Catch and Miss.

There is always a part of us that is scared of loosing people or things that are dear to us, whether it be family, friends, our favourite movie stars or our favourite stuffed toys that we hugged to sleep when we were little kids. Unfortunately, because of self-preservation or just in our attempt to keep up with the mind-numbing (literally!) pace of life, we shut this fear into a small little box and bury it in the deep recesses of our numb mind.

But for how long can it really stay there?

Someday when that person or thing actually does get lost, you realize that the least you could do was to make the most of the opportunities you had while they were around. Today, the great legend of Indian music, Jagjit Singh, the ghazal maestro, passed away and all I could think of was the opportunities that were so readily available to me but which I had so conveniently ignored, always thinking that there would be another time. I grew up listening to the mellow and soothing voice of this great man, not understanding at that time what the words really meant, but growing up with them as companions in times of heart break and homesickness. The suddenness of his passing made me really sit up and think - how many opportunities do we give up because we are too scared or too lazy to actually admit that there may not be another one coming down our way, ever.

Often we take a step back and spend some time introspecting and thinking about where we are in life and what we have achieved. Should we not think about what all we could have achieved instead of puffing up our chests and grinning away to glory for what we have?

Life is really short, you never know when you will turn a corner and come face to face with your biggest fear, the fear of loss. And when you do turn that corner, even though you can never be completely ready to face it, the least you can do is to make the most of the time you have and not be laden with regret when you do.