It's been more than 24 hours and my brain has been stuck on one single thought …
Yesterday kicked off in a perfectly normal fashion - same routine, the usual chores, nothing out of the ordinary. An early start to the day, some morning chores, drive to work, a few phone calls, some paper work, exchange of pleasantries with peers, the daily grocery shopping on the way back home and evening tea with parents while having a little gup shup about the day.
Since there was no other plan for the evening, I called it a day and settled to relax in my room. I fired up my laptop as usual, put on some music, and checked whatsapp to catch up with friends. I talked to my sister for a while, then joked around with a few buddies on chat, but then while having a meaningless chitchat with some friends in a group, one of my friends posted an image of a TV News channel that said,
What?? My brain was still in process to comprehend the message when barely a minute after, another friend posted that it was confirmed. The plane had crashed near Havelian! Soon the news was being shared in every group on whatsapp (and I am sure on fb as well, but I wasn’t logged on fb at the time), and I started receiving the information in bits and pieces.
- There were 47 passengers on that plane.
- The plane crashed due to some technical fault.
- It was pilot’s fault.
- The pilot was a hero as he saved the valley and managed to steer the plane towards the
mountains over a non-residential area.
- A friend’s friend was the pilot.
- There was a celebrity on that plane with his family.
- The plane toppled over many times before it finally hit the mountain.
Whether these facts were authentic or exaggerated; I neither cared nor bothered to log on to some news website and check them for myself! I could not follow the news! What does it matter how it happened and whose fault was it? They were all dead! And it was the most painful death imaginable! There would be no bodies to bury. There would be no goodbyes for them or their loved ones. I felt numb! I kept staring at the cellphone screen and my mind got stuck on just one thought …
“What do you do when you see death right in the face and know for certain there is no escaping it!”
Fear! There must have been unimaginable fear! Prayers, for forgiveness or a miracle! Their whole lives must have flashed before them in a matter of minutes. Thoughts about the loved ones – family or friends whom they were going to leave behind, and worse – the helplessness of the impossibility to try and save the family or dear ones who were going to die with them. Regrets – Things they did or didn’t do, things they could have done or planned differently. Mistakes made that had not been rectified. Because there was time!
There is so much in life that we take for granted! Blessings, People, and even Time itself, because we conveniently keep forgetting how absurdly fragile we humans are and our stay on earth is temporary. Nothing puts everything into perspective like a strong reminder of nothingness! I am sure in a few days this incident will also be just another memory like the many tragic incidents in the past, for life goes on, as it must! But now, when the reminder is fresh, maybe we ought to reassess our “Todays”, make amends for the time lost, do right by ourselves and others and change things for the better while we still can!
So what would you do when you know there is limited time left? Do that now, because Tomorrow may Not be after all ... Just Another Day!
Yesterday kicked off in a perfectly normal fashion - same routine, the usual chores, nothing out of the ordinary. An early start to the day, some morning chores, drive to work, a few phone calls, some paper work, exchange of pleasantries with peers, the daily grocery shopping on the way back home and evening tea with parents while having a little gup shup about the day.
Since there was no other plan for the evening, I called it a day and settled to relax in my room. I fired up my laptop as usual, put on some music, and checked whatsapp to catch up with friends. I talked to my sister for a while, then joked around with a few buddies on chat, but then while having a meaningless chitchat with some friends in a group, one of my friends posted an image of a TV News channel that said,
“BREAKING NEWS: PIA ka Chitral sey Islamabad aaney wala tayyaara radar sey laa pata”
(Translation: PIA plane flying from Chitral to Islamabad goes off radar)
(image taken from the web)
What?? My brain was still in process to comprehend the message when barely a minute after, another friend posted that it was confirmed. The plane had crashed near Havelian! Soon the news was being shared in every group on whatsapp (and I am sure on fb as well, but I wasn’t logged on fb at the time), and I started receiving the information in bits and pieces.
- There were 47 passengers on that plane.
- The plane crashed due to some technical fault.
- It was pilot’s fault.
- The pilot was a hero as he saved the valley and managed to steer the plane towards the
mountains over a non-residential area.
- A friend’s friend was the pilot.
- There was a celebrity on that plane with his family.
- The plane toppled over many times before it finally hit the mountain.
Whether these facts were authentic or exaggerated; I neither cared nor bothered to log on to some news website and check them for myself! I could not follow the news! What does it matter how it happened and whose fault was it? They were all dead! And it was the most painful death imaginable! There would be no bodies to bury. There would be no goodbyes for them or their loved ones. I felt numb! I kept staring at the cellphone screen and my mind got stuck on just one thought …
“What do you do when you know you have more or less 15 minutes of life left?I wanted to share words of comfort with the friend who lost a friend, I also wanted to share with my friends how I felt at the moment, post a few words to pray for the departed souls, express sorrow, but I couldn’t write or say anything. That one thought kept repeating in my head over and over …
“What do you do when you see death right in the face and know for certain there is no escaping it!”
Fear! There must have been unimaginable fear! Prayers, for forgiveness or a miracle! Their whole lives must have flashed before them in a matter of minutes. Thoughts about the loved ones – family or friends whom they were going to leave behind, and worse – the helplessness of the impossibility to try and save the family or dear ones who were going to die with them. Regrets – Things they did or didn’t do, things they could have done or planned differently. Mistakes made that had not been rectified. Because there was time!
So what would you do when you know there is limited time left? Do that now, because Tomorrow may Not be after all ... Just Another Day!
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