“I will live. I will shine like nobody ever has. You see those stars up there? I’ll be like these one day, even better, and you, you’ll be marveling at my glow.

I will live. I will be free like nobody has ever dreamt of. I’ll be hovering your sky like the clouds, and you, sitting in the swamps with the hereditary slavery, you’ll be thinking of the freedom that you can neither touch nor taste, but I will always be your hope, your path to freedom.

I will live. I will be standing in a way no one can even think of. You’ll be praising the strength of a tree, not having the slightest idea that I’m even firm than that.

When the stray waves of that mighty ocean will touch your feet and think for an instance to engulf you, I’ll be there, holding them back.

When your tears will fall uncontrollably, and by a sudden gush of the air, they’ll all dry up. Remember! That air will have bits of me in it.

When life sucks all the life out of you, you’ll be feeling helpless, but one beautiful sight will make you feel lively again. Trust me! You’ll see me standing there.

When you’ll travel to far off places and then suddenly, something will bring a little, sweet memory to your head. I know, that memory will be accompanied by my face.

Life is cruel my dear! But we’re left with only one option: to live. We cannot circumvent our entire life in any way. You think of a trick to ditch life and it’ll find you at the very next turn you take, making you happy for an instant, forcing you to utter ‘I feel lively,’ and just like that you’ll find yourself living again. But this, this is the sweet-cruel face of life, isn’t it?

There will be tougher times too. When you’ll think that death is the only thing that can soothe you. When you will see no light, no hope, not even any sense in living. When a dark cloud of hopelessness will be following you wherever you go. The days will be full of despair. No night absent of tears. At that moment too, you will not have any alternate path to look for. Though you’d love your breathing to stop and want your life to reach an end in an instant. But remember, times like these are the best ones to be alive.

You might be thinking ‘how can you live with your heart quenched?’ But the heart does contract at times, doesn’t it? These times will only teach your heart to go further. These times will test your limits, and when these are over you’ll not be the same. You might be broken at places but don’t look there. There’ll be scars on your body, but don’t get bothered by them. When you look around, you’ll see the world will not be the same either. Those scars might appear as flowers to some. Those shards of your body might be the precious jewels for someone.

So live, my love. For we only live once, why not stretch it to forever?”

“But," sitting in that graveyard I asked him once more, just like every other time he used to finish a similar lesson. “What if you’re gone forever, Dad?” I knew he wouldn't answer me now, he couldn’t.