If this is the Last Word you are speaking…

I read this article from Ananda Vikatan, 2009 Diwali Malar edition. A life transforming article personally for me…The jist of the article in English.

This incident happened during World War II. When Hitler’s army captured millions of people, a family gets separated. Everyone the army had captured were taken to a Railway Station. There was a boy of 8 years old and his Sister, 13 years old. Just like them there were innumerable number of young brothers and sisters who were pushed there by the army. The weather was unbearably cold. Food packets were thrown once in a while and the children were trembling in cold and hunger. After waiting in the Station for 3 cold nights, the Train finally arrived. It was a very huge rush to board the train.

In the entire chaos, the boy missed his slippers. He immediately informed it to his sister. She did not know where her parents were taken by the army. She was thinking if she will ever get a chance to meet them or not. In that thinking, she heard his brother tell about missing slippers. She immediately burst out in anger, “We are already suffering a lot, not knowing anything about our tomorrow. In this, can’t you take care of your slippers, you fool” and goes on and on scolding the brother.

Immediately after that the next station comes and there the boys and girls are separated. The sister had no clue about where his brother was. She was put in a prison. It took 3.5 years for her to breathe free air after the War. She then knew that there was no one alive other than her in the entire family…

She remembered that the last few words she spoke to anyone in her family was to her brother and those were words of Irritation, frustration and Anger. She felt bad till her last breathe because of his anger.

The lesson I learnt from this is “If this is the last time you will speak to the other person to whom you are right now speaking, will you speak the same way you are speaking or will you change your style. If you say….No, if this is the last time I am speaking with them then I will speak more loving and not angry then correct yourself right now. For you never know if you will speak with him again“