Ghulam Ahmad Afsar is no more. Afsar saab, as I used to call him, came thrice a week in the morning to NephroPlus for hemodialysis. I used to interact with him almost every time he was there. He was a man who had seen life in its various hues and shades, the darkest of which were probably his last. He switched to another center a few weeks back for some reason. I got to know a few days back that he passed away.

Afsar saab was an unlikely loser in the game of life. He would not take no for an answer when he thought something was not being done right. He would raise his voice and fight for what he believed was correct. He took very good care of his health. He was proactive and totally in control. He would do a little bit of exercise every day too. He maintained excellent control over his diet. I am at a loss as to how this happened.

To think that someone I met only a few days back and had no sign of any complications is no more is very difficult to come to terms with. This is the nature of this disease. The disease will never kill you but the co-morbidities that it brings along with it will. Its almost as if each of us is sitting on a time-bomb that is ticking away. Nobody knows when the timer will run out.

Whenever I get to know that someone on dialysis has died, I get very uncomfortable. My heart becomes heavy, like lead for a while. I become a little scared. John Donnes' lines are so true:

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
.......
.......
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.