The Meaning of 'Auf Wiedersehen'
The German phrase ‘ Auf Wiedersehen ’—literally meaning ‘ until we see each other again ’—was one of the first expressions I learned in a German class at IIT Madras back in 1970. Decades later, during the 1990s while working with MAPS Geosystems in Sharjah, that early exposure to the language proved immensely useful during my extended stays at our Munich office. Reflections on Goodbye Now, I find myself offering an ‘ Auf Wiedersehen ’ not just to close friends, but to the familiar nooks and beloved surroundings of our apartment complex. My wife and I are embarking on a prolonged stay at her mother’s home in Kozhikode to support her during her twilight years. Although she has a caregiver, my wife and her sisters take turns so she is never left on her own. Now in her nineties, she is wrapped in the gentle devotion of her daughters, who share the duty of staying by her side. I softly whisper ‘ until we meet again ’ to the fellow seniors I meet thrice weekly, to my ' tai chi ' cor...