At The Corridor of Death

Going to that homeopathy doctor was always a big task for me. More often because he was very unfriendly and rude. But for my cousin sister, who was suffering from cancer in its critical stage, this was the only hope. The blindness that she developed because of brain tumor, not only sieged her vision but also her dreams. All attempts had already failed and probably this was the only thing which was giving her, if not others, some sort of assurance. As I was about to go to that doctor, I called her to know about her health (The doctor is in Bangalore where I live and my cousin was in Ghazipur, a small town with almost no medical facility). She started talking about her pain and helplessness, and in between she said something which I was not expecting in that course of discussion....."Help others as much as possible because once life goes out of hand, it never comes back". I was sort of taken aback. I asked her again to repeat her sentence, pretending I could not hear, but she never repeated it. May be she was thinking that the sentence was too preachy to repeat. This was a suggestion which for some reason left a permanent mark in my heart and mind. May be because it came spontaneously from someone who has already lost control over her life. Someone who, all of a sudden, at an early age, finds herself at the corridor of death. This was my last conversation with her. After few days, while I was busy in my overseas worldly affairs, I got the news about her death.

Whenever I am in doubt, whether I should lend a helping hand to others, whether I should bear a loss simply to help someone without expecting any return, whether I should put myself in a mess which I can easily avoid. I remember that one suggestion given by her and it clears all my doubts.

Though she has left us, but I wish, may that one sentence never leave my heart...Amen