Life: a homeward bound journey

I am in silent admiration of people who affront life with great dignity, people who stand up and like to be counted at the twists and turns of life. This admiration is not about the miniscule percent of great people who were destined to be great, who were thrust into greatness. It is all about the ordinary people who were rudely awakened to think of the expanse of life when tragedy hit them unexpectedly with ruthless cruelty and lack of imagination. What keeps them ticking while a loved one is literally prised away makes them more than human, as most of them were never prepared for a shining blade that halved their lives into two.

These people are unsung heroes, who find refuge in sharing their sorrow with others, who find the brighter side of life with little preparation. Relations, genders, races and ages do not get distinguished when  heartbreak strikes.  Of late many tragedies have left me shaken, even though I have kept my gaze ahead. I have tried to shake off the sentiments; in vain I  have hung on, but memories fail to die and faces refuse to fade away. I have always thought that in my vocation one gets immune to tragedies, at least for a wee bit. That was a belief I collected on my journey, when once for a fleeting moment my voice trembled during a funeral and the torrent of anguish and distress poured into heartbreaking cries. That has haunted me every time I officiated a farewell rite. I was mighty impressed with the faith of a good friend when she prayed for clear skies during the last rites of her mother and was amply rewarded during an unkind monsoon season. There was a leap in her faith when she along with her sister realized that it was time to leave their mother in the hands of God, instead of keeping her back.

The ebb of life never ceases. The days of laughter are to be replaced with tears and deep despair. Dear ones depart and their loses are never replaced. But life has to gone on. It becomes easy when one finds solace in the courage of these unsung heroes, who chose to take a fresh look at life every time tragedy struck them unawares.