But guess what happened?
He hid. Went right under the radar and the birdies don’t have a clue. Off facebook, blog deleted. I don’t get to read a thing he has written.
He calls himself P-pod and P-pod loves writing. One breezy evening, over chai and samosa, little birdie said he was terminally ill. That was a moment of yugen in its purest, melancholic form. He had stopped writing on the portal he used to write. He only kept updating the notes section on Facebook. He shouldn’t stop writing. I passively resisted in response to the injustice that the universe was causing. I felt so helpless.
After a few months I dropped out of college and his tenure as a student also ended. After months, I typed his name in the facebook search box and nothing came up apart from similar names. I figured he was one of his kind. My entire being sank down into the bed. Was he still alive? It’s not fair that someone so good-looking and funny had to be returned to dust so early. But his blog was still there. And I re-read the archives he had left behind. Same campus and I had not met him. I felt disappointed with myself.
A month or so later when I decided to visit his portal, it was deleted. I told mum about him and she asked the dreadful question. You know what it is…
Anyhow, the removal of his blog meant he was alive. Woohoohoohoo! But he deleted his blog. Wasn’t the best feeling.
Then, I saw a post from his account on facebook. Miracles exist!
Can’t remember what but I wrote to him. I told him I wish he didn’t delete his blog. I did not ask and he didn’t tell me why. I marathon’ed his notes for a couple of hours before I fell asleep that night.
Currently, he’s off facebook and I forgive his state of hibernation. To be honest, I have a lot of social anxieties myself and I like to be forgiven too.
Thank you, P-pod, for setting my thoughts into words this beautifully and accurately. I think you’re super zuper duper good at it. I only hope you write what you truly believe in.
I also thank IndiSpire on IndiBlogger for the “The Stranger Whom I Can’t Forget!” activity as a part of edition53. I wouldn’t have written all of this otherwise. P-pod, you’re the stranger whom I can’t forget.
