Of Bhatti And His Welfare

I'm not sure exactly when the words farewell and welfare came to be used interchangeably, but somehow they did.

There's not much I have to write about Bhatti today, because I already covered most of it in the birthday post I wrote for him. Just a few little things I want to add on this occasion, when he's left the team and has ceased to be my cubicle neighbour.

Bhatti claims that he does not like kadhi chawal at all, but always eats a lot of it when they make it in the cafeteria. Now we actually wanted to organize his farewell lunch in the cafeteria and put in a special request for his favourite dish. But somehow the chef at the restaurant where we eventually went sensed everything, and added kadhi to the buffet.

I think all of us who went to Manali will always remember his rendition of Zehreeley Zehreeley for the rest of our lives. It was just too hilarious for him to even get to the words Zehreeley Zehreeley.

When I was in my first year of post graduation, I was asked to co-host the farewell for the outgoing batch. I was at a loss on how I should start off the show. A senior of mine told me that, being the kind of person I was, it would be well suited if I started off with a few lines of poetry. Now I somehow cannot think of a better way to wind up this post. Here are the lines I wrote (yes, I wrote these myself) for that occasion.

Jo manzilein tumhaari hain
Wo manzilein meri nahin
Hain raahein kahin tumhaari
Meri kahin
Jo lamhe saath guzaare unki khushi hai
Aaj mujhe judaai ka gham nahin

All the best, Bhatti, for whatever you choose to do, wherever you choose to go.