Making of Managers - 19 ::: Getting relieved with heavy heart but light mind !!!

Dear Gowri
Last week was very special in terms of intense activities, formal announcement of my move to a project team to my current team and my telling a BYE to them yesterday. I had spoken to the TLs on the prior day who were all quite shocked at the series of changes happening (my boss incidentally got moved to another team last week only)
Few were sincerely hoping that I am going to fit into his shoes and become the next manager but some thing told me that our senior management will consider me for the next level only after some time. I in fact was particularly not too thrilled to get elevated at the present team itself where I dont have much challenges in terms of job....Not that every thing is perfect and completed but we have a peculiar market which is always indifferent and insensitive....and we do not have even regular meetings with our counterparts like other teams at our organisation. It is just people handling and taking self initiatives without any expressed need raised by market which used to be the very foundation / challenge in our service industry - normally.
Well, my selection for the project team was a real bouncer which happened quite close to my boss movement while I was getting ready to work under a new person in his seat.... In fact his successor is not announced yet and It felt great to get relieved at this different experience too - me being an eternal optimist.....me getting relieved announced by the GM to our team.
On Friday, I had a meeting at the project upto 11 AM and hurriedly reached to my seat...I had fixed up a standing meeting at my work area requesting the whole of the team to assemble by around 11 AM...and the moment I entered, the whole team gathered in stark silence.
It was nice to see that our Manager too had come to HIS old department and he too joined as I spoke to my team. After telling them few courteous words clearly and slowly (my communication with team has dramatically improved with my training experience...I just dont allow any confusion / distortion in communication these days), I dont know why I got bit emotional and just stopped a particular sentence in between.
The young faces - many of them whom I had personally groomed - spending lot of time in correcting their mistakes in speaking and in emails....countless counselling sessions & consistently giving feedbacks....all of them noticed me hanging my head down with full of emotions. Just then my ex boss pitched in and spoke about me lavishly for 10 minutes giving all his blessings...and that he was surprised to join this as he came quite casually to pick up his diary from his work station.
It is a custom that people give some feedbacks / choose to express few nice words one by one but after my boss completed, there was pin drop silence. It was so wonderful and I could see that it was more beautiful than any words my team could have spoken about me...( I had done couple of novel things to make them really done....While reaching office in a hurry, I had all the time to buy a box of 60 diary milk - the small 5 Rs one - and distributed it before even I started speaking....which was quite unusal.... Further, before people gathered around my desk, I had scribbled down my new extension number, changed email id and also the location where I will be sitting for next 1 - 2 months.....in the board at my workstation....with lot of pro-acitivity - both these simple acts added to my image, I realised then...)
Well, none of them spoke and my manager kept on inducing for a while and I cut him short and raised some general topic for chatting to lighten up the situation.... and I reached to my new work location with a heavy heart.
Before the time, I had reached my work station, 2 - 3 mails had flown into my new mail id wishing me great future...and one particular long mail listed all that I had done for this boy. There were couple of phone calls telling me that they need to speak to me in person on monday for which I agreed.
Now, this is the beauty....For some one who never cared to improve his technical skill set but just remained people oriented, there cannot be a better farewell given by his team. I am sure that these little kids will get reminded of me as a source of great inspiration when they undergo some training programs where the trainers ask us to get reminded of personalities from their lives.
What more a person wants when he gets reminded by - if not all - couple of people who are going to join management team - either in current employment or elsewhere too ?
suchoo