We plan. We dream. We desire. We long. We hope. We pray.

Amidst all this, we, sometimes, forget that there is that one great power above us, who guides and controls us. It doesn't matter how meticulous our planning has been, how perfect and how detailed. At the end, what happens seems all planned and laid out. We try to control our lives and forget that it is, actually, life that controls us.

And death. Death that takes away our soul, our life. Death that marks a halt to all our plans, our dreams, our hopes, our prayers. Rich, poor, successful or not, we cannot avoid it. It comes to all of us. The means vary, but the end remains the same. For we are all mere mortals.

Such are the thoughts that are clouding my mind since morning. ever since I received the news. Ever since I let it sink in to me. Ever since I realized what has happened. This morning as I welcomed a new day at office, with the usual checking of emails that lay unread, little did I know that there would be this news awaiting me. The subject line of that email said it all - Kati Passed Away This Morning. I felt numb for a while before I could feel the tears trickling down my cheeks. Yes, she was terminally ill and the news shouldn't have been a surprise; yet, it was a shock. For I still hoped that she would regain her health. I, still, prayed that she would emerge victorious in her fight against cancer; and I, still, wished that she would make it to India for my wedding. To put it honestly, I would, sometimes, (even) imagine her reactions during the various ceremonies and rituals while attending her first Indian wedding.

She took it all in her stride, never once complained. The pain she went through never reflected on her face. Spending a day at Day Care for her chemotherapy sessions and returning to work next day seemed normal to her. And all this while knowing that nothing can be predicted, nothing will remain forever, nothing is there to stay. The thought that, finally, she is rid of the pain and suffering that she endured for so long is a consolation.

It's hard to believe that she is no longer among us. Her memories will stay forever and I pray that her soul rests in peace.