Nearly five years ago, one of my close friends, who had been a senior judicial officer, was diagnosed with a malignancy. The D-day on which the doctor was supposed to reveal the bombshell to him, he reached the hospital as jovial as ever. The guy in his early 60s was a bundle of positive energy. There was always a charming smile on his face. The warmth with which he interacted with everyone earned him a permanent place in the other person’s heart.

As usual, the doctor started with an introduction and the complexities of the proposed course of treatment. But he could easily sense that everything had gone wrong. After a brief pause, my friend posed a question to the doctor: Is this disease curative or palliative? I don’t know whether the doctor felt confused or relieved. Maybe the unusual boldness of the patient prompted the doctor to abandon all the sweet talk he had practised for the occasion: The doctor answered “palliative” straight on the face of the patient. There was an eerie silence for some time, but the patient was back to his trademark smile soon.

The revelation that he only had a few months left in this world did not mark the end of the world for him. It turned out to be an eye-opener. He charted a schedule for the coming weeks. Visiting friends, which had been long overdue, trips to the locations where he had planned to go during his busy young days, and spending quality time with family became his priorities. A few months later, he died a peaceful death. All his dear ones were beside his bed when he breathed his last.

It was in one of the interviews of Randy Pausch, the Computer Science Professor of Carnegie Mellon University, that I first heard about the thought of viewing one’s life as an engineering problem when flagging the warning about an impending tragedy. Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture – which was delivered to his students and friends in the university a few months before his death – is still one of the most viewed inspirational videos on YouTube. The book too is a best-seller. After getting diagnosed with terminal cancer and knowing that he had only a few more weeks left in this world, Randy delivered a vibrant and motivational lecture that lasts for over an hour. He focused on how to achieve one’s childhood dreams by addressing his three little kids as the primary audience.

Pausch treated his life as an engineering problem as soon as he was diagnosed with terminal malignancy. He said it was easier for him then as he knew there was a problem and he needed to find a solution. In similar situations, what he could do was to analyse the problem and use his learning and expertise to find a solution. The idea worked and he could plan the remaining phase of life well. In fact, the Last Lecture too was part of the solution he had devised to solve the problem. Motivating others can be the best healing technique at times, and Randy Pausch knew that very well.

I read about something similar in ‘When Breath Becomes Air’ by Dr Paul Kalanidhi. He describes the day when the doctor detailed to him about the disease and its severity. The first question by Kalanidhi, who was a neurosurgeon, was how many days had been left. The doctor could not say even an approximate answer. Kalanidhi recalls that day in his beautiful autobiography. He would have continued in the medical profession had there been around 10 years left. Had there been one or two years, he would have written a book. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with his wife and his little daughter if only he had a couple of weeks of life remaining.

That was another approach to solve the engineering problem. Dr Paul Kalanidhi realised that the most precious resource in a person’s life – time – had become a scarce resource to him. Then, the choice is how to utilise that time effectively. His plan and priorities were so clear even in those testing times. The funeral service of Kalanidhi was a testament to the life he had lived cheerfully even after getting diagnosed with cancer. The preface to ‘When Breath Becomes Air’ is written by another doctor-writer, Abraham Varghese – whose recent work ‘The Covenant of Water’ has won critical acclaim. Abraham Varghese recounts how peaceful everyone who had assembled at the funeral service of Dr Kalanidhi had been. They looked like a group witnessing a very beautiful event. More such incidents were revealed by Paul Kalanidhi’s wife Lucy Godard, who penned the epilogue of the book. Reading Lucy’s memoir soaked my heart. It was intensely emotional. There Lucy writes about the day before Kalanidhi’s death. While she entered the hospital room, Kalanidhi told her that the end had come. Within hours, he died. The couple had a troubled marriage and they were on the verge of divorce when Kalanidhi was detected with cancer. It took no time for them to bury the hatchet and go back to the romantic way of life.

The stories of Paul Kalanidhi, Randy Pausch, and my loving friend are illustrious examples of hope, which is a defining characteristic of the human mind. Even in the face of the worst crisis in their lives, they try to spread smiles. They try to set examples for those who would be trapped in a similar situation in the future. They try to do everything possible to make this world a better place. For their courage and trust, we owe them a great deal of love.