R.I.P. Robin a.k.a RTech

Sunday, the 23rd of December 2007, would not be a day that I will be able to forget for a long
time to come. Around noon of that day, I got an SMS informing about the death of an online friend in a bike crash at Mumbai.

If you mourn & miss someone whom you have never met in person or even talked to over the phone, it sure says a lot about that person's character. Robin was one such person, with whom
my interaction was purely online, due to both of us being members of the Indian motoring
forum called http://www.team-bhp.com/, of which he also happened to be one of the mods.

An avid biker with interest in superbikes and a skilled rider, he put his money where his
mouth was and chose a career with the Motorsports Association of India (MAI). His aim
was to make motorsports popular in India and he worked towards that end.

From what I know, as has been a practice with his group of Mumbai biker friends, he had
gone on an early Sunday morning ride and the accident happened when they were returning back home. I am not very sure, but from what I heard, some psycho jumped across the road
resulting in the crash. He fractured a couple of bones, but no one thought the end would be
fatal.

He was taken to the Breach Candy hospital, where he breathed his last. I am not a doctor and hence found it surprising how a couple of broken bones could lead to death. A doctor I know,
said that when we have big bone fractures (ie. the limbs), one consequence is fat particles
getting into the bloodstream and choking the lungs, resulting in death.

I don't know what happened in Robin's case. All I know is that it is not fair for such a young
and promising guy to be snatched away by death. It had been just a year since he got married.
When we, who did not even know him personally, miss him so much, I cannot even imagine
the grief that his wife, parents and near ones would be going through.

Robin, may you rest in peace, brother and let us have only the memory of your smiling face.