, there are a lot of losers from North India who bring their obtuseness to Bangalore. However, racism for whatever justification is still racism.

There is this trait in the Kannada movement, typified as the sort of treachery that is being exacted by the Gowda family (who are at the vanguard of the movement) on the BJP right now by not honouring the power-sharing agreement. This goes right down to the auto driver on the street and the petrol pump vendors. These are people who jeopardize the futures of their children by not teaching them English in schools or justifying and spreading xenophobia amongst their people and violence as a solution. And when H.D. Kumaraswami’s son smashed a local restaurant (Empire) for not serving him food late at night, his excuse for signing a confessional police statement was that he could not read Kannada well!

And whatever is the solution to the spoiling of Bangalore’s atmosphere by loose moral outsiders I would suggest that stabbing people to death is not the solution. Nobody deserves to be stabbed and die bleeding on the road no matter how reckless a life they lead.

Alyosha Kumar it was a pleasure to know you. My condolonces to your parents and family.

Ridiculousness. That’s how I’d remember your sense of humour. Even your death, for that matter.