'Farewell my Friend' - 'Death Be Not Proud'.

Musings from a Recliner – 0530 hrs - 16 Jun 23 ~ Lally Virk

‘Farewell my Friend’ - ‘Death Be Not Proud’.

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,

Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,

And soonest our best men with thee do go,

Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,

And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well

And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.'

                                                            ~ John Dunne

Extremely saddened about the ‘moving on’ of 2 of our dear course-mates or ‘brothers from other mothers.’

Though I did not ever get the opportunity to interact with BVK, SK Kapoor and I got along pretty well whenever we met.

He was in the neighbouring Golf Sqn and our paths would often cross. He would look at me with that shy half smile of his and we would always exchange a few pleasantries before walking off to our respective sqns.

 
Let me recount an anecdote that happened about 6/7 years back. I met SK after a pretty long time in one of the get-togethers of the ‘Delhi Chapter’. I saw this ‘rather heavyset squatty guy’ walk up to me and hold out his hand which I promptly shook. For a split second I didn’t place him and he did make out, but before he could tell me, that ‘half smile’ did the trick. Nonetheless, he introduced himself and we hugged each other.

 
As is usual the talk veered around NDA. Suddenly he looks at me and says, ‘Tere ko yaad hai, tune meri badi pitai ki thi’. I looked at him incredulously, ‘Maine teri kab pitai ki thi oye’. That naughty glint with the half smile back and SK says, ‘Tu bhool gaya hai – you and I fought the novices boxing bout and you gave me a bloody good bashing’. We both laughed and hugged each other again.

 
Now comes the freaky part. A couple of days ago my son, Yuvraj, and I were sitting beside Jasmin who is admitted in Artemis. As is want of us ‘ole fellas’ at this stage of our lives, I was just trying to lighten the tense air all around us by talking about our days in NDA. I don’t really recall the exact thread because of my fuzzy brain, but somehow I recounted the above episode of SK and me to my son. I hadn’t met SK since that meeting of years ago, but somehow he came to my mind that day. Probably it was some premonition or his proximity, being also admitted in Artemis. Had I known he was admitted in Artemis, I would have positively looked him up because Artemis Hospital is more of a home today to the ‘Virks’, than The Camellias where we now reside.

 
So long my friend ‘SK the Ace’……..till we meet again. 🙏

Coming back to the subject of ‘Death Be Not Proud’…….well, this is what I keep telling ‘death’, as it comes knocking on our door ever so often in the last few years as my dear wife, Jasmin, battles with it day on day. I do not know what the final outcome after the tenth round will be, but what I do know is the we are giving this fight with the 'crab' one hellva fight. Though I daresay, at the end of the ‘seventh round’ the scales seem to be tilting in favour of the 'crab', but we still have 3 more rounds to go and I know, Jasmin is not going to give in till the last bell and the family, as 'seconds', is egging her on !!

 
Talking about all of us ‘brothers from other mothers’. We possibly have around 10 odd 'good' years ahead to fulfil our bucket lists. I feel, the catch words or mantra for our sunset years should be – ‘Bonhomie, Camaraderie, Energy, Enthusiasm & Empathy’. Moderation, the vegan diet fad etc etc and what have you, be damned. You gotta go you gotta go !!!

 
If we are going to exercise moderation in everything, 'Toh phir rang kaise jamega......jab mil baithenge teen yaar' !!!!

 
'Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body bedecked with flowers in a walnut wood carved coffin, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, a cigar in one hand and a martini in the other, thoroughly used up, totally broken and worn out, and loudly proclaiming as you go sliding down, "Wow! What a Ride !!!!'.

Lastly, “Don’t go to your grave with your best work inside of you. Choose to die empty.”

Die with memories, not dreams. 🤗🏌🌴

P.S - (It's been ages since I last mused, so pardon me if it looks a bit rusty or jaded.)