(Aseem Siddhu, a close friend, had known Syd since college days (2003). He runs Coffee Jar outlets in Pune.)
Hi Uncle,
I hope you are all keeping well. As we had discussed the last time we met, I wanted to share with you the memory of an incident that I shared with Siddharth.
It was a bright and sunny July afternoon and me and Siddharth were in the most beautiful place any of us had ever seen in our entire lives.
The More plains. A 40 km stretch on the Manali Leh highway, on a motorcycle ride that we had been waiting and preparing for, for years.
We had with us two other friends Anish and Amit, all of us riding our motorcycles.
In an unfortunate turn of events, Amit had a crash right before my eyes.
We packed him up on a jeep and Anish went along to get him to a hospital.
This left me, Siddharth and three motorcycles stranded in the middle of nowhere and turning what was the most beautiful place to the most treacherous one in an instant.
I remember running over multiple options in my head all the while being stressed and quite anxious if any of the plans from A to Z will work out.
Siddharth in his characteristic calmness assured me, we’ll do something, it will all work out.
Seeing that calmness, I drew some gumption from within and we set to the task of transporting all five entities to their destination.
How we did that is another story. We did manage to turn the place right back to an enchanting landscape in our minds.
The stillness of both of us sitting on the ground and watching the sky will stay with me forever.
Regards,
Aseem Sidhu