Of pain and death...

It is indeed a dark topic to start a blog with. But I am no psychopath, a sadist or a masochist. It is by sheer coincidence (thanks to a late nite show of Final Destination2 last nite and a scary flight journey this morning) that I choose this topic as my first post.
So, coming back to the topic, why do people fear death? No..no. This isnt a philosophical question. Infact, I'm trying to approach this logically (to all lovers of philosophy, I dont mean to say that philosophical is illogical!!). What is so scary about death? Is it the love for the people around us? "ohh...what will happen to those who depend on me? what about my sister's marriage?.." ya..ya..agreed. But is that the primary reason?....Or, is it because one cannot enjoy the luxuries of life anymore? No more happiness, no more love and no more BEER??!!! Hmm, well, doesnt sound too convincing. I mean, you wont be missing those or craving for those luxuries once you're gone. After all, you'll be dead!!
Imagine yourself in an aircraft, cruising at the height of 10,000 ft. Suddenly, you're hit by violent turbulence followed by a loud, gut-wrenching noise. And after a few tense moments, the pilot announces, "Passengers, thats it guys. This is the end. We're facing the usual 'technical snag'. Happy landing!!" The aircraft goes hurtling down and you are but a few minutes away from a spectacular end. So what is it that drives you crazy, makes you cry and pray?...I would say, its the fear of pain!!
This is no big revelation, but it is indeed queer to think that these few moments of pain that one experiences before death, is that which is feared the most!!! One prefers to spend 14yrs in a prison cell, than suffer the few moments of pain while hanging from a noose, and be gone...peacefully. So, I guess, most people believe that physical pain is way more painful than its mental counterpart. Else, we would have atleast a million cases of suicidal deaths everyday!!
This makes me wonder, "how painful can death be? And how long does the agony last?". It cant be more than a minute or two. But try sitting in a quiet room and concentrating on the seconds hand of a clock until it completes 2 full rotations, and you'll know how long 2mins can be.
Personally, I dread the idea of running short of breath. I'm sure everyone does, but I'm kinda hyper about it. I get desperate and very restless when I cant get a good shot of air into my lungs. And I think its one of the worst ways to die!!
Imagine that you wake up suddenly to find that you're in a coffin that is barely big enough to hold you. There's absolutely no room to move your hands or your feet. You cannot thrash about, as you would, if you were drowning in water. You cannot clutch your throat with your hands. Not that its going to make you feel any better. But the idea of lying absolutely still, and staring at the roof of the coffin, which is barely an inch from my nose and struggling desperately for air, makes my stomach feel queasy. Come on, I'm in greaaat pain, and all I can do is, lie absolutely still...and cry!!!
This reminds me of a scene from The House of Wax. A guy is captured and turned into a wax doll by bathing him in a cauldron of boiling hot liquid wax!! And next, you see him as a wax exhibit in front of a piano, frozen in the posture of a pianist. His still face looks calm and sports a happy smile. But a closer look reveals his eyes, red with pain and tears running down his cheeks!!! The contrast was chilling...
"He died peacefully in his sleep". I think thats a biggg misconception. I know of a, lets say, a friend who was so weak in her last few months that she could barely lift her plate. And she died of a cardiac arrest...peacefully in her sleep so to speak. Just that her hands were lying by her side, with fists clenched around her earrings, and her earlobes torn apart and hanging loose...now thats something pain can do!!
In my opinion, the best of these..devils..is a bomb explosion. Before you know what hit you, your brain is taking a walk!! So, one has to be fortunate to meet his end in a bomb blast or what??!! ;-)
But whatever said, this agony lasts hardly a minute. So, isnt the amount of fear disproportionate, considering the duration of the agony and also considering that everything ends after that one minute? There is no feeling of guilt, there is no feeling of remorse..nothing after that minute!!
Now, is this what certain training camps around the world teach people??!!!!! ;-) just kidding...