Final Recap | Arundhati & Padmanabha

They say that just before a man dies, his entire life flashes right before his eyes. This man who is lying on the soft grass seemingly staring at the stars in this moonless night was expecting the same. He knew that the bullet had punctured his back and shattered one of his vertebrae. Was he afraid to die? No he wasn’t. People like him were never afraid. He had lived for a reason and was about to die for it. No, he wasn’t afraid to die. He was perhaps a bit nervous as he prepared his life to be flashed before his eyes. Till now he never had the chance or time to reflect on his life. Just then …

A flash! He was late. His beautiful wife was tying his tie knot. He, a sandwich in one hand and the coffee cup in the other, was rehearsing the points he would speak in the presentation. At a moment their eyes met. He smiled at her acknowledging the fact the she is the force that holds his beautiful life together. Just then their daughter started crying. Three years old, she hated when full attention of her parents was not on her. “Not now Riya!” her mother said to her with a smile at her face but a bit of sternness in her voice, “ Papa is getting ready for a meeting. You don’t want Papa to neglect his work and not get promoted … Do you …??” “ … But Papa doesn’t want to neglect his angel because of his work”, Riya’s father finished his wife’s sentence and put Riya in his lap. He looked at his wife and said, “It is your and Riya’s happiness and not work that are the milestones of my progress.” She smiled back at her husband. She was so proud of him. She thought he was the nearest thing to being the greatest husband and the best father.

Another flash! He was exhausted. The operation had lasted over six hours. Those six hours of full fledged concentration had taken a toll on him. Well, his colleagues had said that either the mother or the child would live. But he had proved them wrong. He had operated for six hours and now both the mother and her little pink newborn son were not only out of danger, but doing fine. He came out of the operating theatre. He was first greeted by the newborn’s grandparents. They showered him with well wishes and blessings. Seeing their faces made some of his fatigue go away. Next he walked towards the new father. The father didn’t say anything to him, not even a thank-you. But the look in his eyes, eyes gone red due to lack of sleep, said everything. Those eyes were not looking at a renowned doctor who had helped his wife deliver his son, but at a messiah who had performed a miracle and saved the lives of those who mean the sun and the moon to him. The doctor had goosebumps. The doctor gave the father a hug and whispered “Congratulations!” The doctor then moved towards his cabin. He had already forgotten about his tiredness. He was just thinking that days like this made his life worthwhile.

Yet another flash! He was walking towards his home from his school. It was getting dark. “Sir … Sir …” he heard someone calling. He looked back. He saw a dark figure running towards him carrying something which looked like a box of sweets. “Who is it?” the old teacher asked, trying to adjust his thick glasses. “ I have trouble seeing at night,” he added. “Its Ali, sir”. “Ohh Ali ..” the old man recognized him. Ali was an orphan who had started his life working at the nearby tea stall. But he had a thing with numbers. He could do calculations effortlessly. The teacher had once spotted Ali’s extraordinary talent, and since had taken up the responsibility of his education. Couple of months back Ali had appeared for his class XII examinations. His teacher was in no doubt that he would pass. “Sir, I passed my boards,” announced Ali. “I always knew you would be my son!” said the proud teacher. “Is that why you brought these sweets for me?” he asked teasingly. “No,” replied Ali, “I wanted to give you one more piece of news. I got admission in an engineering college with a full scholarship. Your tea stall boy is going to become an engineer.” After saying that Ali knelt and placed the box at his teacher’s feet. The teacher was so overwhelmed that he could not say anything to Ali. He just looked upwards and said to the Almighty, “If you call me today, I would happily leave this place. Today I feel my work is done here.”

Flash! …

Another flash! …

“Wait! Wait!” screamed the man lying on the grass. He forced his eyes shut as if in an attempt to stop the images. What was he seeing? What he was seeing were not his lives. His life was very different then those lives. Wasn’t he supposed to see his own life? So why was he seeing what he saw? Whose lives were those? Were those lives of those people who had died in his hands in his ‘struggle’? Then it dawned to him: those were the lives that he had traded with the life that had won him a bullet in his vertebra. He had had the opportunity to lead any of those lives but he had chosen otherwise. For the first time in his life he was afraid. Afraid not of dying, but of the fact that he might have chosen the wrong life. He opened his teary eyes and confusedly kept looking at the stars till his gaze froze for eternity. They say that just before a man dies, his entire life flashes right before his eyes. Well, they might have forgotten to mention, at times there might be exceptions!

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