vāsānsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya
navāni gṛihṇāti naro ’parāṇi
tathā śharīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇānya
nyāni sanyāti navāni dehī
“As a person sheds worn-out garments and wears new ones, likewise, at the time of death, the soul casts off its worn-out body and enters a new one.”
(BG 2.22)
I had a classmate named Adil. He came from a modest family in the village of Poudre d’Or (north of Mauritius) and his dad was a taxi driver. Adil was the reticent type of guy, with close to no friends. He would carry a school bag with heavy stitches covering most of it. At that time, half of the prescribed textbooks, he wouldn’t have and the rest was either secondhand or borrowed. He would always bring sardines in his bread and most of his classmates avoided sitting next to him because of the fishy smell.
Many times it happened that he requested and almost pleaded to me for teaming up with him for project works or group discussions. And I still remember almost shamefully, how many times I had denied his earnest request just to team up with my circle of friends. I had in my mind that with my friends, the marks for the collective project works would be higher. It even happened once, for a badminton tournament, we had rejected him from our team of 4 players because he couldn’t afford a professional badminton racket fearing that it would impede on our performance for the competition.
One day at school, it was only a couple of hours since classes had started. The weather started deteriorating rapidly. It was soon raining cats and dogs, accompanied by unimaginable thunderstorms which seemed to tear the sky apart. The lightnings were whipping across the mountains in iridescent colors in a dancing ballet that seemed to assert that nature is still here; mortals should not meddle with nature. Soon after, the local meteorological services issued an alert of ‘heavy torrential rain’ throughout the island and schools were to be released immediately. It was a real panic situation in the country, many parents were compelled to leave their workplace to rush to pick their children and I was among those waiting for my dad who had to travel 22 km to fetch me. It had been more than an hour since school got released and the yard was almost empty. Dad was stuck in the dense traffic as the rain was intermittent. Several calls from him indicated that he would not be here any soon.
Having no other option, I decided to walk to the bus stop. I was completely drenched and my knees were shaking from the cold weather. The raindrops were so fierce that they felt like slaps and jolts of electricity wherever they touched the skin. The roads were flooded and I had to paddle my way through. That day the bus stop appeared far and close to unreachable.
I felt alone, scared and at my wit’s end. People lost their lives because of these torrential rains. The roars of the wind appeared as if the Gods were battling in the Heavens. Who will be my saviour? There was emptiness everywhere, outside and inside..
Photo Credits: Canva
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