New Delhi, May 10 -- I thought only I knew. The Tamil actor Vijay, whom people have suddenly taken to calling Joseph Vijay after his political rivals revealed his full name, and who now heads the largest party in Tamil Nadu's assembly, was my classmate in the third standard.

It is a connection I made because I remember trivial things from childhood. Usually, people don't remember much of their past, so I thought that no one else in my class knew of their Vijay connection.

I have only three recollections of him. His head made quick bird-like movements on a long neck, and he could run very fast. He left school the next year, but I saw him in church one Sunday.

I was surprised he was Christian, and also that he was rich. I was seeing him ...