As we sat down for drinks at the Windmill Craftworks last evening, the joy of finding a place that rejuvenated senses started to fade ever so slowly. It was like taking in single malt one sip at a time, until you sip the last sip and then there’s emptiness that follows. And we brace for it. There isn’t a process or a method to get over the feeling but all you can do is hope that what follows next is better than what preceded you. But deep down in your heart, you know that irrespective of what follows next, you’re leaving behind people and they’re not just memories, they are your life. So, you brace for it. These are the people who’ve seen her smile, seen her laugh, seen her dance, seen her cry, seen her mad and seen her gulp down endless rounds of Long Island Ice Teas and they are all here today, hoping fervently that this isn’t the last time they’re seeing her, yet wishing her the very best for what future beholds. And we brace for it.

Farewells are rough; not just for those leaving but also for those bidding goodbye. I’ve not had much trouble with farewells before because I have lived in a world of my own most of the time, adrift from people. I created this space for myself, this vacuum, from where I never felt the need to come out. It wasn’t a comfort zone but was a zone nevertheless that shouldered most of my burdens. But this farewell was different.

I’ve known her for over a year now and together, we formed a three member cohort called the ‘Bermuda Triangle’. The name chosen by the third leg of the tripod aptly sums up our connection. Do you know the feeling when a year feels like an era? Well, that’s what the past year has been where the three of us have created a metaphor for how friendships transcend into memories. Be it the first time when the three of us were not sure of what to say to the last one when we had no inhibitions about what to say, we had passed through the era.

‘And it’s a wrap’; that’s what her last email said. And it was a wrap indeed. She must have stayed until the wee hours of morning to say goodbye to each and every member of the organisation because that’s how popular she was. As I walked in this morning to my desk, there was a small note written on my bulletin board. I smiled for brief while and then wondered if I should let the note stay or erase it. Then it struck me that it didn’t really matter. As I wiped the board clean, I left a little smudge of ink on the board to mark her statement that ‘I was here and I wrote that’. Some people leave their mark behind when they leave. She has not only left her mark but her voice too. It’s the voice people hear when they call our organisation. We’re wondering how things will be at 3:00 pm when she wouldn’t walk by that door to take her designated seat but we brace for it; we brace for it somehow.