It’s strange, isn’t it, how much I talk about death... maybe not so strange if you knew a bit more. I feel that perhaps I’ve seen more than my fair share of it. More than I was ready to deal with. I went to a funeral last week. I lost a very dear friend of mine. In the last six years, three of my friends have died. Two of them in the same year. They were young, healthy, not a thing wrong with any of them. Just tragic accidents that noone could have foreseen, noone could have done anything about.

The thing about death is that it’s a part of life. We’re all subconsciously prepared for it, we understand the inevitability of it. But there’s a time for it. It’s meant to come after you’ve lived a long life, raised a family and made something of yourself; not in your twenties. Say what you want, that’s not right. It’s just not.

It still happened though. The first time is the scariest. That’s when you realise that people can die so young. Doesn’t matter if it’s not supposed to be that way. The second time, it feels like a punishment. Like you did something wrong, and you’re being punished by having those close to you taken away. There’s a lot of anger, and you don’t quite know what to do with it, who to direct it at. And the third time it happens... I don’t know what to tell you. Your heart breaks, but there’s something else... acceptance? It feels like the moment you let the waves in the sea wash over you, because you know you can’t fight them.

Death comes to us all, that’s just the way it is. And we don’t get to know when, or whom it will visit. All we get are those moments with the people we love. And the choice to make those moments count. What would I do differently? Not a damn thing. I had the greatest of times with all of them, and I have wonderful memories that I’ll always cherish. Here’s to the good times, boys.

“May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

The rains fall soft upon your fields.

May green be the grass you walk on,

May blue be the skies above you,

May pure be the joys that surround you,

May true be the hearts that love you.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of his hand.”


imran.khan@ hindustantimes.com