My friend Ganga lost her mother in Bangalore last evening. 'Aunty Polly' as we all fondly called her.
The news was conveyed to her by that one phone call that we all dread.....not knowing when...
Something that she had been mentally preparing herself for, since some time now. For her mother hadn't been too well in the last year, having suffered a series of minor strokes.Each of which had made her progressively weaker.
The primary reason that she has been able to accept the fact that her mother is now no more. Peacefully gone away from this earth and onto a place where there is a 'Safe haven.'
Being able to recall happy memories, being able to share her mother's photographs and thoughts.As we all sat around earlier today, I couldn't help but think of these lines by my favourite poet,Khalil Gibran, who has really said it all.
Then Almitra spoke, saying, "We would ask now of Death."
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?....
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond....
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity. .....
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides.....
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
(Khalil Gibran)
Most of us take death as final, the end of so many things.If we are able to make the mental shift and see death as a part of life, not as an end but as a continuation of the longer journey of the soul, there is freedom in that thought.We can all probably face our own death but death of our near and dear ones is what we all dread. Coming to terms with the death of a loved one is a journey that takes it's own time. My condolences to your friend. Mudita.
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