Page 99 - A Life Well-Lived Is a Beautiful Memory

struck me. I have heard of Lost in Transit and Lost in Translation. In our case, it was Lost in
Conversation.” But Bhanupong, ever the optimist, wrote back saying, “I found out on my last day
in Tokyo that had we continued walking, rather than going back to Keio, we would have reached

the hotel in 15 minutes!”
Perhaps one incident I will never forget (because Bhanupong never let me forget) was the
day a few of us had gathered very early in the morning at the hotel lobby waiting for the limousine
bus to Narita airport to catch our respective flights home. I was surprised to see Bhanupong with

us. I asked him why he was there and he answered nonchalantly that he too was waiting for the
limousine bus. I reminded him that this bus was going to Narita and not Haneda. I recalled him
telling me the day before that his flight was from Haneda. He looked thunderstruck, quickly
checked his ticket, and realized he was now running late to catch his flight from Haneda. The

hotel reception managed to flag down a cab and as I helped him load his luggage he kept thanking
me profusely. He luckily made it in time for his flight. And every time we met after that he would
refer to me as the “man who saved my life.”
How I wish I could have, my dear friend! Now I take comfort in the truth that no one who

lives in the memories of others dies. And you, Bhanupong, will always have an honored place in
my memory. To you, I dedicate these lines:

Now I know, you were no ordinary spark

You lived among us, but this was not your place
Your time on earth was your sacrifice
And for us, a blessing— an interlude of grace!

Suresh Narayanan is an Honorary Professor of Economics at the School of Social Sciences,
Universiti Sains Malaysia. He was a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University for nine months, and
was, for shorter periods, a visiting professor at the El Colegio de Mexico, the College of Europe,
Tubingen University (Germany), and Chulalongkorn University (Thailand). He also gave guest
lectures at Aalborg University (Denmark), the Technical University of Denmark, and Uppsala
University (Sweden). His publications cover the areas of public finance, labor, innovation and
development. He obtained his Ph.D. from Boston University, USA.

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