Death – A Helping Hand

Once someone said “It's no use reminding yourself daily that you are mortal: it will be brought home to you soon enough. Nature is a ruthless teacher.” Indeed it is. Fearing what I saw a couple of days ago makes me wonder how insignificant our life is to the ones unknown to us. It was insanely heartbreaking and mindboggling to see a man crushed under the truck while we returned from a good family outing. My mind helplessly choreographed what I dreaded the most for my loved ones. But just the thought gave me a painful shudder, forcing me to erase the memory of what I had just witnessed. It was a horrible sight.

Clearing the bottleneck after an hour of standstill traffic, we drove past the anxious faces of the cops and several rubbernecks. Inquisitive as always, although I wish I wouldn’t have been for that moment, I peeped through the window to get a clear view of the fuss that seemed to have got traffic all topsy-turvy. Never in my wildest imagination had I thought of witnessing something so unpleasant. In fact a car wreck was all I expected to see. But my horror began when our car drove parallel to a wet trail a truck had left. I saw what seemed like smashed tomatoes on the road. My heartbeat eased a little thinking there was no casualty but was obviously sorry for the poor farmer who had all his hard work in drain. But before I could settle with ease, I saw a man half covered in a sheet under the tyres of the same truck. I could see him, literally everted. And the worst, one of his legs was lying few metres away from his body. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at; shocked as hell, I didn’t want to see, yet I continued to stare. Then I remembered the tomatoes, which I had interpreted, instead they were lumps of the body which had been shredded into innumerable pieces. I was dumbfounded.

It had been several hours since that unfortunate event. But my eyes could still picture it clearly. I wanted to erase what I saw, what I was feeling and the thoughts of the mourning family. I was helpless, but memories came running back!

Since that day there have been many sleepless nights. Watching a man die in front of you and in such horrific manner makes you wonder the uncertainty of life. Today you smile but tomorrow you may lay buried somewhere six-feet under. In fact after your morning goodbyes to your loved ones, who knows if you would ever see them again. How does the wheel of life work? Who dies and who evades death? Why me? These unanswered questions may connote a helpless living but they do teach how one should be grateful of every single day.

From this incident, apart from learning worth of a human life, I realised that simplicity and untimely call of the death itself asks you to be grateful of the life you have received. No one is always happy, nor does good luck follow you all the time. But still you continue to breathe. So why not in a manner that makes you happy and complacent. Is it hard to live a content life or you choose to be unsatiated...always?