A Slice Of Life

Keflavik International Airport, Reykjavík - Iceland. The crowd is sparse. It's January and the evening is bitterly cold. Flight FI782 has just landed from New York, JFK. In the shadows outside, a man in a dark overcoat waits for his brother, silent with grief. His brother comes out shortly. Their father has just passed away after a long illness. They hug each other. The eyes of one brother has the wretchedness of the one who is far away and has spent years dreading the final phone call. The eyes of the other brother has the haunted look of one who has stayed behind and has watched his parents grow old and frail and finally fade away. The two men are in their early 30s, separated by a couple of years. And a distance life and time will never bridge.

Nashville, Tennessee - A tragedy is unfolding. The funeral of an young girl is heartbreaking. She has been taken away by the gods at the age of three. Her mother and a seven year old brother are numb with shock. Her devastated father is one of the pall bearers and is having difficulty in shouldering the coffin. It is a burden too heavy for any parent in the world. An unknown soldier walks across the cemetery and gently steadies the father and takes the load on himself. When the coffin is lowered in the grave, the soldier kneels down, his face wet with tears. Even a complete stranger must go down on a bended knee at so monumental a loss.   

Marseilles, France. A man walks along the seaside by the Calanque de Morgiou, oblivious of the crowd around. He has loved and lost. The beginnings of a heartbreak are beginning to tug at his tortured soul. The tears flow as he looks in the distance at the lonely years ahead. He isn't the first one on earth to get defeated in love. But it sure feels like one. He will not get closure, but he will just learn to move on. He promises to himself that he will never run back to what broke him. love doesn't break your heart. People do.

Prague, Czech Republic. An innocuous school race of 7 year olds. The winner is being applauded by all - the pride of his parents and friends. In a lonely corner is the boy who came last. His father looks at him angrily and then ignores him. He doesn't care for his son's anguish and sees only a loser. The boy sits in a corner and cries. The potter has smudged his pristine creation before the cast is set. Damaged goods start early on in life.

Zhengzhou, China. A young Shaolin monk stands in front of a pool lit by silvery moonlight at 2 am. Floating on the water are thin wooden boards laid next to each other. His brow knit in concentration and muscles taut, the Shaolin monk prepares to do one of the toughest Kung Fu feats ever - the walk on water. The task is to race across the thin planks without falling. The young monk takes a deep breath and makes the first attempt. He crosses three planks, stumbles and sinks in the icy water. He comes up coughing and gasping for air and starts all over again. The flight on water is about speed, a delicate coordination of breathing, rhythm, balance and stamina. There is no audience here. No tests. The monk is here because he loves the art. His only competition is what he was yesterday. 

London, United kingdom. In a happening nightclub in the center of the city, a bunch of eighteen year old pretty girls, breathless with excitement are enjoying a night out. The future is limitless and exciting. They are too young to know grief. And in another corner is a bunch of 60 year olds enjoying a beer and laughing in the glow of quiet camaraderie. Old enough to know grief. But also, old enough to know that life is short and time doesn't wait for anyone.

A mountain in Tanzania - a mystery wreathed in clouds. The group of young climbers gather around the traveler who has just come back and bombard him with questions. The summit..how is the summit. The questions are all about the summit. The traveler smiles wearily. "Nothing is at the summit. The springs, the valleys, the mists, the sunrise and the sunset on the way is what the climb is all about...but you won't see them because all you are eyeing is the summit".

Darkness and sunshine are two sides of the same coin - the share is uneven and sadly determined purely by the roll of dice fate throws at us. All you can do is take it on the chin and move on to live another day.

And therein lies a tale.