Last Saturday I learned that one of the people I consider closest to me
Is now one of the people I considered closest to me
All in one moment
But this isn’t about the moment
I don't want to give it any more power
This is about the amazing person who faced who knows how many moments
For who knows how long
This is about Raj
I guess it’s fitting to begin with the beginning
From that day when me and Mohammed were eating dinner in the left part of Marketplace
And talking about the Brown boy list (iykyk)
And I said I didn’t know this Raj guy
Then he just happened to come to say hi to Mo and we met
It’s crazy how that turned into so much more
It turned into spontaneous deep conversations in Keohane 4B
While throwing a football which would ultimately hit my nose
The same night that I dared him to shave one—and just one—armpit
(P.S., Thanks for letting me be your third roommate)
It turned into the recipe for my favorite (and only) Ginger and Soy stir fry order
“chicken brown rice sweet corn pineapple broccoli mushroom bang bang sauce”
Plus Sriracha since he couldn’t handle spice
It turned into getting bored and raiding Bella
So we could trade what we bought
But ending up keeping our own snacks anyway (sorry Shiv)
It turned into our string of “wya” text messages for studying in Perkins
But not actually studying since he never needed to anyway
It turned into my periodic Chegg memberships
Until they kept making him change the password
Smh Chegg
It turned into me funding his chocolate milk addiction
But only from Bella
Because the one from Pitch was like half the size and twice the price
It turned into an entire finals week of us being the first ones awake
And meeting at ABP
Then claiming our spot in Perkins for everyone else to join later
It turned into gameday
When I picked out your outfit because you were wearing truly the weirdest thing
And you painted my face because I can’t draw straight lines
After a morning of driving to Thrive to secure the goods
(avocado toast, obviously)
It could have turned into so much more
I wish it had the chance to
Mashal Ali is a Trinity sophomore.
Editor's note: The Chronicle is accepting letters to the editor remembering Grey and Raj. If you would like to share your thoughts and feelings, please submit letters to chronicleletters@duke.edu.
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