Enthralling Trails

“I'm not afraid of being dead. I'm just afraid of what you might have to go through to get there.”   ―   Pamela Bone The country woke up to the word Euthanasia after Aruna Shanbhag’s death at the KEM Hospital in Mumbai. A nurse by profession, Aruna who worked for the KEM Hospital was in a vegetative state for 42 years  on a ventilator support. She was brain dead, yet breathed with the help of a machine and  the plea for her death as right to die was rejected. Euthanasia  can be defined as the administration of a legal drug by a physician as an act of mercy at the patient's request .   The recent debate on Times News on Euthanasia held several Indians glued to the talk show. The talk spoke of several cases where the patient could not commit a suicide, but needed medical assistance as a means of deliverance from the pathetic state. Some even said that for an old person who has lived a meager life throughout, this state was the richest one in his lifeti

“The truth is I'm getting old, I said. We already are old, she said with a sigh. What happens is that you don't feel it on the inside, but from the outside everybody can see it.”    Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez         The duo staggered, they spoke in whispers to each other.  They were friends, to be precise women who were growing old rapidly. A few years back, I had always  seen them rush back home as early as six in the morning.  Forever, they had the beaming smile then, and a cherishing purpose. Today, it was almost six thirty in the morning as they entered the forest area . Most of the regular walkers were rushing back home, so were we.  They smiled and told me that they could afford to start late and go back later as there was no one at home to look forward to their presence. Their children had flown away, built their own nests,  and looked after their own families. Their growing years were now far more visible than ever. The fatigue that was nev er visible, was se

“Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts.”   Patrick Rothfuss , I looked at her lovingly, she looked a lot more confident and seemed zealous. Teachers spoke a lot about her. I kept saying she was mine. She was ind eed mine as I was her class teacher for five years in a progression, and we had ascended the steps of the subsequent class together, but she was shy then and lacked the expertise she had today. I asked her, 'how could I not elicit these qualities within you'? Had I failed as a guide, friend or as a teacher. She looked at me with a beaming grin, and spoke a lot, I could infer only the fact that the college had given a boost through kind words, to her sense of worth. The recent suicide of four teenage girls of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) water sports center, Punnamada, Alapuzha in kerala moved the people of India . Police said the girls tried to commit suicide after the coaches reprimanded them, forci

Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending. ~ Lazurus Long The dignitaries sat on the stage. It included the Directors and Principals of the senior college, the Management college, the college of E d u c a t i o n , and the upcoming school in the campus. The occasion was a normal one, the age old one, a farewell, a retirement, a superannuation. The faculty members and the non teaching staff were the audience, I could see our Principal dressed for the occasion. It was his retirement. A second retreat at the age of sixty five. He was to head  the upcoming research center , and would be there in the campus, yet it made us feel the pain. He held his head high in pride as he had indeed completed his tenure to the utmost satisfaction, which was worth the pleasure. It took me back to the day when my father retired from his job. Each day before the superannuation, he would  dread the upcoming retirement as a disease, perhaps as a languish of time. Th