It was Autumn 1984, and I was deep in thought during my second lecture since I started University. Suddenly, the person next to me whispered a joke about the lecturer, that made me smile. I turned over to look at the person, and saw this young boyish looking lad. We quickly started a conversation, and carried on for the rest of the day. I had little notion then, that Tirumal would become one of my best friends, and a major influence in my life. During our conversations, it quickly became apparent to me that I wasn't dealing with an ordinary person. He introduced me to the people he knew and likewise. We slowly built up a clique of friends who hung around, and did things together. Although he studied Electronics and I Computing, we had similar lectures throughout the first year, so we often went to lectures together, and ate together although more often than not ended up missing them. Several hours were spent, discussing life the Universe and everything. His interests weren't confined to just the subject he studied, but embraced a whole range of subjects like law, accounting, philosophy, .... One of our favourite haunts in the evenings was the bar in Darwin college. Tirumal's parents were in Kuwait at the time, and he would occassionally visit them and bring back a huge bag of Pistachio nuts, and share them with us. He had a talent for making friends, and quickly had several that he forged bonds with. One of his qualities was to always see the good side in other people, and when people seemed particularly difficult towards others around them, he would always seem to have that deeper understanding as to the underlying cause of their difficulty. I remember the time when one girl that we knew complained to us about a particular person X, and how awkward she found him. Tirumal managed to explain why he was the way he was and urged her to see him in a different light - the next thing we knew, X and the girl had become a pair! It felt like we had similar kinds of backgrounds, although one major difference was that he had been to boarding school in India. It was a painful experience for him in some ways - he didn't talk much about it, but I sensed he missed his family a lot during that period. Although he didn't realise it at the time, I feel that his experiences there shaped his social skills, and added that quality that has touched many who have known him well. - and that is that one felt that one had a deeper spiritual relationship with him. In the second year, we decided to share a room together. He took driving lessons, and passed his test. His parents then bought him a car. From that time onwards he showed a great passion for cars, which became an obsession later in life. Tirumal's interest in music was intellectual at that stage. He was fond of Pink Floyd and Supertramp. He spent many hours with Steve Timmis (Sociology undergrad) on philosophising and the two shared the same taste in music. He often teased me about my taste in music (soul) and claimed it lacked any intellect. I argued that it was great for dancing and I just needed music to chill out. EBo, Buck and myself decided to start the Soul & Jazz Funk Society. We had come to the conclusion that the person heading the Soul club was a bit of a fascist, and decided to do our own thing. The Club became the most successful on campus. This was mainly due to Tirumal. He rounded up a few others including Jay and John, and took care of organising the music PA systems. He also became the bouncer whenever we had a Disco. He got together with a few friends and started a club called "Not the Luddites". The Luddites were a group back in the (17Th Century?) who were against progress and destroyed 'spinning jenny's' as they saw that as a threat. "not the luddites" was an Electronics/Computer hobbyists club. Tirumal had an excellent grasp of Computers and software. When we started at University, he already had more knowledge than 2nd year undergraduates. He had an amazing ability to stay up late until the early hours of the morning, and continue with only a few hours of sleep. He could do this for at least 4 days continuously on the trot. Friends came quite easily to him, regardless of background. he had a unique ability to mix with people from very varied backgrounds. I tried to get him involved in sporting activites, but I didn't succeed. Once of his favourite comments about football was - why don't you give everyone a football, so they can stop chasing each other. That made me laugh. In the final year, we decided it was best if we stayed separately, as we'd had such a blast, that our attendance to lectures had suffered badly. About 6 weeks before the final exams, I shut myself away so I could study in quiet. Occasionally, he'd visit and ask me what I was up to. "Can't you see - I'm in Panic mode, and I think you should get round to it too - don't leave it until the last minute" - I'd reply. "Oh yes - I need to do that" would be his reply. This continued until Tirumal finally got around to it 2 weeks before the exams. He still passed and just missed out on a higher grade. Needless to say - had Tirumal attended at least 60 % of the lectures, he would have gotten at least a 2-1. My dear friend, I salute you and I thank you for all the great times we shared together. The good times, the bad, the sad and the happy. May your sons one day when reading this get an idea of what a great honour it was to have had you as a friend!