In Celebration of Being Alive!

Yes...I am a big fan of celebrated South African surgeon - Dr. Christian Bernard, whose pioneering surgical efforts as much as his fabulous philosophy - a celebration of being alive - something all human beings should aspire to do - never cease to leave an impression. This week gave me cause to reflect on Dr. Bernard's beliefs yet again - when my sister-in-law and dear friend succumbed to endometriosis or uterine cancer which had only been diagnosed in October 2013. What followed was a truly traumatic time for friends and family. Apart from the agony of seeing someone as lively and vivacious as this lady deteriorate steadily were the logistics of taking her from one hospital to another subjecting her to endless chemotherapy and radiation sessions, morphene injections and other indignities - in early April in the presence of the entire family, she finally breathed her last. As we all prepared to give her a fitting farewell and bid her soul adieu in its journey into the afterlife to merge with the divine (a common belief among us Hindus), one thought assailed my senses again. How important it is to live every day as if it were your last. You do not know in the greater scheme of things who you may have the good fortune or bad karma, as the case may be, to encounter the next morning, next month, next year. Being positive, pleasant and living a life free of regret must come as prerequisites or essential tools/ instructions in the DNA manual to being human today.

Quite often in the rat race that life has become - and if you live in a city as busy as Dubai you definitely appreciate what I am saying here - you forget to appreciate the finer touches, the sentiments, the subtle nuances, the mundane everyday little bits and pieces - that make life worth living. While in 50 years time the money you earned or the education you attained may have little or no consequence, how you lived and what people thought of you as a human being will definitely leave a lasting impact. About Vinita Rajkumar, who lived the moment with effortless ease and managed to secure more real-time friends than many pretenders to extroverted-ness might boast of on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, there can be little doubt. She epitomised Dr. Barnard's human being - she celebrated life and lived just as she died - in the limelight. Rest in peace girl, you have been an inspiration, and all of us - friends and family have been privileged to know you - for the short span you were with us. I am now resolved to live life. Large.