We Never Say Goodbye

Last time, I parted from my beloved family. My friend told me that it’s always hard to say goodbye. And it really was, but I wonder why there is an aching word in English called goodbye, and I don’t feel like using it and I have never used it also. “We never say goodbye,” I told him. “We don’t have a word for it. I said them only to stay well and see them.” I explained to him.

Truly, as per my dictionary, two major Bhutanese languages; Dzongkha and Sharchop don’t have words called goodbye. We believe in coming back. We believe in reincarnation. ‘We only part to meet again,’ says John Gay.

We have Kuzuzangpo for hello, but this greeting is used regardless of the time of day, denoting that Bhutanese believes the time is the same and it should remain same throughout the life. There is no good evening, good morning generally in Sharchoph. We have a Kadrinchhe for thank you, but we say Lashom bay  joen (if the person is leaving) and Lashom bay shug (if the person is staying) it literary means ‘go nicely’ or ‘stay well’ and it is not equivalent to the word goodbye. And in Sharchop we use Tshingai rumey na which actually means ‘see you in future’ and there is no other equivalent words for goodbye.

So I never say goodbye to my loved ones. I say only Lagpan choina (stay well) believing that we will meet again.