Aruna’s Irony Shalini’s Destiny

Aruna Shanbaug : 42 years in a Coma, kept alive by fellow nurses and Doctors, finally passes away.Life is about opposites isn’t it?When she wanted to live, she was strangled and sodomized and left to die. When her vegetative state was confirmed people wished she would rather die than lie lifeless but was kept alive for no less than 42 years. Ironic destiny.Just like life is about opposites so are laws of the land.Every law can have a counter law or point.Kind of confirms Newtons law of motion : every action has an equal and opposite reaction , isn’t it?

Shalini A : 17 year old teenager scored a whopping 84%, like A* grades, in her Grade 12 Higher Secondary exams.But thats not the A-ha part. She worked as a domestic help to support her family.She helped other families to support her own.Her mother sold off Gold and other jewelry at home to maintain her child’s education.No that’s not all. Shalini’s father is a physically challenged person after he met with an accident. No, thats still not all, her brother has been diagnosed with blood cancer.Yup thats all now.That’s how much Destiny is messed up. I mean like, really?

This week was truly a tale of two women and their ironic destinies.How life has a cruel sense of humor and you and I just sit back and crib about how our lives suck.How the AC’s don’t cool enough and the heat is too much, or how the stilettos hurt your feet and the jacket doesn’t feel right.Or how tough it is for you to study because the angle of light from the table lamp is not right.The pencil sharpener was not good enough, or simply how uninterested you are with your education.

How in this day and age of instant gratification we have an example of people dedicating decades to keep someone alive? Is this God’s way of saying I’m there for you.? I am really not sure.Aruna is gone but Shalini has a future. Let us help her get a better life.Let us play a small part in fulfilling her dream. And last but not the least be grateful of what we have and be a little more appreciative of the fact that we are not destined with such ironies of life.

To help Shalini, : ( Link from NDTV.com)