Ours was a happy family. And thanks to my parents, life had mostly been a bed of roses for me. Never had anything to worry about. Everything seemed to be taken care of, as if

by magic. Being the youngest in the family certainly helped. But my elder brother was not so fortunate. He was always struck down with some illness. Elaborate medical check ups revealed nothing. He was perfectly all right, the doctor declared.

All of us could see there was something wrong with him. But no one knew what. One day, I was watching the telly when my brother started to shiver like a dhami. I hugged him and tried to control his shiver. I couldn’t. He had to be rushed to hospital. Little did I know this was just the start of a long hardship for the family.

I was sitting by his bed in hospital when I heard my name. I turned to see that he wanted to talk. About our family. He expressed his dismay at the hardships the family was having to go through because of his illness. I tried to talk him out of his forlorn mood, trying to comfort him that everything was going to be just fine. He nodded in agreement.

It was the only happy moment during our stay at hospital. Not long after, I was sitting beside him when he started to writhe again. I screamed for the doctor. But it was too late. Leaving me alone and in tears, he was gone. Just like that.

This bitter experience taught me some important lessons. I learnt that life is a constant struggle and one might lose out anytime. English writer and historian Erskine Childrens put it perfectly: “It seems perfectly simple and inevitable, like lying down after a long day’s work.” The simplicity and the inevitability of it is indeed the cruellest. For one never knows when his flame might be snuffed out. It might occur anytime. Any place.

And yet all that those left behind can do is pick up the pieces and move on. What other option is there? But even now I find it hard to believe that someone you love so much can be wrenched away from you in an instant. Only the precious memories remain, which sometimes make you smile, sometimes cry. Some depict life as a fairy tale. It might be that anyone expecting a smooth ride all along is in for a rude awakening.