Last week was a deadly one.
It was an ordinary Monday. The alarm rang as usual at 7.40 in the morning and mom threw the phone at me, for me to get up (in her version) and for me to switch it off and go to sleep (on my version). Curiously I saw a message on my phone. It was from my colleague cum friend and the news was not good. His mom had not been keeping well for a while and the news of her passing away was my wake up call for that Monday. I immediately called my fellow colleagues and within next hour we were all set to leave for vellore where the funeral was taking place. We stayed till the end and came back pretty late into the night. My friend was a real dynamite of a person and is as active as a red ant after food on normal days. It was sad to see him stand dejected and forlorn.
The next day was even more troubling one. While going to office got a message saying that one of our team mates had been killed on an road accident. He had been to kerala for some friends wedding and on the way back their van had met with a tragic accident. He had been the sole bread winner of his family. And he was pretty famous within the team for his volleyball exploits as well. It was a really uncomfortable 2 minutes of silence when the mail came from HR with his photo.
The third day of the week was even more shocking. My colleague for past 8 years, father 2 lovely small kids, a wonderful project manager and an excellent friend, he collapsed with respiratory problem while taking bath and even before they could take him to hospital he passed away. I was responding to his FB post that morning and when I reached office to this news I thought someone was pulling a nasty prank. It was so shocking that no one believed it till the mail came from HR. He was part of the corporate musical team and was involved in so many charitable activities. It was a shocker that sent us reeling.
There were 2 more deaths to conclude the week, the number which by that time had become a statistic. It left us all scarred emotionally and the usual chirpiness at the corridors and lunch halls went missing.
Everyone tries to define love and life and there are a zillion versions of it floating around. But when it comes to death, its hardly definitive. First of all its morbid and depressing and has gloom written all over it. But it brings with it maturity, whether you want it or not is a different story. Maturity is something that is always accompanied by closure, be it insurance or mutual fund or even life for that matter. In loss, we gain wisdom at times and even courage to carry on. Loss teaches us to re look at life and makes us stop on our tracks, to take a break and to start afresh. Loss maybe irreplaceable and might break us into a million pieces mentally and emotionally and leave us stranded on a no man's land with no one to help or support. Its at these times, these terrible times, that really tests one character and how we shape ourselves from the loss is what makes or breaks a person. We have been collecting funds for our colleagues whose untimely demise had left their families in a difficult situation. But money alone hardly makes up for their loss. I hope we remember them on our prayers and our collective appeal to god might bring some much needed solace to those aggrieved souls.
It was an ordinary Monday. The alarm rang as usual at 7.40 in the morning and mom threw the phone at me, for me to get up (in her version) and for me to switch it off and go to sleep (on my version). Curiously I saw a message on my phone. It was from my colleague cum friend and the news was not good. His mom had not been keeping well for a while and the news of her passing away was my wake up call for that Monday. I immediately called my fellow colleagues and within next hour we were all set to leave for vellore where the funeral was taking place. We stayed till the end and came back pretty late into the night. My friend was a real dynamite of a person and is as active as a red ant after food on normal days. It was sad to see him stand dejected and forlorn.
The next day was even more troubling one. While going to office got a message saying that one of our team mates had been killed on an road accident. He had been to kerala for some friends wedding and on the way back their van had met with a tragic accident. He had been the sole bread winner of his family. And he was pretty famous within the team for his volleyball exploits as well. It was a really uncomfortable 2 minutes of silence when the mail came from HR with his photo.
The third day of the week was even more shocking. My colleague for past 8 years, father 2 lovely small kids, a wonderful project manager and an excellent friend, he collapsed with respiratory problem while taking bath and even before they could take him to hospital he passed away. I was responding to his FB post that morning and when I reached office to this news I thought someone was pulling a nasty prank. It was so shocking that no one believed it till the mail came from HR. He was part of the corporate musical team and was involved in so many charitable activities. It was a shocker that sent us reeling.
There were 2 more deaths to conclude the week, the number which by that time had become a statistic. It left us all scarred emotionally and the usual chirpiness at the corridors and lunch halls went missing.
Everyone tries to define love and life and there are a zillion versions of it floating around. But when it comes to death, its hardly definitive. First of all its morbid and depressing and has gloom written all over it. But it brings with it maturity, whether you want it or not is a different story. Maturity is something that is always accompanied by closure, be it insurance or mutual fund or even life for that matter. In loss, we gain wisdom at times and even courage to carry on. Loss teaches us to re look at life and makes us stop on our tracks, to take a break and to start afresh. Loss maybe irreplaceable and might break us into a million pieces mentally and emotionally and leave us stranded on a no man's land with no one to help or support. Its at these times, these terrible times, that really tests one character and how we shape ourselves from the loss is what makes or breaks a person. We have been collecting funds for our colleagues whose untimely demise had left their families in a difficult situation. But money alone hardly makes up for their loss. I hope we remember them on our prayers and our collective appeal to god might bring some much needed solace to those aggrieved souls.
Comments
You need a hug.
I just want to share something with you. Very recently, a young boy, full of life, dreams, hope and intensity.. died. Just like that.. bitten by a viper. The unacceptable part for me was that.. he was a trained snake handler with the credit of rescuing even King cobras. He had rescued thousands of snakes.. by which I mean, he had saved more than a 100 human lives. For a long time, I was haunted by this question… Why this to him? It has taken a long time for me to reconcile with the terms of his death. More so, it is my anguish about the way he died. If he had met with an accident and passed away, it may not have bothered me so much.
Somewhere I read - Each day when you wake up in the morning..be glad that you are alive, this is so true.