A Toast To Life

Ok, so the Big Bang experiment is underway and what's more thrilling than the experiment itself is all the hype surrounding it. Today morning, I thought nothing of it when I woke up. At about three in the afternoon as I sat chatting away with Cindy and Lena online, I felt the bed shaking and the first thought that struck me was, This is it! I just grabbed both my phones, ran to the door, and yelled for my six-month-pregnant next door neighbor. Apparently she and her small girl had not felt it, and they both were wondering what the fuss was all about. Also, none on our floor had come out of their houses. She told me to just calm down, and I rang my Dad, who was on the way home. And then I stepped back into the house after telling her not to use the lift just in case, and left the main door unlocked. Then another neighbor came out of her house saying she had felt it too and that she was going downstairs and we all started cussing those stupid scientists who were doing their thing in Geneva today.

Flicking on the news, we found out that the tremors were a result of an earthquake in neighboring Iran (6.1 on the Richter scale), and not due to the Big Bang! Thankfully there were no casualties in that country nor here. All malls in Dubai and many high rise buildings were evacuated following the tremors, just for security measure. We all had a good laugh and my neighbor said she is thankful for having such a watchful girl next door. It is indeed funny right now when I think about it, but what if the earthquake had been a massive one? Then maybe I would not have been here typing this post right now. Life is so unpredictable, and who knows when we would have to pass on. And during such times only do we realize just how nothing else matters than life itself, be it our own or that of our loved ones. All I could wonder that moment was whether my Dad was safe, and whether I would get to see him one last time, in case something did go wrong.

Thanks to the mad daily rush of routine and all mundane happenings tied to it, we tend to take life for granted. Makes me wonder why we ruin so many precious moments cribbing and fretting and fighting when that could be the very last thing we might ever do. I still remember waking up to an earthquake in Chennai, on the day of the Tsunami in December 2004, and then another tremor about six months later. There was one neighbor who had come to the car park clutching a small travel bag for her and her husband, which she had kept ready since the day of the Tsunami, containing essentials like some clothes, biscuits, medicine, and cash. I really admired her foresight, 'cause in times when there is nothing to do but run for your life, a bag like that could really come handy later, if one survives that is! Jokes apart, when I now think about what could have happened today afternoon, even if those would have been my final moments, I would have had no complaints. I was talking to two of my closest friends when it took place, and would have died with the satisfaction of having loved and been loved by my loved ones. What better last moments and thoughts could one have?

Of course, there would be that tinge of regret of not having done so many things that I wanted to, but when we have to go, we just have to go. Death is not a foe, it is the ultimate truth of life. So why not live each moment to the fullest and take life as it comes, 'cause what we have this moment is much more than we ourselves can ever know, until we lose it all. This life is a miracle meant to be cherished, a saga of loving and being loved in return. Such tremors, though as scary as they are when they occur, are essential once in a while to make us stick closer to life, and to those who make it worth living. Maybe it is nature's way of telling us humans to just leave her alone, and live and let live. Whatever hardships it tends to toss our way, let's raise a toast now and then to good old life, the greatest teacher ever. Cheers!

Images :

*Life by AdonisWerther
*After Life by barns
*On The Sunny Side Of Life by gilad
*Drink The Pink by Bntal3nabi