The photo says it all about my childhood neighbor and friend Rasa. Here, he is seen refereeing a game among children, in around 1963. Likewise, his late father Acuras Ratnam, let us, as children, use his large space of land as a playing field that also came with the luxury of a deep water well that quenched our thirst. To this day, I cannot forget the matchless taste of that Kondavil East water, gallons of which we drank and enjoyed. And later in life, following his father’s footsteps, no matter from where Rasa did business or worked, much of the monies always returned to Kondavil, also enriching the village. His father, among other things, ran a cottage industry making cigars to be retailed at his southern outlet in Acuras. This gave his father the famous nickname Acuras Ratnam. One day, while playing Cricket, a sad event happened. A ball hit Rasa right on his face while fielding slips and knocked off his front tooth. This hurt me profoundly, but Rasa simply brushed it aside as a minor incident and told me it could be replaced. Remarkably, he never blamed anyone or talked about it thereafter, which sums up Rasa’s true character. He simply got on with his life; as they say, a mind always employed is always happy. Rasa’s passion for the progress of children and Kondavil East continued till the very end and is reflected in the unforgettable speech he delivered at the school ceremony there in 2025. When one lives a long life, inevitable experiences of grievances occur and take many forms, but losing a cherished friend like Rasa is indeed difficult to console. With his good and selfless deeds, Rasa is bound to be remembered for generations to come, as a true hero of Kondavil.