By Michael Napolitano
Jayant Goswami, a first-year graduate student from India, died Friday at his apartment on Symphony Road of unknown causes. He was 23.
Jim Chiavelli, interim university spokesperson, said Mr. Goswami’s roommates thought he was sleeping late Friday morning. They called Boston Police Friday afternoon after Mr. Goswami still had not waken. Alcohol and drugs do not appear to be a factor in Mr. Goswami’s death, but the exact cause of death is unknown at this time, Chiavelli said. University officials said foul play is not suspected by the Boston Police, who are investigating.
Mr. Goswami, a student in the College of Computer and Information Science (CCIS), arrived from India near the end of summer to study with his friend and roommate Shreyas Shetty, a fellow graduate student at Northeastern.
“He arrived here on Aug. 5, 2008,” Shetty said. “We were friends for five and a half years.”
Shetty said the pair met while studying at Thakur College in India. Mr. Goswami earned his undergraduate degree there, and worked for a software company for a year before moving to the United States, Shetty said. One of the main reasons Mr. Goswami chose Northeastern was because he they were already friends, Shetty said.
“He seemed like a really interesting person to speak to,” said Pritish Devurkar, a second-year graduate student in the CCIS, who met Mr. Goswami in the last few weeks of August and got to know him through Shetty. They were planning to work together in the InfoCommons this semester, where Devurkar currently works. Mr. Goswami, who was introduced to the job by Devurkar, worked only a couple of shifts before he died.
“He was a good athlete and student,” Shetty said. According to his roommate, Mr. Goswami loved to play table tennis in his spare time, and was a teammate of Shetty’s on the soccer field during their undergraduate years in India.
Mr. Goswami was also an avid rock music fan, Devurkar said.
“We had similar music choices …things with guitar, classic rock,” he said. Devurkar said they both enjoyed listening to music together.
University officials said that Mr. Goswami’s body will be returned to his family in India as soon as possible. Renata Nyul, assistant director of communications and public relations, said Mr. Goswami originally lived in Mumbai.
Shetty said that while no public services were being planned outside India, a private gathering with Mr. Goswami’s friends were held at his apartment.
