The hand that you hold now might never meet you again!

Goodbye is a simple word

That causes more pain.

The hand that you hold now

Might never meet you again! 

I read the above lines approximately fifteen years back in an English news paper and till date they remain to be the most touching lines to my senses ever. Thinking practical, farewell marks just another beginning. Yet it hurts, at times very deeply. Goodbyes that we say during the farewell are few of those genuine feelings we express in day to day life. Saying goodbye is never easy. At the same time, holding back to certain decisions we make is important too! 

I've been on the other side of many such decisions made by my colleague-friends in the past few years. I've been part of close to forty farewells in eight years, taking part in organizing at least twenty farewells myself. The count is unimportant but the amount of emotion involved is humongous. Departing is not simple. It involves a lot of gritty decisions. 

Every decision has its own story. 

Every story has its own importance. 

While organizing a farewell used to feel effortless with the help of a few friends, speaking in farewell used to be the biggest challenge for me. There were few farewells in which I hardly spoke as I broke within to an extent that I could no more put my feelings into words. I had nightmares literally about few other farewells before they even happened in reality. Farewell speech used to be something that I always admired the most yet could not utter one! 

Having seen many of my friends delivering handsome speeches while departing, and having inspired myself with that awesome farewell-message delivered by the master blaster after his 200th test, I decided to make myself bold enough to deliver a farewell message. I've been trying to improvise my capability to deliver the same for many years now, with satisfying success at times.

As I know it within, I've been successful not so fully but to an extent in delivering farewell-message since last few attempts. What I realized is that it needs some preparation, one. And two, it's important to realize the necessity of delivering the message to the intended audience. That's one way, and probably the best way, of showing respect to the gritty decisions taken by people who are departing. The message need not be heart warming by its looks and tone, but must be felt from within in such a way that it comes out to be as genuine as it actually is. After all its something that's remembered the most by many people, and it fully deserves to be true to the core. Good and bad are undeniably subjective where as truth is unique, which must come out naturally. Such farewell speeches are the show-stealers of all. 

Well,  I will continue to practice delivering genuine farewell-messages. I'd like to end the post with my favorite lines. 

Goodbye is a simple word

That causes more pain.

The hand that you hold now

Might never meet you again!