During the last four days, I have met up with quite a few of my friends and relatives and have said good bye to them. And with each meeting (perhaps parting is a better word), I have been becoming less and less inclined to meet (and part with) the next person.

The reason for this, strangely, is not exactly the sadness due to the parting. It is the fact that each time I meet someone and say goodbye, their behavior and attitude seems to suggest the following :
(1) You must be really happy that you are about to join Oxford University.
(2) Of course, I am sad because you are leaving.
(3) The relationship which we share amongst us is unlikely to remain the same after you are gone.
(4) Since our relationship is unlikely to stay the same in the future, I wish you All The Best. Good Bye!

Now go back and re-read the last two points on that list. Imagine how would you react if every friend of yours, every cousin whom you had played with as a kid, everyone to whom you had ever been close said those to you. I am not saying that everyone I met behaved like that, but yes plenty of them did. What they don't seem to realize is the fact that while one person is going to be away from them, from my life just about everyone I know is going to be far away after I am gone. They don't seem to realize that my departure is not going to make any impact on the amount of respect / love / liking I have for them. That they will still be the same for me - in fact I might perhaps start cherishing their memories even more! That I will still be returning home once in six months. That even the cost of talking on the phone will remain pretty much the same - thanks to facilities like Western Union's calling service. That they will continue to be my friends/ brothers/ sisters/ parents and that the only difference is going to be in the number of geophysical kilometres between them and myself.

Anyway, the result of those last two points is that I feel alienated even before I have left ! There is indeed a twinge of sadness when I part from someone close to me, but that alienating feeling is something which does hurt bad. Perhaps the best farewell I recieved was from my friends from the IITD hostel.

They made me feel that, although I am going, I am still one of them.