Kindness of strangers, Internet fulfill dream

Have you ever felt the pressure of wanting to find the perfect gift for a special friend?

Colton Yang knows the feeling. He’s had to experience it way too soon.

“I met Nachu at a summer program at Yale in 2010,” Yang said. “I knew right away that I liked him. He takes friendly to a whole other level. He’s so witty and smart.”

He’s talking about Nachu Bhatnagar. Like Yang, Bhatnagar is an 18-yearold high school senior. Bhatnagar lives in Maryland, while Yang lives in California. They might live a country apart, but these two instant friends made some big plans. They’d both apply to Yale and hopefully be freshman roommates this coming fall.

Then, life came crashing down. Not too long after that summer program ended, Bhatnagar was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma. “It’s a kind of bone cancer,” Yang told me sadly. “The treatments have not gone well. We’ve known since February that he might not have long to live.”

So now these two friends who should be comparing college admission letters and prom dates are talking about things like final wishes.

“We were talking about the end of his life and what he wanted to do,” Yang said. “I was really shocked when he said, ‘I want to read a book.’”

Bhatnagar might tell you it’s not surprising, since he’s always been an avid reader. It turns out, though, he wasn’t talking about just any book.

Bhatnagar is a huge fan of Harry Turtledove, the historic fiction writer of the series “The War That Came Early,” which imagines what would have happened if World War II had begun years earlier. Turtledove’s fourth installment will be released in July. The problem is that there is a chance that Bhatnagar won’t see July.

Yang knew what he had to do. He had to get his friend that book.

But how would a kid in Northern California with no connections score such a prize?

With the great modern equalizer — the Internet.

“I went on a site called Reddit.com,” he said. “I posted a catchy headline about my friend dying of cancer and could anyone help me get him a book?”

“People had all sorts of good suggestions. And it caught the attention of another author who wrote, ‘I have the same publisher as Harry Turtledove. I’ll tell my editor to send you an advanced copy.’”

“I would’ve worked months to get that book,” said a still-amazed Yang. “Because of a bunch of strangers and the Internet, it took five hours.”

“Colton showed me how powerful and universal friendship can be. The fact that a simple wish could unite so many people who have never met or would associate with each other and create such a magical experience is astounding,” Bhatnagar wrote in an email.

It gets even better. That online posting made it to Harry Turtledove himself. He and Bhatnagar have been speaking on the phone and emailing.

Turtledove can’t tell Bhatnagar how the series ends, simply because he doesn’t yet know himself. That’s why he’s been open to suggestions from one of his most ardent fans.

Bhatnagar might not be able to affect the ending of his life, but because one friend and a bunch of strangers cared, he might just have a say in how the six-book series will end. That’s something that will outlive us all.

That’s what I call the perfect gift.