Till Death do us Part

Death is an inevitable part of life. Then why is that we have this dreadful fear of death? Suresh Chandra presents his view.

- Suresh Chandra

The most natural thing for mankind is to take an intelligent interest in death. Death, as he knows, is inevitable. It has to come, sooner or later. It may come instantaneously, as after a massive heart attack, or as a result of an accident, a plane crash or a train wreck, or it may come after days and weeks of suffering and pain. It may come at birth, soon after birth, in early childhood, manhood or at ripe old age. But what is death? can there be a definition of death? As a physical fact, death is easily understood. It is the departure of the life force from the body.

What has animated a handful of earth is gone. It is the end of everything you know. Your body, your mind, your work, your ambitions and the things you have built up. Human beings think about the impact and inevitability of death throughout much of their lives. The above is a general definition. There is another definition of death from a medical point of view. Before the advent of modern medical technology, the stoppage of respiration and circulation of blood were universally accepted as sure signs of death.

However, new technologies have made it possible to reverse these stoppages and thus make it possible for a person to carry on with his life. The generally accepted view is that a mere stoppage of respiration and blood circulation does not denote death; the stoppage of brain functions though is a sure sign of death. A violent protective response to life-threatening situations is innate to all living beings. It is a part of the essential defence mechanisms of all biological life, including humans. When faced with danger, the body responds with the ‘fight, flight or freeze’ reaction to deal with such situations.