Memories of Krishnaswami Ramachandran Azad

In memory of

Krishnaswami Ramachandran Azad

Denver, CO, USA

August 8, 1993 - May 20, 2021

Aug 8, 1993 - May 20, 2021

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Asha Muthukrishnan

2006, Manhattan, KS, USA

At Jaishri Ram's home

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Sujatha Prakash

Asha Muthukrishnan

2006, Manhattan, KS, USA

At Jaishri Ram's home

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Sujatha Prakash

Hunter Rose

Asha Muthukrishnan

2006, Manhattan, KS, USA

At Jaishri Ram's home

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Hunter Rose

Sujatha Prakash

Please consider a donation to A Kansas University Musical Scholarship.

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M Graham

2020, Denver, CO, USA

Azad taught piano to our 6 year old daughter. He was so patient and fun, and she loved him. We saw Azad every week and he became part of our family over the last year and a half. We’ll always remember how he fed her Harry Potter obsession by buying her the sheet music, and every time a new Stop Motion track hit Spotify we’d all listen for his drumming. Your wit and kindness inspired the next generation of musicians and for this, you’ll always be a part of our family, Azad.

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Mindi DePaola

Crystal Frese

Sujatha Prakash

Alana Velvis

Hunter Rose

Karthik Krishnakumar

Azad or Z as fondly addressed, was a bundle of joy and would always welcome the big student community at K-State into his house and space! Krishnaswami residence at Wickham Road was always a place to celebrate festivities for international students missing their families - Azad, like his parents, always appreciated the power of sharing, caring and spreading love. The trip when Prakash, Sujatha, Azad visited me in Waukesha, WI was a memorable one. The infectious grin of Prakash was so much in Azad. Will definitely look for some pictures from the old archives for those unbridled curls.

Karthik or K4 as he used to call me

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Sujatha Prakash

Hunter Rose

Thenmozhi Arunan

Praveen Ramanan

Conrad Bascom

Azad was one of my earliest friends in life and played a formative role in shaping my better self—in that indelible & sometimes-invisible way your first few childhood friends do. When I play back through memories of my life in MHK during the years bookending the late 90s & turn of the millennium, the most memorable & joyous moments my semi-fried 28-year-old brain can still recall almost always feature little Azad with his gleaming smile and Paul-McCartney-circa-Hard-Day’s-Night haircut.

Even at that prepubescent age, it was already apparent that Azad loved his friends and was proactive about spending time with us in the purposeful way of a much older & emotionally-mature person. Azad was always including me in play dates and inviting me to his family’s home—had Azad not been there to organize & instigate hang outs, my childhood would have been considerably lonelier & less vibrant.

Despite my occasional frustration over just how easily everything came to Azad (like when he’d unrelentingly obliterate me for the 50th time in a row on Super Smash Bros., causing my lil bowl-cut head to hang in wet-eyed shame, for example), the generosity of his spirit stands out in my mind even more than those preternatural and prodigious talents of his. Little Azad always let you know that he cared about you & spending time together.

Even after my family & I moved a couple states away, Azad would create opportunities to visit and I’d try to do the same upon return trips to visit family. As we grew older and the years separating us & our shared childhood started to add up, the time span between visits & correspondence grew longer, as it so often & sadly does. It’s such a shame that we fell out of touch at the time that we did, as we both were becoming increasingly passionate about music (Azad was a steadily improving drummer & I was serious about songwriting). As we entered our 20s, my life took a major detour as I confronted my struggles with addiction & ultimately became sober, halting my live music ‘career’ in the process—even so, I always found it heartening to see that Azad was still pursuing his dream of drumming professionally.

The reality that I haven’t seen Azad in a handful of years is bruising my heart today, as I struggle with the loss of a steadfast friend and the realization that our relationship will never get to pick up where it had left off.

I terribly regret not putting the effort into our friendship that he did, but I’m so lucky to have learned how to better cherish friendships from his example.

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Mindi DePaola

Sujatha Prakash

Hunter Rose

Comments:

Sujatha Prakash

Conner, Azad loved you like a brother and cherished your friendship. In fact, the entire Bascom family was... Read more Conner, Azad loved you like a brother and cherished your friendship. In fact, the entire Bascom family was loved by Azad. Conner, Azad loved you like a brother and cherished... Read more

Conrad Bascom

2001, Lee Elementary School, Lee Street, Manhattan, KS, USA

A Classic, Trademark Krishnaswami Ramachandran Azad Grin! Lee Elementary 2nd Grade Class of 2000/ '01

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Mindi DePaola

Sujatha Prakash

Hunter Rose

Praveen Ramanan

Conrad Bascom

2000, The Old Bascom Home on Wildcat Ridge in Manhattan, KS

Same scene as the photo below, but different angle (Azad's face is slightly obscured by a balloon ribbon)

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Sujatha Prakash

Hunter Rose

Conrad Bascom

2000, The Old Bascom Home on Wildcat Ridge (Only a few blocks away from Azad's House)

Young Azad is in the Bottom Left Corner (We had all gone bowling for my birthday)

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Sujatha Prakash

Hunter Rose

Elizabeth Wheatley

2013, Lawrence, KS, USA

Azad and Taylor P playing at Wheatley wedding in 2013

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Sujatha Prakash

Hunter Rose

Shivakumar Raman

Azad, you are a fabulous musician and a great son to a great mother. Your dad was a genius of a man in Mechanical Engineering. You achieved that same thing in music. Keep entertaining the Gods, my friend! You will always live on! — Raman family

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Sujatha Prakash

Raman Family

Hunter Rose

Daonapa Babbar

Azad, Prakash, and Sujju visiting us in Florida

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Sujatha Prakash

Hunter Rose

Conrad Bascom

Shared a heart

Erin Armstrong

Shared a heart

Sujatha Prakash

Beth and John Tatarko

Azad - your bright eyes and smile always lit up the room. You brought so much joy and fun to the people around you. Your sense of humor and wit was always present. You and your family enriched our lives in ways that are beyond words. Sujatha, we hold you in our heart with love and peace. Beth and John Tatarko

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Sujatha Prakash

Usha Reddi

1995, Manhattan, KS, USA

Azad and Santhi in the Winter Music program

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Sujatha Prakash

Brian Niehoff

Mindi DePaola

Hunter Rose

Tulika Narayan

Dusty Meyers

2011, Lawrence, KS, USA

I was fortunate enough to first get to know Azad when we both lived in Hashinger Hall our freshman year at KU. He and I, plus several others instantly cultivated an amazing dynamic with our interests in music, games, and all things nerdy. Some of us got involved at KJHK (student radio) quickly, which gave us access to new music as it came in that we would then review and post online. One of those albums was Strange Mercy by St. Vincent.

We fell in love with the album quickly and found out that St. Vincent would be at Liberty Hall less than a month later. I was absolutely amazed that Azad had already memorized every lyric of every song, and that he was able to predict any drum pattern that was coming up. It was always amazing to see him delighted by the surprise of some improvised melody in a song. It's like that little ditty emboldened the spark he had in his eyes. The album quickly became an anthem for our group of friends played on repeat in the dorms, our later apartments, or as background for our regular game nights that continued through this year.

In the last ten years, there was rarely a time where we met up and this album didn't come on in some capacity. There has never been a time I didn't hear him singing this album in his falsetto, even when he wasn't with me, and there probably won't be a time in the future that I'll be able to listen to this album without hearing him.

"I'll be with you, lost boys
Sneaking out where the shivers won't find you."

Love you, brother. There will always be an open chair at the table for you.

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Sujatha Prakash

Hunter Rose

Mindi DePaola

From MHK to Denver ❤️

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Sujatha Prakash

Brian Niehoff

Mindi DePaola

Hunter Rose

Jessica Holloway

Denver, CO, USA

Of course I always told Azad I was funnier than him. We picked in each other so much to the point we would check in with each other afterwards and make sure we didnt cross the line of being mean. I enjoyed that kind of humor between us.
Me, him, Jake and Will spent the next several hours after ringing in 2020 New Years Eve in our room playing you tube videos of random songs and drinking beer. I remember Azad singing Billy Joel's Scenes from an Italian Restaurant while awkwardly staring right at me. He purposely pushed that envelope of awkward meets hilarious. That was his sense of humor and it was unmatched. He was definitely more funny than me. I will miss him terribly and our back and forth banter.

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Crystal Frese

Nick Barnett

Sujatha Prakash

Hunter Rose

Subramanian Udayan

Dear Sujatha - If my memory serves right, August 8, 1993 was when I left Manhattan after graduating and I think that was the day Azad was born. The next time I saw you, Prakash and Azad, was in Chennai when you all attended my wedding reception on May 26th and my wedding ceremony on the morning (around 8 am) of May 27th, 1994. Azad was a cute baby in the stroller. My heart goes out to you when I noticed that we will all be saying final goodbyes to him on the same date, May 27th, 27 years later. Even though I had not kept track of Azad’s youth and adult journey, your family is still fresh in my memories from Manhattan. Sowmya and I join everyone in celebrating the wonderful human being that Azad had grown to be. We continue to keep you in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

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Sujatha Prakash

Hunter Rose

Shashi Kambhampati

Manhattan, KS, USA

Azad attending one of my birthday parties (far left of the picture) - despite growing up together, photos of the two of us when we were young have been lost to time. I'm glad I was able to find this one!

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Sujatha Prakash

Mindi DePaola

Hunter Rose

Puliyur MohanKumar

Sunil and Dao Babbar

Dear Azad,

We hold your hand in cherished memories of all the love and joy you gave. You are and will always be with us in our hearts.

Sunil, Dao, Anu, and Nao

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Sujatha Prakash

Subramanian Udayan

Shared a heart

Laura Donnelly

Dear Sujatha,

I am so saddened to hear of Azad's passing. I remember how joyful you and Prakash were to have him when he was born. I have enjoyed reading others' memories of Azad, since I didn't know him as an adult. You and Prakash touched my life with your kindness and Azad did the same for so many! Thinking of you.

Sincerely,
Laura (Swenson) Donnelly

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Sujatha Prakash

Alana Velvis

I want to send my deepest respects and condolences to Azad's family and friends. I was fortunate enough to know Azad both as a fellow member of the Denver music community and as the director of a local music school, LIYH, where Azad taught private music lessons. Being in this position, I got to hear all about how Azad inspired his students and helped the next generation discover a deep love of music. The families of his students have all privately expressed to me how important Azad was to their children and entire families. He was an incredible teacher, always kind and uplifting, and always striving to improve his skills in order to share as much as he could with his students. He has inspired so many young students and his positive influence will live on in the lives of so many. He will be so very missed. Sending love to his friends and family.

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