It was in 2001 that Sushant Singh Rajput came to the Capital from Bihar to pursue higher studies. He had taken admission in Kulachi Hansraj Model School, where he made a few good friends.

Among them is Navya Jindal, who went down memory lane and shared a funny anecdote about the late actor on his first day of eleventh standard in school.

"Sushant and I actually met on the first day of eleventh class. We bonded well on the very first day, may be because we were newcomers and non-Delhiites. I remember we introduced ourselves, and then sat together. Soon, we were talking non-stop and, all of sudden, Sushant cracked a hilarious joke. It was so funny that all of us burst out laughing. Of course, the teacher noticed. And she shunted all of us out of the class and made us stand holding our ears," Navya recalled, speaking to IANS.

"Imagine -- it was our first day in a new school, and we got punished! I can never forget that day. And guess what? The moment actually even got captured! One of our schoolmates had mobile phone back then. He started making fun of us, but instead of feeling bad, Sushant and I started laughing louder," Navya said.

Navya also shared a picture of that candid moment with IANS. In the image, Sushant, Navya and another friend stand holding their ears, in red school blazers. Sushant even sports a cool black cap.

Navya also revealed that one of the school teachers used to call Sushant "Casanova".

"Sushant was everyone's favourite. He was the centre of attraction during school time. Girls would always want to talk to him. He had a charming personality. Our chemistry teacher even started calling him Casanova! She used to stay peeved with us, mostly. Padhai likhai me dhyaan nahi hai, awaragardi karni hai. That's how she would scold us!" Navya recalled.

He says he had the best time of his life with Sushant, recalling how the two of them once rented a car for a day just to travel to Murthal, Sonipat, to eat parathas at a local dhaba.

"I remember we were in class XII. We did not have license to drive a car, but we rented a car and drove down to Murthal to have parathas. That long drive was beautiful. Sometimes, it is fun breaking rules, right? Sushant believed in living in the moment. He was a fun-loving guy," Navya recalled, adding that the two used to listen to Kishore Kumar songs all the time.

"He was a die-hard fan of Kishore Da. We used to listen to and sing his songs all the time. Whenever I made mistakes with the lyrics, he would slap my head. According to him, it was a crime to make mistakes in the lyrics of a Kishore Kumar song," Navya laughed with a tinge of nostalgia.

(Simran Sethi can be contacted at simran.s@ians.in)