The World Hereafter

As man finds himself safe and sound amidst family and friends, he blissfully ignores that, at any moment, death can separate him from the props of this mortal world.

The time was 8 minutes and 27 seconds past 9 o’clock on October 31, 1984. As usual, all the activities in the palatial residence of the Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, in New Delhi were in full swing.

Peter Ustinov, the world-renowned actor, director, and writer, was sitting on the spacious lawns of Mrs Indira Gandhi’s residence. He was making a film on Mrs Gandhi, and, along with his entire film unit, he was waiting there to interview her.

The Prime Minister stepped out of her house at No. 1, Safdarjang Road. No sooner did she step onto the lawn than three gunshots were heard. Then came a volley of shots from a stun gun. Two of the Sikh security guards had shot her. She could not utter even a last word. She was immediately taken to AIIMS in a state of unconsciousness, and one and a half hours later, she was declared dead by the senior doctors attending her.

Peter Ustinov, commenting on this sad occasion, said. “I wanted to ask her how, as a single child, she came to terms with her loneliness.”

It was the most pertinent question that could be asked at that critical moment in her life. However, now we have to ask how she, the Prime Minister of a country of 700 million, will face the situation when she is alone in another world.

Since man finds himself safe and sound amidst family and friends, he blissfully ignores that, at any moment, death can separate him from the props of this mortal world. Then he will be left to wander alone. He will have no one to assist him. How awful that day will be and how ignorant man is of this grave reality which must inevitably come.