Five-years ago, this month, me and my family came as close to dying, as I could have ever imagined. We moved to St. Thomas, USVI and found a perfect home right on the beach. The American dream was just beginning to unfold but then it met a cat-5 hurricane. I had no clue what a hurricane is when my colleague first warned me of the storm building in our direction. By the time I realized the real risk, the stores were out of lumber to cover windows and my little effort to move out of the island did not materialize.
The day arrived and hurricane IRMA hit us hard on September 6, 2017. I was hopeful, as I was told, that the hurricane will bring in inconvenience, but we will be fine. However, the life is not fair. Wind at over 120 km/hour along with flying debris broke our first window in the loft, leaving Swati with bleeding right hand. Soon after, another window broke in the living room and now our house was a whirling washing machine. I had to make a daring decision to open the main door so that the incoming wind could pass, else it could blow-off the roof.
The wind was so hard, but I had no choice but to hold the door open for more than an hour. Picture this, I’m seeing flying debris at a high speed, including parts of roofs. My two little kids, then seven and three were hiding in the bathroom. Swati was trying to move the couch to adjust in between the open main door and wall so that I can let it go. In the process, the door slammed on my hand, hurting and making it even more difficult to hold the door open.
All my dreams and my courage were crashing but Swati was the hero of the day. Swati said, “losing here is not an option.” We fought as a family and came out alive. Next few days were very painful but because of exceptional support of my colleagues and neighbors, we evacuated to Puerto Rico and then to Sun Valley, Idaho, where we live now. In the process, we left behind everything we gathered during the last few months.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but when I look back now, I know something changed in me that day. Life was never same again. Up until that day, life was about chasing a dream of endless needs, craving for making it big and proving my capabilities to the world.
I was looking at success, satisfaction, joy, and meaning of my life in external-materialistic possessions. I realized that day it is not about being happy if you achieve what you desire for. Rather, it is about how joyful you are in working hard to achieve what you desire and are still happy if you aren’t successful. I realized the trueness of Rumi’s verse; “you are not the drop in an ocean, you are an ocean in a drop.” We keep trying to make a life outside of us when it is all within and the connection, we make with other lives is what defines our time in this infinite game of life.
I realized people make life, not things. People are to be loved and things to be used because the other way round never works. I realized the mistakes I made over the years by loving things and taking people for granted. For example, many years ago when my brother asked to learn driving on my car, and I refused. Car, like most of the other things in our life are just a utility, but a brother is a friend, a companion for lifetime.
I realized running faster than others to win the race of materialistic life, as we call it, is so foolish. The joy is in taking everyone forward.
Share the blessings of life you have, the lessons you have learned, lift as many as you can — believe me you will sleep well and live a life worth dying for.
