A GOOD FAREWELL!

In my younger days, I didn’t quite understand the necessity of a farewell. Infact it would make me wonder why there had to be so much formality in saying the two simplest words. I’d wonder why people would have to gather and go through the process of expressing one’s feeling and shed tears. I didn’t like it one bit because it was a moment when my weakness would be revealed .
There was excitement too, especially in my teenage days, when for the first time I along with a few others got the opportunity to plan the much awaited farewell party for the out going seniors. I still remember trotting authoritatively to every class making collections, chalking a budget, selecting gift items, planning every detail of the event. Best of all was going shopping; I’d get that much awaited opportunity of visiting my favorite ‘nook’. Being in a residential school, the only places of interest then were ‘food joints’. To be honest we’d return with more food for our ever hungry bellies. I must have had a barrel for a stomach those days,I was always so hungry.
Food then was surely ‘glorious’ and those midnight feasts a sheer thrill. It’s fun to break rules at times!
Now with age I’ve mellowed a great deal and begun to see sense. Yes, now I have a different opinion, farewell or in other words, a proper goodbye is necessary. It is one way of bringing home the message that we have moved one step ahead. The journey of life is a forward trail and that we need to march on. A proper goodbye helps one compromise with and accept reality. It stops one from building ‘false hope’ and wasting time and it also helps the past be a treasure trove where one can seek to find the jewel that’ll be a ‘shining star’ , a guiding light when everything fades into oblivion.