The unexpectedness of Death

There are some moments in life and some memories which just cant be erased- however hard one tries. Some may be good, some bad, and some extremely sad.

Here's one such....

Oct 1994- I was then working as Account Director with a leading Advertising Agency here in Muscat and managing some of their key accounts. The job also entailed meeting clients located in an Industrial area called Rusayl, well ahead of the international airport,which was about 40 kms from my office. So a meeting such as this it was usually something that I planned for about 10 am, giving me enough time to make the long drive and still get there in time.

Driving speeds here in the Gulf are very fast, and range from 80-140 kms, on a regular basis,it just depends on what stretch of the road one is covering. I normally drove fairly fast, but controlled...

All prepared and keyed up for a meeting with a major client, and not really focusing on what I was driving past, my attention was suddenly drawn to something, or was it someone(?) who was lying on the road, just after I crossed the main roundabout after the Muscat Internatational Airport. Slowing down as much as I could, given the fact that there were many speeding cars just behind me. I was instantly numbed with shock.

I saw a young Indian male in his twenties, who was convulsing after death had already claimed him. One of his shoes was off his foot and lay somewhere near him,his eyes had rolled up, and that was it.

The unexpectedness of death. He was obviously the victim of a hit and run accident, having tried to cross the road, where no-one actually should.

In the few seconds that I passed that scene, and many, many times later, I thought, here was a young man, dressed for work, possibly living here alone in the Gulf, and his family in India. He was dead, and now what?

Making it to that meeting and going through that day, I did it somehow, but will never, ever forget those moments.