Denson Devadas could not sleep till 4am on Monday. He kept listening to an audio file posted by Radhakrishnan Dhanarajan in the WhatsApp group created by former footballers of the now-defunct Viva Kerala.

“It’s his voice that kept on haunting me,” Denson told The Telegraph on Monday afternoon. “I can’t believe Dhanarajan is no more. Somebody so full of life can’t just pass away like this. Once I heard the news, my hands were trembling and my blood pressure shot up. I just do not know how to react”, he added.

Dhanarajan died after collapsing during a Sevens match at Perintalmanna in Malappurram in Kerala on Sunday evening. Dhanarajan and Denson were sort of “Buddy Guys” from their footballing days in Kerala.

“Our friendship goes back to ages. There are so many memories. He was here some time back for the D-License course and we were talking about our days in Calcutta. I even spoke to him four-five days ago. He was very happy that his name was on the list for a job in the Kerala Sports Council,” Denson said.

“You know the certificate he got after winning the 2010 Santosh Trophy for Bengal helped him to get the job. He was thanking me because I scored two goals in the final against Punjab. ‘Look you scored those two goals and here I got the Sports Council job after nine years’,” Denson, who was getting emotional, said.

Dhanarajan is survived by wife Archana and daughter Sivani. “I do not know what would happen to his wife and daughter,” Denson said. Dhanarajan was cremated at his native Palakkad on Monday evening after post-mortem.

“He was supposed to join his new job in January. Now, it will be difficult for Archana to get that job. Financially Dhanarajan was not in a good state. To raise money for his family, the Kerala sports fraternity is organising a match on January 19 at Palakkad. (IM) Vijayan and Jo Paul Ancheri would be part of that match. Another match at Manjeri, where football is keenly followed, is on the anvil. A lot of former players from here want to be part of that. Let’s see,” Denson said.

Denson and Dhanarajan played for Viva Kerala under the legendary T.K. Chathunni and then both moved to United SC in 2006-07. After that they played for Mohun Bagan, too.

“We didn’t know anybody in Calcutta. So we used to spend time together. He was a very good cook. Chicken butter masala, rasam, sambar, you name it, he will cook it for you. And my job was to do the dishes.”

Denson and Dhanarajan, along with a clutch of Malayali players, used to stay in Bangur and then in the CPWD quarters at Baisakhi, Salt Lake. “He stayed there for a long time, but I had moved to another apartment after I joined Mohun Bagan. He used to come to our rented house and spend time,” he said.

According to Denson, Chathunni was inconsolable. “He was very close to Dhanarajan and was in constant touch. Yesterday night, Sir broke down while talking to me.”