The impact of watching a death

25 January. It was a sunny morning as I walked into the hospital, and I was greeted by a usual scene.

An old woman was sitting towards a corner, crying loudly. Beside her, there was a young woman, presumably her daughter, whose face looked very grave.

One needed no further explanation - it was clear that someone had died a little while ago. However, apart from the two of them, the rest of the area appeared absolutely unconcerned about it - it was, like I said, a usual scene there.

Now, contrast it with the death of Nelson Mandela three years ago. Mandela needs no introduction - he was a father figure to the millions he liberated from discrimination. His funeral was attended by several prominent world leaders and about 80,000 others. It was declared a national holiday; and he shall definitely be remembered for a really long time after his death.

Both of them were humans of flesh and blood, and both were buried where they will be reduced to nothing but bones - yet one was mourned only by his immediate family, yet another was given a farewell by the entire world. Why, may I ask, does the world show this brazen duplicity?

We humans are a funny lot. All our lives, we yearn for ourselves to be more accepted. Does that girl/guy like me? Do people think I am weird? Is my Facebook DP going to get enough likes? Yet, what is going to happen when I turn my back? Everyone knows that in the end, one thing is absolutely certain - we're all going to be reduced to ashes or bones or something else - depending on how our customs choose to dispose of us.

Then, what was the fundamental difference between these two people? When you die, would you like the aftermath of your death to be narrated as a usual scene, or as an event which a large number of people are going to save in their memories?

In the course of our existence upon this planet, we meet a lot of people and do a lot of stuff - some for ourselves, some for others. We make varying impacts on a lot of people. You don't have to be a world figure to do that. A doctor who's saving lives. A construction worker who's building houses. A comedian who's giving people a good laugh. A writer who influences people. A bus driver who slows down so that the man running behind can get in on time and won't get fired by his boss. A brother who gives his sister a warm little hug when she's down. A mother. Some of our impacts on certain people are so deep that they become an integral part of our lives - most are not so profound, but still good enough to make a change.

In the end, life just boils down to the people whose lives you touch - small or big, whichever way possible. Make sure you're not the one mourning at your own death. Make sure you don't end up with a lifetime in which you're lying all alone on your deathbed and wondering 'dude, people are gonna remember me, right?'!

This was the impact that watching the scene had on me.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.