On Farewells, Sweet and bitter and philosophical

Sunil Sharma

“And whether we shall meet again, I know not.
Therefore our everlasting farewell take.
Forever and forever farewell, Cassius.
If we do meet again, why we shall smile;
If not, why then this parting was well made.”

― William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

Farewells!

They can be everything. Cleansing. Closure. Therapeutic. Traumatic. Clean. Scarred.

Long term.

Short.

Tearful.

Smiles, laughter.

Liberation.

Freedom.

Reinvention.

It all depends on your station of life, perspective, contexts, moods, circumstances.

New beginnings or endings, old and desired.

In the last month of the year 2024, the theme is relevant: "Sweet-bitter Farewells". Bidding goodbyes to a year coming to a close. Bidding welcome to a new year. A ritual involving new resolutions, aims and agendas for change and growth, personal and professional, individualistic and familial, solo and society. An annual exercise that gives hope and makes you reset your goals.

On the other hand, saying goodbye to the old---bitterness, failure, enmity and moving forward in new directions.

Farewells!

Poetic.

Prosaic.

Painful, a legal drama, a messy divorce.

Sweet---moving on from a negative relationship to a more balanced one.

Saying final goodbye!

A goodbye that still haunts: Hemingway. Woolf. Plath. Some examples that are hard to explain to their respective global fans/readers.

The suicide note left by Virginia Woolf that you find so melancholic and heart-breaking in its 21-st-century reading/s.

You wish you could prevent such early deaths.

Wish you could time travel and change the facts and circumstances in somebody's life, the life of a dear friend, family member or unhappy artist treated cruelly by a mercenary society.

Life!

Full of surprises, contradictions, ironies.

Finding meaning again, after the hurricane. Reassembling bits. Overcoming sad disappointments, rejections and reaching the end of the tunnel.

This month's special call brings together some fantastic responses to this most enduring theme of human life, as creatively understood by the select poets.

Hope you enjoy them and find personal echoes in these wonderful works.

We congratulate the winners of this year’s Setu Awards for Excellence for the year 2024. Elsewhere, you will find the link to the annual list of awards in this edition.

Our modest way of recognising talents.

Setu was started as a dialogue between languages and communities. 

We tried our humble best to serve the cause of serious writing over the last eight years of its bilingual monthly production from Pittsburgh, done silently by Anurag Sharma, its CEO and editor-in-chief. We got huge support and love from the writing community and artists and readers alike.

Thanks to this combined solid support, Setu Bilingual Journal crossed 5-million-plus viewership recently.

It is a major milestone.

We remain indebted to you all for this.

Without you, we are nothing in this long journey.

With best wishes for a more fulfilling new year, more creative powers to you, and praying for the health and wellbeing of every citizen of the world, we sign off on a vibrant and positive note.!

Sunil Sharma,

Managing Editor, Setu (English)

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Setu, December 2024