Saying good bye...

Human life is a lifetime of goodbyes…from the moment we are born to the final moment of saying goodbye to life itself. The emotion that it involves is completely dependant on who is saying goodbye and to whom…The goodbye that an army officer’s family waves him when he leaves to discharge his duties towards his country is the goodbye of pain and pride – pain at not knowing when they would see him again, and pride that he is leaving for a noble cause. The goodbye that a mother waves her child as he leaves for school…this is the goodbye of relief – relief that the child is away fro a few hours and I can get my work done. J Quite different from a goodbye that would happen if the same child was going to boarding school or to study abroad. The goodbye that a spouse is given…these are a great indication of the actual relationship between the couple…my mother recalls how till quite a few years after their marriage, she would actually walk with my father to the bus stop to see him off, quite an effort by today’s standard just saying bye bye. Funnily enough, there is even a research which proves that men who kiss their wives goodbye earn upto 30% more than men who don’t! When lovers say goodbye, it is with the promise of meeting again soon, the goodbye is both sad and happy.
Some of the greatest novels and films had the best of goodbyes…who can forget Rhett Butler saying goodbye to Scarlett O’Hara with his “I don’t give a damn”? Or Freddie Mercury crooning,”Goodbye everybody, I’ve come to go…” in the classic Bohemian Rhapsody. Karan Johar even made up a whole movie based on goodbye…and called it Never Say Goodbye, I mean, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. How about the Big B’s famous baritone in KBCsaying goodbye with “Good night, shubh ratri, shabba khair”. Remember the poignant goodbye by Patrick Swayze to Demi Moore in Ghost? Or the way Jacques says goodbye to his father's family and goes back to France at the end of Erich Segal's Man, Woman and Child? There are many many more such goodbyes, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes happy...
More than anything, saying goodbye is deeply spiritual…it’s a letting go of the past, closing some doors and opening others. It’s both a completion and a beginning. A simple word, but a complex expression, this is an essential word, encompassing a whole gamut of emotions…And I'll say goodbye with this sweet goodbye quote by Snoopy from the comic strip Peanuts..."
Why can't we get all the people together in the world that we really like and then just stay together? I guess that wouldn't work. Someone would leave. Someone always leaves. Then we would have to say good-bye. I hate good-byes. I know what I need. I need more hellos.”