When death becomes a predictable event, as though it never was!

I and Uma ditch the gym many a time just to walk into unpeopled lanes that dazzle with a refreshing fragrance, emanating from a few night-blooming jasmine plants and devil trees. Before we set out for a walk last evening, I drew out a 200 rupee note from my wallet and hurriedly inserted it into the back pocket of my walking slacks so I could buy biscuits for a few stray dogs that I made friends with. I left early as Uma was busy on her phone. After a few rounds of a walk, I went to a nearby pop shop. As I laid my hand inside my pocket, I did not find the currency. It seemed I had lost it while pulling out my mobile phone from the same pocket. I had nothing but a numb smile in an offer to the two dogs who followed me to the shop that were blankly looking at me. While walking back home, I ran into Uma who extended her walk and I asked her to buy biscuits for the dogs, as I lost my currency and returned home. Uma came home after a while and handed over my lost currency. ‘This was lying on the steps of the shop you went to….’. With a mild glint in my eyes, I took the currency and placed it in the same pocket that I lost it from, earlier. While pushing this currency deep into a secured space in my pocket, I have touched a paper-like object in the pocket. I pulled it out. Whoa, it turned out to be a 200 rupee note, that I’ve never lost! Where did Uma get this currency from, if so? 

 

How does this narrative sound to you? A miracle, no matter how trivial and fictitious it may sound? What are the odds of something similar happening to us or happening with me again? Probably 0.1%? Then miracles don’t occur in 99.99% of our lives, that are conned in a quagmire designed by unknown forces.  

 

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The year 2020, indeed in many ways was bad. Hearing about a few acquaintances getting infected with the Coronavirus and some dying from it, literally shook me. At a stroke, many tragedies not only overturned my impressions about life but made me comprehend the other side of the coin in a whole new light. Most of us treat life as one long marathon. With our sight, straight on the finishing line, we often forget the fact that a few of us may not make it to the winning post. And if we succeed at all, the short-lived celebration may leave us wondering as to why in the first place, were we trapped by the dogma of winning in life towards the end of it, while we had a slew of opportunities to celebrate wins throughout, no matter how small the wins were? Then, should we take out two confusing jargon from our lives from today; the perception of a long-term plan and the deception of a big bang day? Isn’t there something magical about short-term plans, short visits, short naps, short messages, small walks, small celebrations, and small joys? Shouldn’t we then let the short sprints of exuberance take over the endurance of lengthy marathons? Perhaps wisdom lies in breaking a long event into small and enjoyable moments, soaked into a series of mini joys, so when it is time to go and we retrace our steps, the journey looks refreshingly meaningful. This way we at least will avoid leaving our undone actions to the mercy of people’s posthumous regrets. Stuck in a fast-paced life amid the splendor of success and the odor of opulence, we may not realize that our most precious acquisition is set to be lost, without warning. Like a share market, life may crash without your fault and approval. In the face of it, the most complex plans for the future merely may turn into dumb designs bloated with useless numbers caught in quicksand, evaporating all your promises. What would you call a life which can disappear in an accident just because you either were one minute early on the road or you went one minute late? And the worst thing about these fateful mischances is that you don’t even know how to calibrate that one minute to save yourself from being killed. When was life separated from death? When was certainty different from uncertainty? And, when death becomes a predictable event (as though it never was), how do you want to deal with the rest of your unyielding life before it passes in a flash? Freeze each moment or write another wealthy project plan? 

 

Well, there is no perfect recipe; each one of us will have our way, depending on what matters to us. It is as simple as that.

 

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Now you know, I am not sensationalizing death. I am just trying to make sense of life while it is still here so that the time between life and death is not filled with inflated illusions. Knowing that life is unpredictable is not enough. Accepting it and acting accordingly, is. Make no mistake, life doesn’t surprise you by returning the currency you have never lost. Divine events happen in people’s lives, when the creator while writing countless narratives, confuses himself with the conclusive part. And 0.1% of miracles thus get scripted just because of his carelessness. That’s how some boats reach the shore in the exact same way, as planned. Else, he is largely accurate in his plots and plans.

 

The only invaluable currency we have in our hands is now. So, spend it before the creator turns it into a fake. Smile even if the world doesn’t return it. Celebrate, even when there is no occasion. Play, while the game is still on. Live, while we are still alive. It’s here and now, reminiscing the eternity that life holds. Instead of ignoring the neglected temptations, savor its freshness by saluting the preciousness of the present, before it turns out into a stale past. Life is not a complex event meant to be perfected. It is a simple celebration meant to be completed.