Death and Loss.

Posted on by Sushmita Sahay

Try answering this question standing on the foot overbridge of a railway station when trains are puffing and chugging in and out of almost all the platforms below you, and your left hand has been left two passengers behind with the strolley and your body is being invaded by all sorts of nudging, pushing and hyperventilating human forms. Yes, you realise your puni-ness then. Die that moment and they will take 3 days to identify your body, and your loss will be mourned by your immediate relatives and friends as an afterthought…

Death is a leveller no doubt, but not for the dead. Its the thought of this fading into nothingness that keeps us humble. A dear friend lost her dear father, and the world just wanted the rituals done in a “pleasing fashion”. We continue to lust after and live on with no thought to losses around us. The deaths in Pulwama, daily deaths on borders, mindless naxal killings, Newzealand attacks , Ethiopian Airlines crash, Sri Lanka attacks, and counting…

The world will not stop even for a second without me or you. A collective sense of loss will not prevail for as long as you would have liked it; as we will not leave behind a chasm. The day this realisation dawns: the cantankerous spirit turns mild and all accepting. The grand design of nature is ordained to this method. Its best that every human being comes to realize it sooner than later. And the whole world gets gentler around its rough edges.

“…for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

Genesis 3:19, KJV

11 thoughts on “Death and Loss.”

  2. The world may still differentiate between death or demise and passed on, passed away or expired. Yet we humans see it a mere cessation of biological functions in otherwise a grand concept called life. With modern amenities and facilities some causes like aging, malnutrition, diseases and starvation could still be controlled to a level yet suicide, homicide and fratricide remains a constant worry and nurtured as a new societal order. Fear of death, anxiety, sympathy and compassion with the dead is dreaded that adds to the sorrow and grief which if negated just remains a thought to create space. Debates for life after or rewards for acts of kindness creates the whole mess in otherwise a nice idea of living. They say unbeing a dead doesn’t mean you are living. Another philosophy that is conflicting with its basics is they very definition of life. Cessation of consciousness amounts to death but then aren’t many people already dead and they are just existing and have ceased to live long back.

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  4. Yeah, death descends with a chilling suddenness that you freeze. Yeah, you do, have to, move on as there is not a moment to stand and stare. Yet none spares a thought about this perspective. Life, mostly, is a race against time to justify ones social-political-religious credentials; any moment, the call comes and the next in line takes the flag. The agonizing part is that in their race against time, they forget to look around & live the moment; instead, shatter the lives of the ones who do !!!

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    1. Thank you for reading and liking the post dear Chen Song Ping… this is even more relevant now in India… We are losing friends and relatives daily n even amidst all the fear, mayhem and mourning, the whole effort is towards moving on and self preservation 🙏🏻

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Published by Sushmita Sahay

Expressed words carry a world of meaning in them. I love to read, write and speak. Sharing my random musings here is a pleasure 😊