Are you an Actor who leaves half stage?

Some time back I happened to attend the funeral function of one of my neighbor. It was an early and untimely death. He was only forty five years old and the father of two children of seventeen and fifteen years of age. The death was predicted by doctor one week back, as he was critically ill and was hospitalized in the ICU. But the whole episode of the bereavement was however unpredicted and a totally unwanted visitor for the family. When the news of the death came, I went to meet his wife and children .The wife was tired of crying and when I tried to console her, she said,  “This vacation we were planning for a family tour. He was just back after an official tour, but suddenly fell ill and was hospitalized”. Her mother –in-law, couldn’t stop her tears and told me, “He is the one who has to do my last rituals, but..”. I couldn’t find words to console the children. For them, their daddy was the best.

The travel to cemetery gave me some time to think about death. I kept thinking about the family. My thoughts forced to put myself in the shoes of the wife who just lost her husband. The pain and agony was immense. With lots of responsibilities ahead, the wife who do not have a job or other source of income, just appeared shattered. Probably there may not be much financial difficulty for a few, but the vacuum created by the absence of one’s husband would be terrible.

The bus stopped and everyone stepped out to the cemetery. This was the first time I was stepping into a cemetery. Seeing so many graves around, I was feeling a bit nervous and a bit scared. The fear was not because of any filmy influence but because of the fact that we all have to come to this place one day.

 Is life a travel to this destination? If life is a travel and the destination is fixed, what changes is the time of reaching the destination, right? Yes, “Time” is the only factor changing per person. Some people get longer time, others shorter.

Do we have any control over this time? Though we can put the blame on God or say it in nice words, that, “God takes his beloved people earlier”, the fact is that we DO have some responsibility towards our life.

Some men fulfill their responsibility, others do not. Some husbands do their duty, others may not. Some fathers will be there for their children, while others leave them half way. Why? Is it because such fathers think only about their temporary happiness? Or is it because such men do not plan for the future? Or is it because such husbands do not empower their wives?

Whatever be the reason, Can we ever LOVE an ACTOR who leaves the stage before the SHOW gets over? 

Foot note: Stories of wives who are devastated because of untimely death of their husbands are increasing in our society. The man quoted was an alcoholic and died due to liver Cirrhosis. Who should be blamed for the situation? The habit of alcohol consumption? Or the man who did not empower his wife? Or the Government which gets the highest revenue from sale of alcohol? If you are a husband and you consume alcohol, why don’t you consider yourself as your wife for a moment and think about this situation? If you are yet to become a husband, take a pledge against alcoholism today and secure the future of you and your family.