For my entire life, I’ve always known him as Kavi. But when I met him again in NYC after 6 years, he told me that he was trying to get people to call him “Shekhar” again. At which point, I said “but on facebook what’s your name?” and of course, it has and always will be “Kavi.” So, his plan failed, and I’ll always know him as my big brother, Kavi Shekhar Pandey.

I am tempted to say what I admired most about Shekhar was his heart, but he would have hated that. Too cliche. Too obvious. A weak answer and a bold lie. No, it was definitely his cackling laughter. I would keep telling him jokes just so I could hear it again. It didn’t take much, though, for that angelic dissonance to hit my ears like an ice cream truck on a hot, summer day. What I admired most was how he was always quick to laugh.