DEDICATION TO A BOY CALLED Alyosha

Alyosha Kumar, was born on 10th December 1984 during the freezing winter, in the far eastern Russian Port of Vladivostok, where his father, then Lt Cdr Arun Kumar, Indian Navy (later retired as a Commodore) was posted, undergoing Nuclear Submarine Training. Ever since his birth, it was apparent that Alyosha was a special child, exceptionally gifted. Throughout his primary and secondary schooling at Naval Public Schools, Lawrence School, Lovedale and later Modern School, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi, he excelled in academics and sports with equal ease. He appeared for SATS in 2001 and obtained a score of 1500, which was exceptional by any means. For his higher studies, he opted to go in for humanities and joined the National Law School of India University, Bangalore (No. 1 Law School in India), in June 2002, standing 9th in order of merit all India, in the entrance exam. He completed his graduation from NLSIU in end Sept 2007 and had already been appointed as a junior lawyer, by a reputed Law firm Wadia & Gandhi in Mumbai where he was to join on 16th Oct 2007. Destiny, unfortunately, snatched him from us in very unfortunate and tragic circumstances. In the wee hours of 30th Sept 2007 at Bangalore, he was brutally and fatally stabbed to death in a senseless frenzy of violence, none of his making. Alyosha was a very intelligent, compassionate and humane person, who always expressed his views with conviction and without fear or favour. He would stick his neck out to fight injustice and would often say“I cannot stay quiet in the face of injustice”. It may not be coincidental that he was born on Human Rights Day. During his stay at the Law School, he was funding the education (out of his pocket allowance) for the granddaughter of a lady (Amma as he would call her) vending tea outside his college premises. He had also desired to, later in his life, work in the field of micro financing for upliftment and empowerment of the poor. Wealth accumulation and materialistic values for personal comfort had no attraction for him. His parents and well wishers, in pursuance of Alyosha’ desire, have set-up a public charitable trust, “The Brave New World Foundation”. The name has suggested itself from Mr. Dev Lahiri’s tribute to Alyosha. Success of the trust would be a truly befitting tribute to Alyosha’s life and the values he stood for.