The last month of April was a difficult one, just after Ramadan, when I was getting ready to bring on some vacation, my sister had an unusual headache followed by a series of CT Scans and MRI, which confirmed a subdural haematoma, a condition in which blood was accumulated in the side of the brain, and she had to undergo a burr hole process immediately.

While she was moved for the scans, I was with her, removing her jewellery, the heavy gold chains, bangles, and earrings, and in the removal of it, I wondered how little they seemed to matter before her health and life!

And then

A few weeks later, I was attending our neighbour’s son’s wedding. The location was the same, but this time it was decked up for the wedding reception with expensive decor and a glamorous ambience.

Seated in my extra comfortable reclining sofa, I recalled five years ago, at the same location, the COVID delta wave was at its peak, and people were dying like flies, the same place the neighbour was brought, discharged from the hospital, he lay at the same open platform, gasping for breath, an oxygen cylinder was arranged, and with great dificulty he was transfered home the next door.

A few days later, he passed away.

Back to the present.

It is his Son’s reception, and the entire family, minus him, is busy with the photoshoot; no one seems to remember it except me. I didn’t want to be the killjoy, so I remained silent and kept the lessons only for myself.

Life may not always vacillate between extremes, but these two incidents taught me that during a difficult time, our priorities fundamentally shift, or maybe what we actually value surfaces.

While on our regular days, we may remain oblivious to the real things we truly value and enchanted by the fantasies in our heads, most often created by unconscious comparisons with others, it is the hardships and tough times that actually guide us.

By this, I do not wish that either you or I have to go through a tough time to truly understand what we value.

How about, then, becoming an observer of life, of the crucial moments it brings, with their priceless lessons and letting that be enough to teach us?

On to our learning, until next time.

Warmly

Mehnaz Amjad.