The Boy’s Special and hard to replace

Each day as I wake up and get ready for work, the top motivation I have are the loving people I meet, the joyous moments I share with them, the relationships I build, which on most occasions are long term and the smiles I exchange. I do have the hunger to learn and get my skills bettered but I wouldn't want that to happen by compromising on any of the above mentioned. I strongly believe that growing professionally and financially can be done anytime, it’s earning people which is more essential and significant than those. One such friendship that I have acquired and preserved for half a dozen years and completely unprepared to relinquish is Syam’s.

Happy Times, Aug 2008

Subramanian Suryanarayanan – with a name that comprises of more a’s than the number of characters in my first name – made it easy for us when he announced very early that he is known as SYAM everywhere and prefers to be called that way. Much to the relief of us I would admit, because till the very end, I saw very few of us who could correctly spell his name at the first attempt. I sometimes wondered had Outlook barred the auto-complete option and forced us to type email ID’s in full, Syam’s exchange server quota would have been largely unused.

Syam comes across as a smart, intelligent, vocal, humorous, confident, brash – add a few strong positive adjectives there and he would fit in - personality. But beyond all these, he had one important attribute which I believe was instrumental in bringing us closer to each other. He loves sports – Cricket and Football in particular – with a sound knowledge and years of following experience to back it up. Added to this, he spoke the same language as I did (some call it broken, I found it terrific for a non-native speaker), was never in love with shelving money, loves to have a hearty laugh and has always been a tough competitor on the ground while playing. I loved these traits of his as they remain a strong reason why I became attached to him so easily and stayed that way.

During a training at PEGASUS - One of my favorite snaps - Nov 2007

Being a brilliant communicator, Syam set the pace for most of us to shed the inhibition while interacting with our European counterparts. He did illustrate that the calls we attend need not necessarily be one-way with Mute turned on and certainly do not have to be entirely serious. His presentation skills are well ahead of the many I have seen, but his preparation methods are exactly the opposite. That’s the traditional issue we have with naturally-gifted people, they have a knack of talking their way out of trouble. On a majority of occasions, he says and does what he thinks is right, while not really being perturbed about the magnitude of the person (or their role), whom he had to confront against/contend with. I have been critical about this approach of his, but it has worked for him almost always. He looks arrogant at times but that is just his self confidence getting interpreted in a different format. Leave alone how good or bad he perceives someone as, when they are in trouble, Syam has never been found wanting in offering a helping hand. Many of us grew inter-personally just by looking at him.

He had an awful dressing sense until his wedding in the end of 2007. If you think his style is so ordinary presently, going back to those years will make you declare that he is an accomplished Fashion Designer now. I owe a lot of Thanks to his wife for overhauling his way of dressing to a large extent. But he did believe and continues to do so, that clothing is merely the second basic need for a man and doesn’t deserve too much attention of his.

In Bandhipur, our boy is in neat formals - thankfully he hasn't tucked in - Aug 2008

His love affair towards Mobile phones and technology is well-documented. He has a good memory too and therefore could remember the specific feature that accompanies each model, their merits and demerits, approximate pricing, their future etc. I could only walk out of the place when he initiates a mobile phone discussion with anyone similarly crazy as he is – there is absolutely nothing that gets registered in me, nor could I offer anything useful to them. Syam knows how far behind I am when dealing with phones, so he simply failed to digest the news of my brother’s plans to get me an I-Phone 5.He always felt me using an iPhone will be the ultimate definition of the term MISFIT. 

Syam has a remarkable desire to excel in all the ventures he steps into and he does have the potential to realize his dreams too. He is born to be successful and is already behind schedule in the amount of successes he should have seen by now, for the abilities he possesses. He is someone with a terrific work ethic, capable of seeing through things well in advance, known for his stern delegating skills to meet deadlines, a very effective planner and has always shown the qualities of a matured leader.

With Naveen

Thanks Syam for being what you are! Thanks for always waiting for me for breakfast regardless of my inconsistent time of arrival each day. Thanks for being such an exceptional host at your home – I completed my surgery and decided myself that I’ll stay at your place on my return – never bothered to even check with you for a confirmation. Thanks for showing the belief that I could be a Cricketer by providing me endless opportunities to play with Slazenger CC. Thanks for showing me the way the game should be looked at and played with the greatest of fighting spirits. Thanks for offering your undying support in all Project-related activities. Very importantly, Thanks to Judy for her kindness and the brilliant times we have all shared together. She will continue to be a shining star wherever she goes.

Syam, You leaving the company is a dreadful feeling to sink in by itself, you vacating the city is really calamitous to think about. It's a double blow from which I'll take some time to recover, to be honest. I do understand that Life has to move on, but when people move along with it and away from you, I tend to think it rather doesn't. In the last week or so I have been hearing the question -  “What will Babu do from Monday?”. They do have a valid point and I certainly do not have a definitive answer. But as you always say, the patience I have shown with people, has ensured that I have quite a few folks to fall back on. It isn’t the case with you unfortunately and that’s a thing of worry for me. You will certainly miss me more than how much I would miss you. For the number of hours we have spent together, we have had very little fights and disputes for which both of us can pat ourselves.

My Best Wishes to you, Judy and Aidan! The little boy's birth made me as delighted as you were. Wish he takes huge strides and be massively successful, as his Father eventually would be!