What can you say about a thirty-one-year-old boy who died? That he was cute. And humorous. That he loved poetry and photography. And Ghalib. And his family.*

We were to meet today to say bye to Vakeel Sahiba who is going for further studies. We met as planned but Nadeem was missing, leaving us with beautiful memories of his mischievous smile and twinkling eyes as he pulled her leg.
He was like that.

I posted some of his dark tweets and verses on the day I got the terrible news, but now I want to remember him as he was before he fell sick. When he would tell everyone Khush Raho : An endearing, fun-loving boy. An ordinary boy with an extraordinary charm.

I met Nadeem Ahmed along with Junaid, Vakeel Sahiba and Fazal in December 2011 in a coffee shop in Friends Colony. I had become friends with them thanks to the poetry forum #shair I had started on twitter and it was now time to take our virtual friendship onto the real world. They were all half my age but apart from the fact that they gave me lots of respect, my age never interfered in our friendship.
Everyone else called me Apa, only Nadeem called me Ma’am.
He was like that.

They were my late night companions as I would be awake till late at night. Sometimes I would just listen to these kids squabbling amongst themselves. It would always bring a smile to my face. Nadeem was the leader of this pack and always the prankster, especially pulling Vakeel Sahiba’s leg and getting a *slap * as answer. Not that it deterred him,from pulling another prank.
He was like that.

In fact last year I was going through a low phase and I came on twitter one night to see them arguing. I still remember saying that the world seems normal to see the two of you spat.

Then in December 2012 I came to Delhi for a few months, to be with my aunt who was undergoing chemo. That is when I spent more time with Nadeem and the rest of the gang. Apart from poetry we shared a common passion for heritage and photography. We went for many walks together with heritage groups in Delhi. He taught me how to combine verse to a picture. He generously shared his photographs and verses with me to put up on my articles and blogs.
He was like that.

Juanid, Nadeem and I went to the Daryaganj Sunday book market. I bought loads of books and the two chivalrous boys carried it for me. I suddenly saw a bookshop and was going towards it, when Nadeem said, Ma’am and with a glint in his eyes showed me their overloaded arms.
But had I bought more they would have carried those too.
He was like that.

Nadeem had a lovely dp and I made the mistake of calling it cute.
Many girls also picked it up and I remember him saying “ Ma’am only you are allowed to call me cute.” Of course I understood that. No boy wants girls to call him cute.
He was like that.

Wednesday, 7 March 2012

#HoliHullad Awards and Nadeem got the

8.Rangeela Romeo :@nad_mad award.

How much we teased him

Rana Safvi رعنا राना ‏‪@iamrana 8 Mar 2012
Yeh to ‘cute’ hone ki sazaa hai Naddy bwoy “‪@nad_mad: ‪@jilaawatan this is a conspiracy against me?? :-P”

He was like that.

Then one day mid 2012 if I remember right, I got a message that he was very sick and in extremely fragile health. I was in Muscat and kept abreast of his health via Junaid. We all prayed for him. He pulled through.
He was like that.

I met him on my next trip to India and was shocked to see how much weight he had lost. He was undergoing dialysis twice a week and had come to meet me right after one session, despite my telling him he should rest and we could meet some other day. The brave boy he was he didn’t once let me realize his pain, discomfort or any other concern he may have had. We just talked and talked. He told me a bit about his experience when he was so unwell and apologized for not replying to my calls and messages as he was in a semi-coma.
He was like that.

Whenever he came on twitter no one could ever say that he was unwell. Bass hansna hansana and posting verses of his favourite Ghalib.
He was like that.

There is so much more to say and we will keep saying it here and on other platforms. You will always remain in my heart and prayers. You are very dear to me.
But you know that.

#shair archives – #Fav10 the theme for 19th Nov 2011
Nadeem Ahmed
@nad_mad

1) Ye na thi humaari qismat ke visaal-e-yaar hota / Agar aur jeete rehte yahi intazaar hota #Fav10 #Shair #Ghalib
2) Tere vaade par jiye hum to ye jaan jhooth jaana / Ke khushi se mar na jaate agar aitbaar hota #Fav10 #Shair #Ghalib
3) Kahoon kis se main ke kya hai, shab-e-gham buri balaa hai / Mujhe kya bura tha marna agar ek baar hota #Fav10 #Shair #Ghalib
4) Hazaaron khwaahishen aisi ki har khwaahish pe dam nikle / Bahut nikle mere armaan lekin phir bhi kam nikle #Fav10 #Shair #Ghalib
5) Unke dekhe se jo aa jaati hai moonh par raunaq / Vo samajhte hain ki beemaar ka haal achchha hai #Fav10 #Shair #Ghalib
6)Dil-e-naadan tujhe hua kya hai, aakhir is dard ki dava kya hai/ Hum hain mushtaaq aur vo bezar, ya ilahi ye maajra kya hai #Fav10
7) Tum aaye ho na shab-e-intezaar guzri hai / Talaash mein hai saher baar baar guzari hai #Fav10 #Shair #Faiz
8) Le chala jaan meri ruth ke jana tera / Aise aane se to behatar tha na aana tera #Fav10 #Shair #Daagh
9) Teri surat se hai aalam mein baharaon ko sabaat / Teri aankhon ke siwa duniya mein rakha kya hai #Fav10 #Shair #Faiz

* i adapt these immortal lines from Love Story because this was the first thing that came to my mind when i started writing.