Drowning in Fun

There isn't anything funny about this article...I want all of you to just think twice or may be thrice before you enter water for fun only to realize that you are drowning...

Yesterday's TOI front page carried news of 3 youngsters drowning in Bhatgar dam reservoir in Bhor around 7 pm on Sunday. These youngsters went to the damn to celebrate Gudi Padwa! Gudi Padwa, based on what I know is celebrated at home with family, visiting friends and relatives and exchanging best wishes for the coming new year...Alright, even if I consider that you have got a holiday and wanted to have some fun, you should not enter a dam for swimming!

Time and again, every year, I've seen such incidents happening regularly. Yet, why is it that people do not bother to take basic safety precautions when they enter water? Why the hell should you enter the deep waters if you aren't sure of your swimming skills? I've lost at least 4 friends/acquaintances in my life because of this very same mistake... 2 of these 4 were very good friends of mine...

One was Sachin Phatak, he used to work for Rapidigm in Pune. He was an excellent swimmer, but his swimming skills did not help him when he drowned and died at Hari Hareshwar a couple of years ago...He was a jolly, middle-aged, bald man, and I often used to wonder at his laughing habit. I don't know if he was the same with all of his friends, but with me, he was laughing and smiling and spreading cheer all around. I spoke to him about a week before he passed away, and I remember that conversation word-to-word till date. I am not sure who all are there in his family, but am sure that his untimely death was very difficult for everybody.

Just last year, another friend of mine - Nitesh Aggarwal from IIM Indore drowned at the Choral dam...He had gone with a couple of his friends to celebrate Friendship Day...and never returned. Along with him, another of his classmate drowned too...Since I was in Pune, I did not come to know of this incident immediately...I came to know through the news channels and newspapers, and with a scared heart, I called his number only to realize that it was switched off...I looked up on Orkut for people from IIM-Indore, and reached one of his batchmates, and my worst fears were confirmed...24 years old, intelligent, helpful, cheerful...I dont know what other adjectives should I use to describe Nitesh...He had a wonderful career ahead of him, old parents to take care of...but suddenly everything went haywire. Whose fault is this?

Is it so difficult to restrain ourselves from doing something that might be risky? More so, if we do not know how to protect ourselves from that risk? Why is it that we let go of common sense often, and then brood over accidents...or worse still, our foolishness kills us, and we leave behind our whole family and friends to cry for us? Is it worth it to let go of life for that momentary ego boost or craziness?