A TIME TO LIVE AND A TIME TO DIE

(Fateful trips)



During the last days of World War II, an army doctor serving abroad, happened to come to our town to visit some relatives. And there he met a local beauty called Regina, and fell in love with her instantly. The relatives arranged a quick marriage. Captain Selvaraj and his bride went on a brief honeymoon. And then came the sad parting, for the captain had to report for duty.

Out of the Plane


The young couple wrote to each other regularly. There was no phone facility those days. And Regina waited eagerly for the captain's letters, standing at the gate till the postman came. This became the subject for some good-natured joking among the locals.

And then the great day arrived that Regina and Selvaraj had been waiting for. The war came to an end. Capt. Selvaraj cleared all the formalities of discharge, and then rushed eagerly to a plane in which he had been assigned a place.

He took his seat and beamed at everyone around for he could hardly contain his excitement. The plane moved to the runway, and was about to take off. Suddenly there was a communication from the control tower, and the plane came back to the boarding area.

A top-ranking official had to make an urgent trip on this plane, and so one person had to give up his place to the big shot. No one volunteered to do so. Therefore the lowest ranking person was asked to leave the plane. Selvaraj was the only captain on the plane, all the others being majors and above. So he was asked to get off the plane in the midst of his protests and pleadings, which fell on deaf ears. In the army, rank counted for everything. So he got off and trudged to the gate with tears in his eyes.

Meanwhile the plane took off. And it crashed immediately after. All on board were killed. Selvaraj had been spared to go home for a joyous reunion with his wife.

Onto the Train


There was another incident in 1954 when I was working in Hyderabad. The proprietor of a well known cinema theatre was very keen on booking a certain film for his theatre after hearing very good reports about it. The film, `Bahut Din Huwe', was made by Gemini Studios of Madras. The theatre owner decided to go to Madras and make a bid for it.

He made the necessary arrangements for his assistants to run the theatre in his absence, and then rushed to the station only to find the train pulling out before he could reach it. Undaunted, he arranged for a taxi to take him to the next station. After a mad ride, he was able to reach the neighbouring station just as the train had started moving. As he had entered the platform from the side towards which the train was moving, he leaped into the first carriage which was just passing him.

A few hours later the first three or four carriages plunged into a stream that was in spate as the bridge over the stream collapsed. The theatre owner's body was found several miles away where it had been carried by the flooded stream. Another man who tried to get into the front carriage was denied entry by the passengers, and went to the last carriage. He survived the accident, and was able to save many from death.

The next morning when people went to the accident spot, they found the great flood that had brought death to so many, was now just a trickle of water. Call it fate or chance, or whatever else you wish, but there seems to be some force beyond our ken directing the symphony of life and death - the force that pushed the captain out of the plane and pulled the theatre owner into the train.

Perhaps the lesson we learn is to respect the importance of living, and take full advantage of life.


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