Skip to main content

To Mesut Hancer and his daughter Irmak

 

Mesut Hancer clings on to Irmak

I don’t know you, Mesut Hancer Sir, but my heart goes out to you. How painful it must have been to hold Irmak’s cold, lifeless hand through the wreckage. How heavy her little fingers must have felt. How you must have yearned for one little sign of hope. To hear her voice again. To feel her palm wrap around your index finger one last time.

15 years of her life you held her close, protecting her, guiding her, ushering her through the crazy, cruel world. And yet on this day, this dreaded sense of helplessness creeping in through the corner of the door….

This is a moment every parent dreads, and it is a nightmare you are having to live.

There are no words to console, nothing can be said to make things right. To make the day a tad brighter. To numb the pain. To stop that hollow feeling in your chest. Time? Time’s healing power is overrated.

We look through the window and find our eyes moist. But you, my poor Sir, you are living that terrible dream that wakes us up in the middle of the night, breathless and in despair, scrambling for a glass of water.

It must be like walking through hell. Strolling barefoot over broken glass scattered on the ground. The air unbreathable. The sky overcast. Grey and dark.

To find the light of your life gone and gone forever. And to feel the helplessness of a parent, a father. To feel weak. Incapable of protecting your life’s most precious possession. For the father needs his child as much as the child needs his father. They are both feeble without each other’s warm embrace.

What is the value of life without someone worth living for? And yet we fail to decipher how brittle life can be. We chase material dreams and forget the fragile bonds that hold us together. Until someone’s sorrow bursts the cocoon. Like a simple picture of a poor father clinging on to his dead daughter.

It throws my life into perspective too. As I drop my child off to school, my fingers linger on his little hands a little longer. I reach ahead of time to pick him up. My heart melts when he rushes out the door with a big beaming smile. I hold his hands a little tighter, refusing to let go, as we head home.

What is life’s worth without the one you are willing to die for?

I don’t know you, Mesut Hancer Sir, but my heart goes out to you. My heart weeps for Irmak. I hope you both find peace. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How am I doing, actually?

For past 10 months, a lot of people have been asking me how I have been. And I’ve always maintained that I’m fine. But I guess it’s time I brush aside those fake one-liners and honestly ask myself, “ How am I doing, actually?” I thought I would give up blogging after Baba passed away. Yet here I am, remembering Him, and trying to make a comeback of sorts. I remember how He always encouraged me to write, saying that it was important to have different aspects of one’s life, and not just work till you drop. How do you cope with life after losing that pillar of your world? How do you get a grip on yourself and try to fix your messed up life? How do you take that step ahead, knowing that now there’s no one to fall back to if you make a mistake? Simple, You don’t. There’s no written protocol, no Standard Operating Procedure. Like they say, life simply doesn’t come with an instruction manual. I remember I used to have a decent life, not a care in life, no worries. I had my pare...

2441139

“Hello, 2441139, Can you hear me, Bela Bose?” Anjan Dutta sang this song a decade back. And yet, to some people like me, it still rings a bell deep inside. Although the original song is quite pacy, Mr. Dutta performed an acoustic version sometime back, with his son, Neel, which really melts the heart. This song has a special memory of my childhood. As a child, we always look at things at a different perspective. We seldom realise the intensity of the moment. “2441139” was a fun song for me and my cousins in Coochbehar. We play the song until the last part, where Anjan Dutt repeated sings “Hello, 2441139; Hello, 2441139....” We would dial 2-4-4-1-1 (back those days, telephone number used to be of 5 digits). An old lady would pick up the phone and we would bring the receiver close to the speaker of the stereo and Anjan Dutt would do the rest. “Hello 2441139, Hello 2441139...” Then it was growing up and stages of infatuations, understanding love and finally, falling in love. Unless ...

A Letter to Dog-Heaven

How do you communicate with the departed? What if there’s no last meeting, what if You are 2 days late? In a first of its kind in my blog, I’m writing a letter to Dog-Heaven, where my beloved angel is probably spreading her love and her laughter… Dear Scamper, It’s been two months now, but I think of You every day. You are always in my mind. I’m sorry I couldn’t write to You earlier. I am sad. I am still gutted but I understand why You left my side. You have been fighting illness for the past 2 years and more, to the point where finally You had to give in. I am still hollow today, hurt beyond imagination at this loss. But don’t worry too hard, dear, I’ll make it through. I remember the first time I saw You, I remember it so clearly that I feel younger right this moment. I go back roughly 12 and a half years , that enchanting morning when the quirky 14 year old version of me rushed into the living room and saw You sitting solemnly in a little box. You little face was puzzled...

3 Idiots to 100 crore Idiots!

Next time someone calls me an Idiot, I’ll be glad! This exactly was my reaction after watching “3 Idiots”. The movie brings in different kinds of realisation into you. What I realised are: • We all need good friends to survive and stay alive. Friendship is more than having fun and hanging out, it’s standing up for one another. This movie makes me realise how lucky I am to have people who are always there for me, but more than that, it makes me sit back and wonder, am I that good a friend? That question, unfortunately is for someone else to answer! • Amir Khan is the best, simply the best performer there is! Be it is Bhuvan from Lagaan, ASP Rathod from Sarfarosh, Akash from Dil Chahta Hain, Nikumbh Sir from Taare Zameen Par or Rancho from 3 Idiots, He has done it all. Playing a college student when he’s 44, that’s a “Chamatkar” (couldn’t refer to the * word from 3 Idiots, this is a family blog!). I was a Amir Khan fan for as long as I remember and in 3 Idiots, he made me so glad and won...

Marriage Anniversaries, Time and Tide

  Match made in heaven, but perfected on Earth. Those who say Time and Tide wait for none are probably bachelors. Because married people will know that Mr. Time and Mr. Tide have to wait for their Mrs. Mr. Time will have to wait while the missus chooses a dress. Mr. Tide will have to sit solemnly with his wife and wait while she shops for new clothes. The bachelors of the world are unlikely to be abreast of such wisdom. It is only the married masses who have been enlightened with this resourceful information. I'm sure my married pals will agree. In private, of course. Interestingly, on this day, ten years ago, I registered my name among the enlightened bunch, the patient waiters. Sumita was officially promoted to the position of my better half. We were locked in wedlock, all set to face the world hand in hand. I used to imagine that sharing a house with me would be fun, but have, over time, realized that such a statement might not be entirely true. I do have a penchant fo...

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *