My best friend Oni died in August of 2006. His death compelled me to think about life from a different perspective. I started to feel that nothing was certain anymore. One minute, you are living, but you could be gone in the blink of an eye. I got frustrated and started thinking negatively. All of a sudden, my future, my hobbies, my dreams—they all became meaningless.

Oni died in a road accident. He was just getting ready to start a new life in college.

How ironic. It was only an hour before his tragic end when we were busy discussing about our future plans. We were passionate about making a difference in the world. We saw the terrible plight that our country was in and we wanted to do something about it. We wanted to do something positive.

But Oni was gone now. And somehow he took with him my desire to fulfill our vision. What’s the point of dreaming when death could suddenly come like a thief in the night and take everything away?

In November of 2007, life seemed to answer that question. I too was faced with the reality of my own mortality.                                           

I had fever for seven days. Antibiotics didn’t work. The doctors prescribed all the potent drugs they could think of, but my health did not improve.

Twelve days later, I still had fever and had lost considerable weight. Rashes were clearly visible on my skin and my eyes seemed to have the look of a dying man.  There came a point when I was slipping in and out of consciousness.

I was moved to the hospital and after checking my platelet count, it was found that I was suffering from a severe case of Dengue fever. It is caused by a virus transmitted by mosquitoes within the Aedes genus.

One late afternoon, when I was at my weakest, I looked out my hospital window while lying in bed. My eyes felt heavy but I fought hard against the feeling. I wanted to see the sunset. As the sun prepared to say goodbye, I felt that I too was going to say goodbye to this world soon. I did not know what happened next but I suddenly saw my late friend Oni! I saw him walking toward me!

I could not believe what was happening but I felt no fear. Instead, I felt a deep peace. Oni held my hands and told me “Ononto, you have to survive. We made a commitment. Remember our visions of a poverty-free country? How can you forget about the things we have seen? How can you forget the faces of the people we vowed to help?”

In my mind, I started to wonder if I was dreaming. In fact, I started to wonder if I was indeed dead and Oni had come to take me to the afterlife. But I could see Oni clearly. I could hear his voice clearly!

“Ononto, please come back. Your life…you can’t just live it for yourself…I didn’t make it, but you can still live and go on! Believe in yourself! You can do it!”

I looked at Oni and told him, “I don’t think I can do it alone.”

I expected Oni to suddenly disappear. But he was still there. He continued talking to me, “You are not alone, see, I am here. And there are others out there who think like us. They are waiting for you. ”

With those last words, Oni disappeared. I looked again and saw my mom instead. She was crying. I remember telling her, “Please mom, hold me. I want to live”.

A fight between life and death began. I spent three more days and nights in the intensive care unit of the hospital. I had to undergo blood transfusion.

My mother was there through it all, holding me and crying for my life. My father was also by my side, speechless, but his silence told me a lot. My friends were not allowed to visit me, but they were outside my hospital room. I could feel their energy and their love through the walls. It seemed as though I was losing the fight, but in the end, I emerged victorious.

I survived.

After that moving experience, I realized that it’s not about how long I will stay in this world, but how much I can contribute while I am still here. I started believing in myself and in my dreams again. I don’t know if that vision of Oni by my hospital bed was real or just a dream, but I kept remembering the powerful words of my dearest friend.

I started my new journey—with new thoughts but with the same old dreams I had with Oni. I opened a Facebook account and opened a group called “Akritee”—a Bengali word that implies “shape.” In my vision was a shape of a beautiful and progressive country.

With the encouragement of supporters I had found from around the world, Akritee is moving forward to achieve its goal. I once wrote an article about a “boundary-less world” and how to achieve it. I have also started working with Munesh Kumar (from India) for establishing a “boundary-less” university.

Here are a few condensed lines from that article:

“To make a peaceful world, we have to be ‘boundary-less.’ Boundaries are all around us…First of all, we should remove boundaries from our minds. We have to think broadly as well as differently…try to think beyond religion…try to think beyond country…feel the power of God inside you. Spread love…together we can make our world ‘boundary-less.’”

I am working for peace and for humanity. I know it’s a big dream, but I am dreaming of a world without poverty and without sorrow.

I do not know how long I have left in this world, but at least I now know that I am living my life with a new kind of purpose. I can leave a legacy that I can be proud of. I am thankful to all and most especially to the Almighty for giving me this opportunity to reignite my desire to serve humanity.

Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I sit by my window. I feel the slow breeze and somehow, I can feel that Oni is here. I can feel his presence—as though he is still by my side telling me “Go on, keep making a difference.”