Bye Bye Birdie

“Birdie, birdie in the sky
Dropped some white stuff in my eye,
I’m a big girl I won’t cry,
I’m just glad that cows don’t fly.”


A dear, old friend of mine left for Toronto today and I am deeply saddened by that. Yannick and I aren’t the best at keeping in touch. In fact, before his big accident six months ago, we had pretty much disappeared from each others’ lives. We’d just randomly run into each other at a party or a match or something, exchange pleasantries and then catch up on the previous months that we missed out.

His accident, put things in perspective, at least for me. When I heard from Louane that Yannick had fallen three floors and was in the ICU, my first reaction was, “HUH?” For a very long time, it didn’t sink in. I refused to believe it, because really, when you hear something like that it just sounds surreal (and not like the song.) The next thing I remember was meeting Rohit somewhere on the road and him confirming it. We went to the hospital not long after that. He was in pain, however much he wanted to be a cool, “nothing hurts me”, martial arts doing person. He also had A LOT of painkillers in his system and did not remember us weeks later.

The minute I realized that Yannick actually was in hospital, and that he really had had a near-death experience, I began to miss him and began to reminisce about our friendship. Beginning from the time I came into the SSU and met him, to where we began to talk EVERYDAY. I remembered that day at Adlabs after which he gave me LOTR, in the hope that he could get me to read it and become a follower, all the basketball matches that I watched just to show my support for a friend, dancing on his feet during Boy and Girl Forever and him saying “Hear, Hear” at the end of the scene. I remembered being named Daffy and him being Birdie. I thought about Irish Cream.

After the boy got out of the hospital, I decided I’m not gonna let that happen again. I’m gonna totally be aware of what’s happening in his life, and I’m gonna make sure he’s aware of what’s happening in mine. This friendship at social gatherings was definitely not my cup of tea. And I must say, we were pretty good at it, right up until the day I had to find out from a third person that his papers have come through and he leaves for Canada within the month. I was PISSED OFF. Not because he was going, but because I had to find out from an outside source.

But putting that behind us, I just have to say I’m going to miss the boy. It’s so weird knowing that he’s no longer going to be in Kalyani Nagar ready to chill whenever I call, knowing that there’s going to be nowhere to go on Christmas (not THIS one, because I just found out I might be in Edinburgh, but you get my drift), knowing that every 30th of September is going to go by without my supply of Irish Cream, and knowing that whatever happens I can call Yannick for his wit and charm, always guaranteed to make me laugh or at least groan in annoyance which will then lead to laughter!

All the best for your future, my friend. Do that stupid aeronautical engineering, get your bleeding degree and come back for a visit after five years. Till then, Bye Bye Birdie.