Random Thoughts

my friend had gone to Delhi for a few days and she returned today. she told me that she had gone to see her friend's father, who is in deep coma and is in ICU on life-support system. even the doctors have left all hope, and they are just waiting for the moment when the heartbeat stops.

this incident in itself is very painful, but the family's story is more heart wrenching. the person had a very distinguished woman as his wife, but she passed some years ago due to cancer. now he will be left by his two daughters and one son. 2 of them have just completed their studies, and the youngest one is still studying.

it is strange how much difference a 5-minute chat can make. ever since then i can't help but think about how painful it must be for the children to see their father die, and how painful it must be for them to realize that from now on, they will be left all alone in this world, with not even a crying shoulder by their side. but worse, how painful it must be for the dying father, who can see all his dreams about a bright future for his family shattered in front of his very eyes. and who knows, that it is all because of him.

i have lost my grandfather and my unmarried IIT-graduate uncle within a span of 6 years, and have seen my grandmother lose half of her weight and all of her charm due to cancer. but at least i am fortunate in the sense that i didn't watch them while they were going through those agonies. my grandfather died on the very next day he was diagonsed with cancer. my uncle had a slow and painful death, but it was while i was doing my engineering.

I have seen people die, and i have seen how lives of others never remain the same after that. we all are a little child at the seaside, who spends his/her entire life building and strengthening his/her sandhouse. he/she makes it bigger and better, hoping that when it is complete, he/she will have all the space to live with his/her loved ones, and no matter how strong adversities come, he/she will be able to protect them. but what happens when a tide comes to the shore and breakes his/her sandhouse? what happens after he/she sees that there is nothing left but only a scant vestige of what once used to be his/her world, and his/her life? he/she can make a different sandhouse, but it just won't be the same.

what will you do when all you hold so close to your heart starts to break down into pieces in front of your very eyes? and what will you do when one day you wake up and suddenly realize that the smile, the love, and the kindly face you had got so used to is there no more? and the biggest question is, even if you do decide to build a new sandhouse, who will you make it for?