There’s no denying the fact that death is the ultimate destiny of every soul that breathes the fresh air. A fact that cannot be altered either but seems almost unbelievable when happened to the loved ones.
A very dear friend of mine lost her best friend, her father who meant the world to her. People die every day. Don’t they? Do I want to describe the bitter experience again? Do I intend to write just about death? No, for I have seen death affecting my friend but not bothering her, seen it break her for the time being but lifting her up at the same time, showing her the path to follow.
It happened on a cold December morning when we received a call from our friend just as our first lecture started at 9am. Without thinking, me and three of my other friends rushed towards the university hostels, where she waited for us, crying hysterically. We, somehow knew what awaited us because the chilly morning that surrounded us announced gloom, her sobs sent chills down our spines, yet there was hope, deep down….
I remembered the last hug I gave her to comfort her but in vain, for she dreaded what she was going to witness - the death of her best friend, of her father and that day forth, my friend changed – for good.
Her father’s death came as a shock to her. Should it not? Because for her, the only man that inspired her and the only man she thought every man was like for he made her what she is today, left her alone in the world of truculence.
Her father was a man of principles. He was a man who had a simplistic and humble approach towards life. Born to a family that helped him explore himself and the newer realms, he dedicated himself to the services of humanity and imparted the same in his daughter.
A thing that she learnt about death is how it helped her discover her own self. Taught by her father to stand against the cruel world, she learnt to fight alone. The survival has never been easy, so has been facing death but it taught her to FACE, to stand up and fight. The intense loss taught her that nothing lasts forever but what one does in the world remains and the sixty year old man left his daughter with the treasure of his principles and hard work.
Gone he is now but his principles, his deeds, his manners remain and today, I see my friend who is a changed person from what she was a month ago. Her life no longer belongs to her only but to her father. Her motivation and courage is the essence of the hardships and adversities her father went through to see his daughter excel and here she is now, all set to live the dreams on, the dreams her father left abandoned, only to be filled by his proud daughter.
Today as I write this, I am filled with pride because the person that stands before me is not the same delicate, carefree girl anymore, but a daughter who has taken it upon herself to fulfill all the dreams her father’s eyes once had. Today, when she talks, her words reflect her father’s teachings. Today her ambitions depict what her father foresaw. Death might have taken her world away from her but in return, gave her the meaning of life.