Hate and Appreciate

Can someone like and hate a person at the same time? Apparently I can. When I got introduced to SS through my cousin, my question to him after just one interaction with SS was "How can you be friends with this guy? How can this guy ever have a friend?" Over time, I started interacting more with this guy. Not that I liked him majorly after that but I could stand him. If he didnt know I hated him, well, he knows now because I am sure he would read this.

His beliefs, views are, most of the times, the exact opposite of mine and no wonder we always argue. But the things I like about him are he is trustworthy, has no pretensions and I have developed a certain comfort level with him because of which I can criticise him on his face and surprisingly, he would take it in his stride. But everything else about him, I don't like or approve.

His anger brings his comical best to the fore and I always enjoy it. His recent mail about a guy had me in splits. And, with his permission, I reproduce it here.


He and I were in the same class for about three years. In our neighborhood and school, no one could manage to not hear about him. He symbolized the typicalized PSBBian in so many ways. He was brilliant at academics, he could sing well, he was good-looking and he was good at sports. He taught me very early that life is f-ing unfair.

He was a consistent overachiever who was brave enough to let success get to his head, at the same time, timid enough to let failure get to his heart. He did not make a pretense at modesty and we kinda felt uncomfortable sometimes about his angle of depression. Once, he missed the top dog mark in math by a whisker but his tears of disappointment and dogged persistence coerced the math teacher to grant that extra 2 marks that put him on top.

He felt bad he was not the national topper in Class X, went to IIT coaching classes under Balu, walked through IIT-JEE with a very high rank and loved Tendulkar very early on. In our senior year at school, he cried after he stood for School Pupil Leader and lost to his arch-competitor. He played cricket with a vengeance and never gracefully accepted that he was 'out'. He cried when he lost in an intra-school music competition to his arch-competitor. But beat the same guy neck and crop in everything at IIT. He finished his MS in style and rolled on with his Phd, in premium US schools.

He is already in or likely to be in JP Morgan Stanley @ New York City. And he probably hates George Bush and America with the incredible energy, so charecteristic of him. He would be opposed to the Iraq War, roots for Tendulkar over every run and loves AR Rehman.

Such a sissy. No wonder I hate him so much.