It is the darkest hour before dawn

1936. My grandfather died. My illiterate grandmother was left with 7 children and no means of income. She did not know where her next meal would come from. She had resigned herself to imminent poverty and eventual death. The temptation to commit suicide was impossible to refuse. Eventually, she turned out to be stronger than this minister.

But it passed. The 4^th generation is currently inhabiting this world.

1961 – My father was suspended from his work on an allegation of having taken a bribe (the inquiry found him innocent and reinstated him with full compensation), had contracted tuberculosis and my mother was in her 8^th month of pregnancy with her second child. I was not even conceived. Things could not have looked gloomier for my parents then.

But it passed. The fact that I am writing this blog, whereas I was not even conceived then, is validation enough.

1988. My brother got married. In the established tradition of the patriarchal mindset of a typical south Indian Brahmin, he promptly asked his wife to quit her job, claiming that the duty of the breadwinner of the family is on the man! Next month he lost his job, as his firm went into bankruptcy. In a strange twist of fate that only fate could think of, he found himself in the same position as our father when my mother was pregnant, carrying him. Jobless, a pregnant wife and a bleak future in front of him.

This too passed. Now he is contemplating early retirement having no need to work.

2003. My nephew was walking his dog, a full-grown German Shepard. A bitch with an unusual name Danny! He had the leash wrapped around his hand. Something triggered the dog and it set forth, ferociously. At 43 kgs of weight and a hanger thin frame, my nephew was dolly for the Alsatian on a full charge. He was dragged along, his leashed hand grated on the asphalt. He experienced indescribable agony for a full two minutes. The first doctor messed up and he ended up with a tourniquet palsy. He could not hold a pen. It was three weeks before the final exams. His future appeared blacker than Anish Kapoor’s black. If Ladbrokes were taking bets, they would have offered him 250:1 on completing his schooling, leave alone the next steps.

But this too passed. He is a poet and a philosopher now who frequently pens his thoughts.

2008. A friend of mine packed his bags, even had his last farewell dinner with few friends of his. He was leaving Romania and going back to India. His mind was made up. Nothing was going to change it.

But, a phone call from his boss. The packed boxes just changed their destination and he spent another 10 years in Europe before returning to India.

2008. Another friend of mine, a current colleague, left an esteemed consulting firm, one of the finest in India, and took up a challenging role in a new organization that had just been formed. It was to be the future of all design organizations anywhere in the world. They hired only the best. They aimed for the moon. Plans were large, reach was global. The potential was immense. Within 3 months, the financial crisis of 2008 hit the business world that was too complacent to heed the warning signs. It was a simple decision for the mammoth organization to consider scrapping the fledgling enterprise, still in its infancy. All employees faced termination and a dark and uncertain future.

This too passed. He not only survived the scare but went on to lead it.

2011. I found the life in Europe without my family meaningless and decided to go back to India. (much like my friend in 2008 who decided to leave Romania).

As serendipity would have it, the SAME boss who had given him the call, gave me a call, opened another door and here I am, still in Europe, with my family. There is not a day that passes by, where I do not thank this gentleman. He would not like to be named and hence I am resisting my temptation to thank him for the whole world to know.

2013. The daughter of a friend of mine was in a similar situation to that of mine. She was tired of living on temporary visas and packed up her bags and took a goodbye tour to Florence. How could she leave Europe without standing in complete awe in front of the 17 ft statue of Adam? Her bags were packed, the furniture put on sale, a one-way ticket to India booked. It was a sad adios to a lot of “what could have been”

She receives a call from one of the headhunters when she was boarding her train from Florence. She is now a German citizen, having surrendered her Indian Passport. Beautifully penned here in her blog (this blog was the trigger to my blog – basically the same thing – but I thought to spread positivity is not a crime)

Yes yes, I know, we are never happy with personal stories, we always need well-known stories, so here let me recollect a few, maybe the years are mixed up – I could have googled to be certain, but let the fallacy of a human brain be on record here!

2003. Aron Ralston. He was certain that he was on his way to meet his Maker!

We all know how it ended, thanks to “Between a rock and a hard place” & “127 hours”

1986 Joe Simpson. When Simon Yates cut the rope on the descent from Siula Grande after Joe broke his leg and went over the ledge, neither Simon nor Joe had any chance of a different outcome than the worst possible one. Simon spent a few cruelling days recuperating while preparing himself on what to tell the world and more importantly HOW to tell the world.

Joe fell down a crevasse, crawled, was almost snow blinded, cried, hallucinated, heard “Brown Girl In The Ring” playing in his mind and reached the base camp in the middle of the night, three days later, shouting “Simon” beating all odds to stay alive, went on to continue climbing, authoring a most beautiful “Touching the Void”.

So, even when everything appears to be a mere formality to pull down the curtains and announce THE END, life somehow finds a way to move on, survive and at times even thrive, coming out stronger.

It shall be the same with the current Covid-19. The odds are stacked against us,  by the sheer magnitude of the task, the speed with which it spreads, left at times to biggest morons like Trump and Narendra Modi, but we shall overcome and emerge stronger. 

In the immortal words of Robert Frost

Pic Courtesy: BrainyQuote.