The memory remains of KK as a school rockstar trained by Loy Mendonsa

KK was always KK, even in his early days. No one called him Krishna or Krishnakumar in school. He was this slim, short, bespectacled boy with closely cropped hair on the sides who could mesmerize you with his melodious voice. We were actually in neighbouring classrooms in school. He was a year senior, though we are about the same age. And we’d more than just brush into each other very often, for one reason only: our love for music.

Coincidentally, so it seems now, we were both part of the music group. You’ve heard about Socially Useful Productive Work (SUPW) in school, right? You need to pick an area of interest and work on it besides academics. I chose music, so had KK. And guess who the teacher was? None other than Loy Mendonsa of Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy fame. Little did we know then that both mentor and student would one day be topping the charts with their music and songs, respectively.

Interestingly, Loy who is seen mostly on the keyboards now plays several instruments. He actually taught us guitar in school. And while I have never been much of a musician, it was good fun hanging with the group. My classmates Rohan, a bank treasury man when I last checked (not disclosing full names to be fair) and Verghese, who last I heard had migrated to the land down under, were the guitarist duo, with Rohan in the lead and Verghese on bass. The incredible combination with Loy as the guiding light saw us storm the inter-school competition, like no one had seen before. They were belting out songs of famed guitarists, like Mark Knopfler’s Money for Nothing. The group stood apart.