Goodbye Sayak

"NH4 or NH17? hmmm ... Doesn't really matter .... all roads lead to Goa !! Happy Holi folks ! Ciao on Tuesday ..."

This was Sayak's last post on Facebook. 26 Feb 2010, Friday, 7:24 am. And now - there will be no more posts from him. No more messages, no roaring laughters, no more talks of eating fish. He died in a road accident shortly after posting his last status message on FB.

Sayak was a batchmate from my PG days at IMI. Was he a really good friend of mine? Not exactly. But strangely, I now realize that he mattered enough for me to be writing this for him.

In retrospect - I can think of so many memories that we shared. A few group assignments in college. That trip to Jaipur, Ranthabhore, and Agra - during which I had a historical fight with him. Working with him in college's alumni committee. We had our differences and were quite vocal about them. And so there were several clashes between us. But today, I am glad that the last few memories that I have of Sayak are pleasant. The last one being my meeting with
him in Prerna's wedding.

Sayak - I still can't believe that we had met up just 15 days ago...and will never meet again. I still can't believe that we will never talk about how much weight you have lost or gained...or about the places that serve awesome fish. I still can't digest these sudden and swift ways of the universe - that change so many lives drastically - in a split second. But in this note, I just want to say that I am glad you could see that tiger in Ranthambore during our trip. You were right in saying that you will never be able to come back to see it. I am glad that we reconnected before you left this world forever. I am glad that the last time we met, we parted on a cheerful note.

I don't know which highway you took for going to Goa - but I really wish you had taken the other one. I am sure the first batch of PGDM-HR from IMI will miss you. May you rest in peace. Goodbye.