Farewell!

Forrest Gump said, "I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental - like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it's both."

I don't think he was much off the mark, as he said this. Like leaves in an autumn wind, we are blown in and out of each other's lives. Some of course, manage to stay longer than the others, whereas others make but a fleeting appearance.

Still, irrespective of whether we were destined to come to XLRI and be part of the batch of 2010 or whether we landed here by sheer accident, it has been a rocking ride - the last two years. From the initial excitement of getting to know each other over a batch lunch to the wistfulness associated with a final collective lunch before we leave to where our calling is, we've surely come a long way.

We've explored the highs brought about by sheer joy, and plumbed the depths of desperation. At some times, we've been livewires at parties, while at other times, we've belied John Donne's assertion, "No man is an island." From sleeping 14 hours a day to sleeping only on a day out of 14, we've done it all.

For many of us, it has been the best of times, while also being the worst of times. But now, that time draws to a close, and it is nary impossible to keep the eyes from misting over, and from the world becoming a blur. A blur - that's what the last few days have been. Spent in the nervous anticipation of a cataclysmic event, we've tried to smile through it all - mealtimes at the Sonnet, evening conversations on the green benches, long walks across a sylvan campus, or sprawled across each other's rooms.

Already, locks with sightless eyes stare at me, unable to feel my melancholy with their hearts made of cold metal. But, they stand firm and unmoving. Between my world and me. Cutting me off from a world that you and I shared together. Making me wish we could have stolen a few more seconds to bid each other goodbye.

But then, I don't really believe in goodbyes, and being a fan of Richard Bach, I can't help but quote his lines, "Don't be dismayed by good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends."
So, till the time another autumn breeze blows us back into each other's lives.

Farewell! Rock on, batch of 2010!