The coincidence for Atharva and I went beyond the fact that we were both Chinchwadkar's in the same bio class with the same injury at the exact same time. We were also both interested in neurology, and we both wanted to become doctors! Completely unlike me however, Atharva had a knack for Bio while I struggled immensely in that class. 

To be quite honest, neither of us, much like most of the other kids in that class, really paid attention during the lectures. Both of us were often either on our phones or talking to each other or someone else and sometimes he would be playing on his switch. Even when it came to our reading guides (the homework for the class), both of us tended to speed through them. In fact, reading our old conversations, there was a time I asked for his help on the homework and he told me how he had honestly just raced through the guides and wrote down whatever he spotted in the book- I then proceeded to the same. While all of this might sound pretty bad, it's quite humorous to think of now, and in actuality, when time came to it, we did put in the effort to learn the material. 

It's not all bad though! Naturally, with our inefficient classroom tendencies, we had to cover a lot of material before the tests. It would take me hours just to get through one chapter. One time, we had a six chapter test coming up, and when I asked Atharva how he was planning on studying, he told me he was going to cover all six chapters in just two hours. Despite his quick pace of study, he always did well on those exams. During another conversation for an upcoming group test, he told me he was only planning to study from first through fourth period, as he often did. Much to my surprise, when test time came, he knew a ton of the answer whereas I was just blindly guessing. Eventually, when it came to those group tests, it became habit for me to turn to him for all the questions. 

Beyond just his academic aptitude in Bio, he also had the natural tendencies of a doctor. He was an extremely kind and friendly person. Furthermore, when it came to our group pig dissection at the end of the year, he was excited and curious to learn. Most importantly though, everyone could see his passion and natural skill with the scalpel in his hands. He really would have made an amazing doctor.

Forest Park Elementary School has always been an extremely popular hangout spot for all the kids in the Ardenwood Area. Thus with both Atharva and I being Ardenwood area kids and our common love for sports, it was all but fated that we would share the courts together growing up. Back then, I was a scrawny, short kid with glasses. I could barely dribble or shoot, and generally, I was by far the worst on the court. The exact opposite, however, was true for Atharva. He had incredible natural athletic ability, and because of that coupled with his height, he would often dominate our basketball games. The worst was when he was on the same team as another one of our friends who was just a bit taller than Atharva. When that happened, it was simply too easy for them to carry their team to victory. Mostly out of affection, and perhaps a bit out of funny and harmless mockery, the two together were dubbed "the twin towers." Atharva's love for sports was always extremely evident. 

Three years ago, on the first day of school, I limped myself to AP Bio. It had been four weeks since my ACL surgery, so I had a huge brace on my leg. When I walked into the class, our seating arrangements were up on the projector, and I realized that we were to sit in alphabetical order, meaning my seat was right next to Atharva's.

I walked over to him, and with summer vacation having just ended, it had been a while since we had seen each other. Atharva and another friend asked about my leg, and I told them I tore my ACL. Upon hearing this, Atharva said, "oh no way, me too." At first, I could not believe it- two Chinchwadkar boys, both in AP Bio, and both with torn ACLs. Once he told me he was being serious, we told each other about how we got hurt and for the rest of the year, it was a common topic between us.

The most remarkable thing about that entire year of recovery, however, was how determined Atharva was to get back to sports, and how quickly he recovered. The first thing he texted me after surgery was "I can't wait to walk again." He channeled his excitement to recover into his rehab efforts, and much, much quicker than normal, he was on his feet walking, then running, and finally jumping. Ultimately, he recovered completely weeks before I did, even though I had a two month head-start, and very simply put, it was astonishing to watch him tackle his rehab with the unfaltering mindset he had and recover at the pace he did.