My dear colleague and friend Yogaranee Sachithanandan is retiring from her working life. Yoga as we call her originally from Sri Lanka. She has been in Australia for the last 21 years. Yoga was a teacher in Sri Lanka. She went back to collage and retain as a library technician since she came to Australia. Yoga has been working here for the last 17 years. I have known and be friend with Yoga since I started working here nearly 10 years ago. For her retirement I organized a friendly lunch for her with 10 other friends and colleagues. To honour Yoga's Sri Lankan tradition I suggested we wore saris for the special occasion. We all had a fun time dressing up and a lovely lunch for the event.
At my work, we are a multi-cultural group. To my surprise saris suited all of us despite our different cultural origins. I brought a sari back with me from Abu Dhabi when I lived there so I'm glad to get a chance to use it.
Here is Yoga holding a farewell card we all signed to wish her a happy retirement. This wasn't an official farewell for her. There will be another farewell for her on her last day next week. I think she was happy that we friends had a special farewell for her as well.
I love dressing up and I adore wearing saris. It's so light and comfortable to wear. If it weren't so hard to put on I would wear it more. In India women wear saris working in the fields, ridding motorbikes and doing everyday chores.
I asked our colleague Shaku who left a couple of years ago to come in and help with putting on the saris. Even though it is just a long piece of fabric, it's not so simple to put on. Thanks to Shaku for her help.
Yoga with Sophia who is Greek. She looks beautiful in a sari. We all snapped lot of photos on that day because I don't know when we are going have another chance to dress up in sari again!
You might never think that purple and green go well together, but in India I saw such combinations put together and they work perfectly!
We all love Yoga who is gentle and kind to everyone. I will really miss her once she leaves. Life is changing so I always appreciate my friends when I'm with them.
Yoga was very happy that day. It's nice to know you have friends in the work place. I feel happy to be part of this lovely group. Most of them have been here longer than me. It's always hard to fit in a group that has already been formed, so I'm lucky to get accepted into their group.
At part of a going away gift, I made Yoga a photo journal of her time here. I made it into a PowerPoint slideshow and then printed and bound it for her. The photos were from various functions and farewells in the department. I love taking photos, so I have quite a collection of them on my computer. Now others would like a copy of the journal as well. It's a good memento to have of one's working life.
Happy retirement Yoga and thanks for being a lovely friend in all the time I have been here.
Until next time
Nat
8 comments:
Once again you have brought people together in friendship. You all look lovely in the sari's.
you are a good friend. lovely.
What a wonderful way to celebrate retirement with your co-worker and friend. Very kind of you :)
Everyone looks lovely in their Saris Nat....and they are all such beautiful colours too.....Happy Retirement Yoga!
You all look so gorgeous in your saris - instructions on how to wear one please!! Regarding the colour combinations, I think some of those bright colours that we think clash look marvellous in a sunnier setting, in the bright, harsh summer sunlight they look glorious. They remind me of a church service I attended in Florida where many of the ladies were in traditional dress, so vivid and vibrant. Happy retirement to Yoga.
It all sounds a bit bitter sweet but what a lovely way to farewell your friend. I'd love to have the opprtunity to wear a sari, they look comfortable.
You always amaze me, Nat. This is such a beautiful post about the retirement party -- I love the sari theme. How fun! I too happen to have a sari (a gift) but have only had it put on me once and now I don't remember a thing about how it was done. ;)
You are all radiant. xo
You look really good in a Sari, Nat,
yas
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