FARE THEE WELL!
I worked in a public sector bank
for over three decades. That meant regular transfers. I had a fair share of
those – just 15! The best thing about those transfers was that almost every other
transfer was to Bangalore. That also
meant no serious dislocation for my children’s schooling. Now, why did I refer
to this?
Transfers meant farewell
functions and every time I was transferred a function was organized by my
colleagues to bid me good-bye. Ando so in 2003, when the last of such functions
in the bank was held I assumed that that it was the last farewell function –
but God willed otherwise!
My afternoon snooze was
disturbed by a phone call from Manipal Universal Learning one day in November
2008. A sweet voice asked me if I could come over for a discussion with MUL
officials. I checked to see if she was calling the right person! After
confirmation, I did go, met the General Manager HR who found my credentials
good enough to be a member of the faculty in their training academy. And that
was when I ran into my good friend Dr. T.V.N. Rao (He was my son’s professor and
even today my son goes gaga over his teaching skills). After that, as they say,
rest is history.
I joined the academy and spent
about 15 months when I was given a farewell. Farewell is the time that most of
us like because that is when you hear a lot of nice words said about you! The
only curious thing about it is that many of us start believing that we really
merit those words! Little did I imagine that I will join Manipal again and
spend quite some time there!
August 2010, my friend Dr. Rao
called me and asked me if I can join him again. I did and what a fine spell has
it been!
This time around I did not have
to work at the academy but worked at Towers and it was a good experience. Drafting
contents for a MBA course was my major task. Alongside I also helped designing
some courses which found ready acceptance at the hands of the client banks.
I had not realized then that
great times were ahead of me. MUL were able to persuade a giant public sector
bank to adopt their training methodology. Dr. Rao suggested that I be involved
in that project from the beginning and I had the pleasure and privilege of
designing the course structure, drafting the contents and presenting them
before the Bank’s senior officials for acceptance. I felt elated when a General
manger of the Bank said ‘if this has been prepared by a … Bank official, there
is no need for us to scrutinize that. It must be good!’ Such was the brand
image of the bank in which I had worked!
And so the design and content
were accepted and logically, I became a member of the faculty of the new
School. It has been a great experience! The fact that many ambitious youngsters
come to you in quest of knowledge is itself an elixir; add to that good words
from your bosses – you are on top of Everest or should I say Kanchenjunga!
This spell spread over 20 months
saw me foray into hitherto unchartered (for me) territories. From what I hear
from the students of the first five batches that I have interacted with, I seem
to have connected well with them. They may not have hailed me as a great
teacher but they have accepted me as a person to connect with. But one thing
every batch conveyed to their juniors was that I am a strict person. This is an
image I am unable to live down!
This year my wife and I decided
that we visit our daughter, her husband and her children in USA and so I
requested MUL to relieve me by end April. As ever, graciously they agreed and
yours truly is leaving MUL (now named MaGE).
My colleagues at this school got
up a pleasant function to bid me good-bye and our ever affable Director graced
the occasion with his presence. How nice of him! I know how busy he is and so
for him to spare about half an hour for me is something that I should be proud
of! I thought this was the last of the farewells that I was going to have. But ‘no’
said my students!
Today when I went to two classes
to bid good-bye they greeted me with loud cheer, gave me a beautiful ‘farewell
card’, and persuaded me to cut cakes. And sang! These were moments that would
be forever be etched in my hearts. You will have to be my age to realize the
importance of this. At my age I should feel happy if youngsters choose to give
me the time of the day. But here I was being accorded standing ovation;
everyone wanting to have a photo with me! This was sheer bliss. May God bless
all these youngsters!
It only brings back to my memory
the old saying ‘farewells are not final” and the following quotes:
Good bye may seem forever.
Farewell is like the end, but in my heart is the memory and there you will
always be - Walt Disney
It's been an incredible ride. Mission accomplished. With that, I have to bid farewell. I'm the happiest person in the world right now. It's better than I ever thought it would be. - Jerome Bettis
The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning.
- Ivy Baker Priest
Goodbyes are not forever. Goodbyes are not the end. They simply mean I'll miss
you until we meet again.
Nothing makes the earth seem very spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes
Don't be dismayed at good-byes.
A farewell is necessary before we can meet again and meeting again, after
moments or a lifetime, is certain for those who are friends.
Why does it take a minute to say hello and forever to say goodbye?
Can anyone please give me an
answer to this?
Sayanora
We miss you sir!
ReplyDeleteanswer to your question-
"A good-bye is never painful unless you're never going to say hello again."
I'm sure to say 'Hello' again.
Bon Voyage!
'Hello' starts with hell and we would all like to rush through hell and reach the 'o' fast, whereas 'goodbye' begins with good and we would not like to let go of the 'good'. This 'bye' we hope is the same as the 'bye' in sports terminology - advancing to the next round without playing - in other words a short lull after which you will come back to the campus once again.
Personally I have had the good fortune of learning magic firsthand from the magician himself. I still remember the first student feedback list which you had topped and which inspired me to sit through one of your sessions - the session was peppered with a million anecdotes and I realized that I could learn much more from a practicing Peter Drucker than by scouring hundreds of books on management.
The blog is aptly titled -tvsspeaks - the easy conversational style and the eloquent touch it brings to bear on a variety of topics is awe inspiring. We look forward to meeting you again after a short spell and also look forward to your continuing to cast your spell through this blog.
Bon Voyage
Generally we think, we are loosing much when saying good bye and are not aware of how much we gain when saying hello...
ReplyDeleteM sure many more "Hello" are waiting for u Sir..
Miss U..
Take Care..:)
Happy Journey.
Thnks a lot sir for spending time and enlightening us with the exciting world of FOREX with ur unique style of imparting knowledge with a pinch of humour to it.
ReplyDeleteWe'll miss you. Wish u Happy and Safe Journey...
“The story of life is quicker than the wink of an eye, the story of love is hello and goodbye...until we meet again”
― Jimi Hendrix
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHello sir...Thanks for keeping our little efforts towards making those moments memorable to u and placing them into your heart...its really worth saying that "only a person attached to ground can understand the value of light moments those have deep sense but requires deep sense to understand..
ReplyDeleteThe only line that come in mind after going through this article "Everything you can imagine is real."
Thanks for everything..:)
ARPIT JINDAL
hello is nothing only formality to interact with someone but goodbye is meaningful word because we know how much we gain in past and how much we loss in future //////
ReplyDelete