Rajit Fights His Way and Wins Big Time

I still remember that day, some time during February of 1986. Three years old and now I had a new brother, Rajit Hazarika. Here was this quiet little bundle of baby fat and hair. It is hard to believe that this little person is now a behemoth, outweighing me by 70 pounds. And it is hard to believe that he has just graduated from Shawnee Mission East High School, especially since there was a time when no one thought he would be alive today. Rajit is 18 years old, going on 60. When he was four, Rajit was diagnosed with a rare neurovascular disorder. As aresult of this condition, his young brain was receiving only a fraction of the blood it required. He was given six months to live. Oddly enough, it was my brother who was the most serene, binding together the pieces of my family’s shattered world during the longest years. Those six months passed long ago, now a distant memory.

I respect my bother more than I respect anyone else. After innumerable seizures, multiple surgeries, thousands of pills, and a stroke, he has emerged as a mountain of a man, tough beyond his years, ready to deal with anything life throws athim. And his trials are not over.

While part of me is in awe at his recent accomplish ment, another part of me just shrugs it off. That’s Rajit. Lifethreatening illness? No problem. High school? Piece of cake. College and life thereafter? Bring it on.

Congratulations, Rajit. Obhi Hazarika June 14th, 2004