R Sritharan

Remembering a fun classmate and jewel of a friend

R. SRI THARAN

We mourn the loss of a dear person, R. Sri Tharan, fondly called Kaiam or KKB by his friends. Let us celebrate his life, and remember him for his attributes, his way of life and, more important, his loyalty to all those who knew him.

I am here to represent his Class of ’56 and his friends at Royal College. I first met Kaiam 52 years ago.He was quick-witted, always smiling, and ever-ready for a prank. He was a teacher’s nightmare! Cricket was his passion, and he was a sound batsman – on and off the field.Recalling his pranks, a mutual friend, Asoka, told me how Kaiam would stop and drink the milk from the bottles left by the milkman at the doorsteps of his neighbours, when he went on his 5 a.m. jogs with Asoka.

He believed in enjoying and living life to the full, every moment of his life. At the Royal Thomian match, Kaiam was always in peak form, calling the shots.

Under his happy-go-lucky exterior, there was a pearl, or a deity, hidden within him, and this precious something gave light to those immersed in darkness. Kaiam always gave a helping hand to strangers and the needy.

He was a bastion of racial tolerance, and one of the few mortals who could pass a modern morality test.His heart was always with Royal College. In my last chat with him two days before he left us, he asked how he could continue to live here, when our good friends were so many thousands of miles away.

On behalf of the Class of ’56 and all our friends in Sri Lanka, Australia, Britain, Canada, the US and other parts of the world, I bid farewell to our dear friend.

Anantham Harin, New York