Events Beyond Human Control

Death is the opposite of birth. This is the undeniable truth of life but the one that is never thought of, planned, or prepared for. Most of us pass our lives and die one day instantaneously without having the slightest clue that we are about to be gone to never return. After that we are history. Neither birth is known to us nor death. A total of 72 people who recently passed away in the gruesome aviation disaster came to this earth from different time zones and from different cultures and religions. 

Of them, 53 were from Nepal, five from India, four from Russia, two from Korea and one each from Ireland (but some news outlets say the one who died is a ballet dancer from England), Australia, Argentina and France among others. Neither were they aware when they were being born, nor were they aware that they would die and never live again when they boarded the Yeti airlines in Kathmandu en route to Pokhara in the hope of spending a few days with their families and loved ones or holiday themselves. 

This is indeed the harsh reality of death, just like birth, when you have no control where and when you are born, and you have no control of when and where you will die. Most of the time, birth brings joy and death brings sorrow. This episode of INSIGHT is dedicated to all 72 passengers, and their families and friends, who were in the Yeti airlines that met a very sad fate on Sunday, Margha 1, 2079 B.S when it crashed in Pokhara.  The journey of finally accepting that their loved ones are not with them anymore is very difficult but a reality that will take a long time to sink in. 

Coping strategies

People have different coping strategies and even if they get involved in taking care of the immediate activities that are required after death occurs in the family, filling the void that is left behind does not happen for a long time, if ever. There are various religious and spiritual values associated with death. There are also rituals associated with birth and death that are observed by different communities based on their belief systems according to their religious scriptures and value systems. No matter how people grow up and live their lives and what belief systems they develop or don’t develop around death, it might not be an exaggeration to say that each person has their own unique experience of birth and death. 

“No two people in the world live their lives the same way. Similarly, no two people die the same way. People may die in the same situation, of the same cause, but still, they don’t die the same way” writes Sadguru in his book Death, an inside story. This is probably the reality for all 72 passenger that left the earth together, but what went on their mind and how they coped with the situation in the short time when they sensed that they were probably going to die is now a history that has been buried with them.

Death is a mystery still for many. There are speculations and admittance from religious and spiritual gurus that they have unravelled this mystery, but this could again be a very personal matter which needs to be discovered by each one of us. Some choose to do so, some don’t. The whole life cycle of people all over the world is focussed on bringing up children so they can earn, feed, and manage their domestic lives. The domesticated human civilisation has over the years focussed so much on creation of wealth and comfort lifestyles, there is no time left to look into intricacies of life skills which help them to take care of themselves during times when unpleasant events like death of a loved one on whom we are depended happens. How does one cope with it?

The universal truth is that we do not have control on who and where we are conceived and which households we are born into. The womb where we are conceived is not our choice, nor is the spot where we take our last breath. To come to think of it, all the materialist goods we acquire and over the time claim to be ours is also actually not ours. As an infant we all get nurtured to grow up into a full human being. The physical and mental requirements start being fulfilled one by one. 

Contribution to humanity 

This is when we can actually learn how to control our thoughts and feelings if we consciously start looking into what our individualistic needs and our responsibilities are towards the community, the earth and its resources. We can leave this world in a flicker of a moment and our bodies, minds and all earthly acquisitions become null and void. Among those who leave, many are remembered for centuries after they die; however, some are remembered just momentarily and among their own near and dear ones. For those who are gone it may not matter how they are perceived, but for humanity their contributions might be of positive or negative impact.

Birth is viewed as an auspicious occasion, whereas death is viewed as a dark moment. It is mostly because those who die will never return. In the Hindu religion, some days are more auspicious than others. On the day of Maghe Sankranti - the auspicious national holiday in Nepal - 72 passengers of Yeti Airlines plane died together in spite of the fact that they belonged to different religions and communities. There were complete families who departed together that day and some who probably were alone. This is to wish peace for the departed souls and resilience for their families and friends to live through this tragedy. 

(Sharma is a journalist and women rights advocate namrata1964@yahoo.com Twitter handle: @NamrataSharmaP)