Nostalgia is a dirty liar. It insists things were better than they seemed. Let me take you two trains back to a spring night of May 1999. At that time prospective of life matters was a bit different. I was a 2nd-year student at the University of Engineering and Technology, in Taxila. We were sitting in our hostel and chirpings’ cozy rooms like sparrows. A crazy idea hit out imaginations, and we decided to take an adventure to Khanpur dam, around 15 km far from our place. We hopped on to the first bus available and left.
We search our best spot for swimming. And started enjoying the cold night, delicate shrills of water around. With a depth of 500 meters, and a clear sky above us.
What an Unexpected Thing Happened There- Life Matters?
I was a fine swimmer since childhood and have always enjoyed it with all my heart. There is a certain pleasure in flying like a bird in deep waters. I was in the memory lane of how much I was an admirer of swimming. All of a sudden I felt a cramp in my left leg. I ignored it and kept swimming anyways. Within next two seconds, my right leg ached and I felt a pang of pain. I panicked and floated for another 3 minutes, but it was all in vain-I was exhausted.
My head was bobbing up and down. I screamed for help and my friends rushed to grab me. True friends, I must say, are a blessing. Despite the terror- one faces while seeing something uncertain and unpredictable at times of fun. They hurried to help me.
I was still struggling to breathe. I could notice the energy leaving my body as the soul drifts away when a person dies. I could taste the water going down my throat and started filling up in my body. I stopped struggling and thought to give up. The last sliver light peeking in through the thick layer of fungus on the surface of the water, touched my cheeks. I recited some verses from the Holy book of Quran.
I was sure of my death but my heart was not. As soon as my feet hit the slimy stones at the bottom, I felt a layer of hope ran in my body down to my spine. I gathered all my energy and managed the last “Push” for the sake of my life.
The power gave a kick start from my feet to my chest, and I was heading toward the surface like a fish going to have a sigh! And you feel why life matters!
My friends were still searching for my lost hands. As soon as they touched my fingers, they hustle to grab my hands, gave a strong “Pull” and managed to tug me out of the water. I could feel the water inside my body; I started crying and vomiting like a baby.
For the next 4 days, I was admitted to the hospital, feeling in my brain that I am drowning. My heart was still pounding at the same pace or faster. And for the first time, I had that feeling like the world was moving all around me, all beneath me, all inside me, and I was floating, somewhere in mid-air. But something was holding me, and it’s holding me ever since. And after two decades, I can tell it was the “Pull” of my friends who completed my last “Push.”
I realized Batman’s Dad was right after all “We fall so that we can learn to pick ourselves up”.
Life doesn’t get easier, it never was, its never going to be, Instead, we get stronger, flexible, and more resilient.
What did I learn from this Incidence?
Ever since I am not afraid of taking risks, going out, meeting people, experiencing life. Because I have the support of some true friends who believed me then and who believe me now. Every person we meet is either a blessing or a lesson. They matter the most, they make us who we are. They define our personality and play a vital role in outlining our character. Never ever forget, that Life Matters Most.
Their small acts matter, and they should be celebrated and appreciated. Someone turns out the lamp, picks up the windblown wrapper, says hello to the unsound. Pays at the unattended lot, listens to the repeated tale, folds the deserted laundry, plays the game, tells the story, acknowledges help, gives credit, says goodnight, resists temptation, wipes the counter, waits at the yellow, makes the bed, tips the maid, remembers the illness,
Congratulates the victor, accepts the consequences, takes a stand, steps up, offers a hand, goes first, goes last, chooses the small portion, teaches the child, tends to the dying, comforts the grieving, removes the splinter, wipes the tear, directs the lost, touches the lonely.
The truth is, what is most beautiful is least acknowledged. What is worth dying for is barely noticed.