Friends remember Kasbekar's love for life

His radiant smile.

His trademark laugh.

His typically upbeat and positive demeanor.

Invariably, every friend and community member mentioned these positive attributes in their eulogies for Wharton junior and Sigma Alpha Epsilon brother, Yash Kasbekar, at his memorial service held yesterday at the Hall of Flags in Houston Hall.

Kasbekar was killed in a car accident on New Year's Day, while travelling back to his home outside of Chicago, Ill.

University Chaplain Rev. William Gipson gave opening and closing remarks at the service, in which he said he believed Kasbekar's spirit remained among the mourners who attended the service.

"Rather than this hierarchal looking down, I felt as if Yash was still within this community," Gipson said. "I felt the presence of a person I had never met."

In part, Gipson said his image of Kasbekar came from the aid of the nearly 200 students and community members who filled the seats of the Hall of Flags to share stories and memories of their friend Yash.

"Yash's friends gave me a sense of the essence of his spirit today, and I'm sure they did that to others," Gipson said.

Wharton junior Michael Kremen agreed that those present greatly influenced the ambiance of the service.

"The sheer number of people who showed up was a tribute to his character and those who loved him," Kremen said. "We are all going to miss him."

Students who attended came from a wide variety of circles. College junior and SAE brother Jared Brown observed that a very diverse group, ranging from fraternity brothers to Whartonites to faculty, came to the service.

"It was nice to see that he touched an interesting cross-section of the students," Brown said. "He transcended more than just his frat, and it just shows that he meant a lot to a lot of people."

Likewise, College junior and friend Ryan Schmidt said he appreciated the unity and outpouring of support at Kasbekar's service.

"It was really beautiful how everybody really came together and said some meaningful things about Yash," Schmidt said. "What a lot of people reaffirmed throughout the whole service was that he had a really electric personality and was an inspirational guy for a lot of people."

Fellow SAE brother and Engineering and College junior Dmitry Koltunov said he was inspired to perform an acoustic version of Ben Harper's "Waiting on an Angel," at the service by the uplifting personality that Kasbekar exuded.

"Yash was always a really positive kid who never let you get down on yourself or on any situation," Koltunov said. "His outlook on life was one of the most admirable qualities I've seen in anyone."

Koltunov also said he found Kasbekar's service to be both moving and inspiring.

"I thought the service was a great way to mourn and celebrate a great person's life," Koltunov said. "I found out some stuff I never really knew [about Kasbekar] and was reminded of some very pleasant memories."

A reception followed the service, where mourners shared more pleasant memories of Kasbekar.

College sophomore and SAE brother Aaron Child recalled a jingle made up during last year's pledging and set to the tune of The Clash's 1980's hit "Rock the Casbah," in which he substituted the real lyrics with the name of his friend, Kasbekar.

"A pledge brother is something unique from any other friendship," Child said. "I just sang the song, and it sort of caught on."

When an SAE brother led the audience in a rendition of this spoofed tune to close the audience participation portion of the service, Child, like many of the other brothers, said he could not help but grin.

"It made me smile," Child said. "It was just a really bright memory of Yash."

A videotape of the service will be sent to Kasbekar's family.

"His family deserves to see how loved he was by us," Brown said. "It is nice for his family to know he is leaving behind quite a legacy."

After the service, friends also signed a guestbook and added memories to the memory book that will be sent to Kasbekar's family. By the time the memorial concluded, over 170 names were written in the book.

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