Shall The Day of Parting Be The Day of Gathering?

Sravani Saha
Jul 24, 2017 · 2 min read

When Kahlil Gibran missed the ‘y’

Image: Author

It was my last week at office. I was, as they say, ‘moving on to greener pastures.’ They just forgot I was strictly non-vegetarian.

Monday, 11 am.

I called over my admin and asked him to compose the goodbye email. I narrated the basic content and quoted Kahlil Gibran at the end.

I made sure he got the entire quote in the email.

Asking him to send the email to the entire company, I went for a quick coffee.


11:10.

I came back to see my inbox flooded with emails from enthusiastic youngsters and from people in mid-life-crisis-who-are-always-looking-for-some-entertainment along with suggestions of places to party.

Samples of what I got as replies are below:

To:Company
22-June-2017
Subject:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Goodbye

Hey, where’s the party man? You got to tell the place. You got to tell the date!

To:Company
22-June-2017
Subject:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Goodbye

Hey, shall I get some weed? Oh, did I say weed?!

To:Company
22-June-2017
Subject:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Goodbye

Can we get guests? I’m getting guests.

To:Company
22-June-2017
Subject:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Goodbye

I can offer you my place for an after-party party. Anyday, anytime! Keys under the neighbor’s doormat.

To:Company
22-June-2017
Subject:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Goodbye

We are the nodders. We are nodding for the parrrrtyyy!

I almost died reading all the replies.

12:00 pm.

Finally, one from the HR addressed specifically to me:

To:Company
22-June-2017
Subject:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Goodbye

Please host your goodbye party anywhere outside the office. Note that the company email is for official use only, and not for party-planning.

This thread is closed for now. Anymore emails on this one, and your badge will stop working from today.


What party? What party? I screamed! What party?!

I checked the email that went out to the entire company from me that morning:

To:Company
22-June-2017
Subject: Goodbye

Hi Everyone,
It is with a heavy heart that I write this email. This is my last week here and I’ve decided to move on. I must tell you that the last three years have been immensely wonderful, and I have learned a lot from each one of you that I’ve interacted with.

I wanted to thank all of you for the time I’ve spent here. Lastly, I just wanted to quote Kahlil Gibran and say ‘Shall the day of partying be the day of gathering?’

Thanks!
My signature.

I banged my fist so hard that the tiny cactus toppled from the desk.

The actual quote from Kahlil Gibran said: “Shall the day of parting be the day of gathering?”

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The Haven

A Place to Be Funny Without Being a Jerk

Sravani Saha

Written by

Author of ‘Yes, The Eggplant is A Chicken’ https://amzn.to/2Iym2ok Humorist, Satirist, Mom, Ex-Googler. Write to me at s.sravani@gmail.com

The Haven

The Haven

A Place to Be Funny Without Being a Jerk

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