It was in 1981 when I first saw GS Gill. He was in the interview panel for the Indian High Commission Scholarship and Trust Fund (ISTF) and I was one of the many who applied for the ISTF. Applicants were required to attend an interview. We stood along the narrow staircase of the High Commission office which was then located along Jalan Ampang. When my turn came, I entered the room. It was a spacious room with a dozen well-dressed people seated and a chair was placed in the centre for the candidates to sit.

I sat down and the interview started. I introduced myself and stated that I was then a third year student pursuing civil engineering in a local university and added a little more of my background. One of the panel members told me that the ISTF was only meant for poor students who were in their first year of the course. I said I was not really poor as I had a motorbike and a bit of money that I earned by giving home tuition. Then I realized, the man in a white turban was looking at me. He looked at my results from the application form and suddenly said that I had done well in my examination. He inquired more about my background as to who I was and why I wanted the money.

Reluctantly, I narrated that I was from squatter settlement called  Kampung Gandhi, located along the Old Klang Road and that I stayed with my brother. As I was talking, I told myself not to get sympathy or to be pitied upon to get the grant at the expense of my self-worth. It was then I told the man with the white turban with all politeness, that I do not deserve the ISTF and my application is not merited as there would be many others who were queuing along the staircase since morning.

He did not let me off; instead, he asked about how I studied, where I studied and what I ate on a daily basis. I began to feel connected with this man. He was asking about me. To me, it was one of those moments in my life that I had someone who cared about my insightful feelings of deprivation. He praised me and congratulated me. I thanked him and others for giving me the opportunity for the interview and informed them to offer the grant to other deserving candidates.

As I was walking towards the exit door, the turbaned man called me and handed me his call card and told me to contact him when I completed my final exam. The name on the card was GS Gill.

After my final exam I visited him at his office at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. He gave me a hug and asked if I wanted to work while waiting for my results. I said yes. The next day I reported for my first job under the late renowned Engineer Lau Foo Sun. It is not the grant of RM 700 of the ISTF and the job which made me remember Gill, but that fact that he was one of the very few who taught me to see myself in others, as how he saw part himself in me. In my dictionary GS Gill will remain a synonym for empathy.  May his soul rest in peace.