Memories of the Mighty Heart

4th from top left -Manmeet Singh Vig (1979-1998)

People often ask me whether I smoke or drink. Whatever answer I give, it never seem to satisfy any of them. I am often being called as occasional liar due to this. I would take an opportunity to answer the question in this blog. As I have mentioned in my introduction that I never had any role model in my life but always make a point to learn from experiences and success stories of people around me. I met one such person in my life whose goodness had a lasting effect in my life. His name was Manmeet Singh Vig.

For Manmeet life was like a never ending journey who would bend the rules for sake of his friends. He was funny, talkative, mischievous, career oriented, experimental and someone who likes to live life on the edge.



I knew Manmeet right from std-1 till the std X. I saw him grow along me. He was always the funny bone in the class. Normally as we progress to higher classes there were couple of students who were transferred to different classes based on certain parameters which till date I am still unaware of. Luckily Manmeet was in my class right throughout my schooling days. Since we were in class A, our class had the reputation of having the most studious and disciplined guys in the class. Anyone who used to walk in the corridors for class inspection occasionally caught our class in noisy state, of which 90% of the laughter broken in class was due to the jokes cracked by Manmeet. Hewas an average student who excelled in studies throughout the primary school. However, as we entered the secondary std everyone went through transition stage. Some took the transition as a license for freedom while some took the pressure on them to perform better in academics. Inspite of Manmeet taking the first route he did considerably well in studies where as others following the same route were left behind. All the happy and funny moments of my class in school days were linked with Manmeet.



One of the most fearful days in school was the OPEN day where all parents were invited to view the answer papers in the school and have a feedback session with the teachers regarding students conduct and performance. During one such open day in standard vii I received a huge stick from my parents for scoring less in languages. Other day when I met Manmeet I asked him about his equation with parents after OPEN day. He said that his parents will not come to open day ever for rest of the schooling days. I asked the reason and he replied that he simply conveyed his parents that OPEN day no longer exists in St John. For teachers he said that his parents have gone out to native place. So while other students were tensed, Manmeet enjoyed the moments and moved ahead. It was quite an innovative and gutsy lie in that age. Manmeets popularity increased with each passing year. Almost 99% of students of our and other batches knew Manmeet.



In our last years in St John he was so popular that whenever a gang war erupted between guys after school Manmeet became a mediator and stopped the fight from going to next level. By doing this he gained respect among fellow peers. During these years amidst his rising popularity among fellow students he started living life dangerously. He indulged in chewing tobacco, smoking, driving bikes at higher speed. He was also our fellow student at Desai classes for Maths and science during 9th and 10th Std. We had most amazing memories during these 2 years. Classes were never so interesting before Manmeet joined in. After classes we often roamed around in the paanchpakhadi area with our bicycles and then dispersed to our respective homes.



One such night in September 1994, after the class myself, Varun, Vivek & Manmeet were walking with our bicycles. Manmeet lighted a cigar and started smoking. I asked himto give me a trial puff just to see how a cigarette tastes. Manmeet replied angrily – “ From childhood days I know you as a good boy free from any bad things in life and you promise me to be the same forever. The day I come to know that you too are indulged in activities like smoking and drinking you will have it from me.”



Our St John days came to an end but my association with Manmeet continued till 12th std as he was a regular student in our Maths private classes at KELKARS. I would often meet him near the open house at Paanchpakhadi with his bike and other biker friends. I would occasionally drop in to say hi hello to him. He continued to live on dangerously during this phase as well. Our HSC was over and I went in Architecture.



It was 1998, one fine day during the second year architecture I returned home from college after the final marking of my design assignment. As I was having early dinner at 7.00pm I got a call from Varun. He said that manmeet has been killed in a truck accident. I could not digest this fact and asked him again about the truth in the news. He replied affirmatively. We proceeded to manmeets house. I saw huge crowd gathered near his house. Undoubtedly he was one of the most popular guys and he made a mark due to his personality. I went near him to offer my condolences. This was the last time I saw his face and recollected his words of wisdom from him on that night in September 1994. That moment I decided to stick to the commitment I made to the Manmeet on that fateful night.



Before this accident I tasted different drinks in my college days but it were these words & Memories of the Mighty Heart that kept me away from bad things in life.



We all St Johnites will continue to miss the Mighty Heart for a long time in life.