greying. I genuinely suggested to him to contest elections because socialising and befriending came naturally to him. He had only friends, no enemies, but perhaps some sidekicks who used his contacts to climb the proverbial ladder of social recognition. He was aristocratic, large hearted, warm, welcoming, without malice, living life king size and always there when you needed him. Never criticised or spoke ill of anyone, except when it came to a poor cricketing shot. Non- judgmental and treated everyone at par. His hilarious style of imitating some masters, comments about the back benchers, and jokes about YPS hockey team Centre Forward, Ladoo Singh, who famously said that parallel lines met in New Zealand always had us in splits. Being with him meant never a dull moment. Very conscious of social etiquettes, he made it a point to attend weddings, birthdays and not so happy occasions for almost everyone he knew. Never thought or acted small. He was well aware of the 'midgets' around him, but never made them feel 'small'. I consider myself fortunate and privileged to have had some terrific Dosco friends. Vipin was a prince amongst them. I loved him because his heart was pure gold. Embracing him was embracing joy. The only grudge I bore him was that I could never get his wicket in inter-house matches. He lived life on his own terms and he will never cease to live. There he is, hitting an exquisite cover drive, hosting a great party, giving a warm hug, smoking a Cuban cigar, standing by friends, caring for his family, and never saying die. Mera toh jo bhi kadam hai, va teri raah mein hai; Tu kahin bhi rahey, tu meri nigaah mein hai. Chhupa hua sa mujhi mein hai tu kahin ay dost; meri hasi mein nahin hai tu meri aah mein hai. Aseem Tewari [520 KB '76] ViPin was an able leader who lead the DSOBS to great heights, a lively chap and above all a great friend. We met for the first time in Welham Prep during January 1967. I had the privilege of playing cricket alongside Vipin both at Welham as well as at Doon. Though we were in different houses and I was a year senior, yet we had a great bonding. Vipin was a very friendly, jovial, happy go lucky and cheerful human being and it saddens my heart when I write about him. His absence will always hurt us. Later in life after completing our respective graduation, we again reconnected and I have great memories of celebrating Eid together with family in Rampur. We raised funds for the DSOBS on numerous occasions while traveling to different regional get tog ethers which further strengthened our friendship. Vipin cannot be described in just a few words, but all I can say is that 'Fatty will really be missed". Moin A Qureshi [467 K '75] President - DSOBS I have many many fond memories of Vip in - from the day I joined school in 1973 right to the last time I met him at the DGC, possibly over a year ago. How can I forget someone who actually gave me my nickname MELVIN in school, as he thought I resembled a popular cartoon character? As a senior, Vippie Shah was always jovial and affable, and a friend we all found early. By B Form he had become a star as he stepped into Sunny Gavaskar's shoes by opening the school batting. He became a celebrity in the same year as he brought the house down as the hilarious Ms. Hakamoto (remember his helmet head gear) in the School play 'Tea House of the August Moon'. He was Bond's favourite and inevitably (through his cricket skills) became the School cricket captain. The following year, I had the honour of opening the school bowling attack and over the course of the next three years we locked horns many a time whenever he played for Roshnara Club or the Old Boys. Who can forget Nandi Jaiswal and Vipin waking us up on Sunday morning at about 5.30 am at least twice, after taking in back-to-back movies in Delhi the previous night and then driving up to School for lack of anything else to do! Whilst in college, he tilted the scales the other way with a record breaking weight loss of over 60 kgs. on the Sherry Louis programme. Alas, it wasn't to be forever as gained back the weight with interest over the next three months. Many years later we teamed-up again while he was the DSOBS President to work towards making the DS-75 celebrations a success. In fact, we were constantly in touch since I started publishing The Rose Bowl and would order the paper courtesy Ballarpur Industries, through him. Many a drink we have shared, many a hustle we have engineered on the billiards table, many a good times we have had - rest in peace my friend. You may not be here in person but your kindred spirit is ever present. Sunil (Melly) Gupta [562 HB '80] Rose Bowl January 2014117
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