SOMETIMES

The Jacket

And I thought I am going to lose it forever. This was the second time I had to endure that thought. 

We just checked into a hotel, and I was getting ready to have my bath, when my room mate walked in, and we started to have a conversation. Suddenly there was this loud hissing noise as though of a major gas leak coming from outside. Out of curiousity my room mate opened the room door to inspect, to be greeted with a frantic voice shouting "FIRE FIRE, PLEASE LEAVE THE ROOM and GO DOWN using the FIRE STAIRCASE". Confused of course but realising the imminent danger, my room mate and I grabbed our little bags which had our passports and other important documents and ran towards the Fire staircase. I was half naked, (thank God it was the top half), but my roomate was fully clothed as he had just stepped in just now, before the commotion. 

We were on the 6th Floor of the hotel, and by the time we reached the 3rd floor staircase, the lights went off, and it was pitch dark. Luckily both of us had our phones, and we progressed to the ground floor with the light from the phone torch light. At that point we were the only ones climbing down the staircase with hotel staffs going up, perhaps to evecuate the others. By the time we came to the ground floor lobby, there was already thick smoke greeting us. We made a dash to the the street with hotel staff ushering us. 

We made a head count to check whether our other comrades were out, slowly one by one emerged from the smoky lobby with other hotel guests. All were out except 3. We were frantic, we informed the hotel staff about them. Our main concern was one of our mates who owing to stroke a few years ago has a slight mobility impairment. After a good 10 minutes all 3 of them emerged from the lobby, where by now there was already a thick smoke bellowing from both from the lobby and the 7th floor. The fire department came soon after and their attention was targetted in rescuing a guest who was stuck on the 6th floor. He was eventually rescued through the window. No casualty was reported with serious injuries except for the rescued guests and one of our mates who had some breathing difficulty was sent to the hospital via ambulance for examination and observation. To our relief, our mate who had to spend a night in the hospital was discharged the next day with a clean bill of health.

Our journey of friendship began in 1983 in USM, Penang and slowly this relationship became an eternal bond that saw us through thick and thin. Of the 31 comrades only 14 of us participated in this outing. 

We were more concerned for each other than thinking about ourselves during the crisis. As for me the reflection of the crisis only sat in last night, and started thinking about the "what if" scenarios. It did bring a spine-chilling thought.

My jacket had taken me places and has kept me company for a long time. I hung the jacket in the cubboard as I came into the hotel room. The poor "fellow" endured the heat and smoke and survived. I shouted hurrah the next day when the hotel staff brought down guests' belongings, when I saw my Jacket was intact. Unfortunately one of my mates lost his watch, and he was visibly upset as the watch was of sentimental value to him. I can empathize with him and such a loss is not easy to digest nor accept. Some might ask, "What's the big deal? After all, we should be grateful that nothing serious had happened to us." But it's not that simple to unravel these feelings. Emotions can run far deeper than mere relief.

Beyond that, the thought of losing one another was defintely playing in all our minds, though none of us spoke about it. 

நட்பு என்னும் நூலால் பின்னிய மலர் மாலையை,
தவறி விழுந்தால் எட்டிக் கொண்டிட முடியாது.
அதைச் சிறுத்தி விடுவது பயமாகும்

    

The Garland Woven with the Thread of Friendship,

If it Slips and Falls, Cannot Be Picked Up Whole.

The Fear of it Breaking Keeps One Holding on Tightly.

The above poem speaks volume on the nature of friendship and the fear of losing a friend. Beyond fear this incident, without doubt had conjured profound awareness on the fragility of LIFE and reminding us not to take anything for granted. It made us realize that life can change in an instant, hence telling us to cherish every moment in a relationship. It created an avenue to value friendship and aprreciate the present and finding strengths in connections that transcend transient challenges.

SOMETIMES the thought of merely losing a jacket is only an external manifestation of an internal call to reconcile oneself with the notion of gratitude, compassion and embrace the fleeting beauty of life with humility and love. 

Bopath Waterfalls, Ratnapura, Sri Lanka

But all things said and done, the final words before we parted were, "Let's plan for the next overseas trip." This ecapsulates the true spirit of our brotherhood. Despite everything, our bond remained strong and instead of dwelling on what had transpired on this trip, we were already looking forward to the next adventure.

CHEERS to friendship that doesn't just endure but thrives on the future and new beginnings.  

.......sometimes........

ravivarmmankkanniappan@1517081220243.0567° N, 101.5851° E