2009. Bangkok.
My school was an hours’ drive from my place. Located on the outskirts of Bangkok, it was quite spacious. Two large buildings for students/faculty. A tennis court. Swimming pool. An enormous football ground covered by a 400 meter racetrack.
Summer holidays were going on and a group of friends had planned a football showdown between us & our seniors at school. It was intense rivalry. And we were the underdogs.
The D-day came soon and I was on the way to school, ready to give the seniors a run for the money. Little did I know, that my life would change forever.
Matchday
Scorching heat. No clouds in the skies. The harsh conditions had little effect on us and we were ready to sweat our hearts out on the ground.
The two teams assembled on the field. The captains of the teams were also the referees. Aaaaand it was kickoff!
I have a blurry memory of the match itself, but I think right from the start our seniors were dominating us. Wave after wave of attacking crosses inside our penalty area. And they managed to score one goal within the first 10 minutes.
We were on the backfoot, but we kept pressing hard for the equalizer. We made some decent attempts but weren’t able to score. At half-time, we were talking about strategy, about substitutions and how to break their defense.
5 minutes into the second half, something extraordinary happened on that football field. It’s been so long, but I still remember that moment clearly. As I write this, I am transported back to that moment. Every tiny detail, forever etched into my brain.
Because….while we were busy playing football — A BOLT OF LIGHTNING came crashing down from the sky and exploded on the ground. Just 20 meters away from me. It felt like a bomb had gone off.
We ran. We ran for our lives because I think every single person on that field felt that this was going to be the last day of their lives. I had never felt so close to death before. It’s a feeling you cannot describe in words.
The porch area was covered and was 100 meters away from us, but it felt like an eternity until we got indoors. Time, is a mysterious thing indeed.
Once back inside, we were catching our breath. Still absorbing the gravity of what happened out there. One of my friends turned back and pointed towards the football field. Someone was still out there.
We saw a body lying on the ground, and it was extremely still. He wasn’t moving. Without any thought, we ran back to the field. WE HAD TO SAVE HIM. But it was too late. He was dead on the spot, half of his face burnt.
Apparently the bolt of lightning had directly struck him on his neck. He was a Sikh and Sikh guys have a thin silver metallic tool which they use to push hair into their turbans. That silver metal was completely burnt.
We called for help. Took him to the nearby hospital where the doctors tried to revive him but failed. And just like that — we lost a friend.
I think of myself as a logical thinker, but what happened that day made no sense. There were no clouds in the sky. It didn’t even rain. A single bolt of lightning came from nowhere & took a life.
The goalposts were made of metal, why did the lightning not strike them? Why only that particular person? Is the moment of our death already decided?
What’s more surprising is that one of the other Sikh guys was also wearing that silver metallic tool — but for some reason just seconds before the lightning strike, it fell on the ground.
For a few days, everyone was shellshocked. The parents of the person who died were absolutely devastated. We were grieving. Didn’t play football for a week after that I think.
My key takeaway from the whole thing was that you don’t know which day is going to be your last. Why worry about the future then? Why not live every moment in the grandest way possible? Why not make the most out of every single day that we are alive?
Maximus [from the movie ‘The Gladiator] : I knew a man once who said ‘Death smiles at us all. All a man can do, is smile back’