The World Forgets Too Fast

On Thursday, I opened Instagram.

A meme. A reel. A quote. A dog in sunglasses.

Then a post hit me.

“RIP to the more than 241 lives lost in the Air India crash. Flight AI-171. Ahmedabad to Gatwick.”

I paused.

More than 241 lives.

Just like that.

No warning. No goodbye.

Just seats that would never arrive.

And five seconds later, I kept scrolling.

That shook me more than the crash.

How quickly we move on.

How casually the world does.

Tomorrow someone will post a food review.

Someone will share a wedding outfit.

The internet will go on.

And maybe it should.

But a part of me wonders —

When did we become so good at forgetting?

Maybe it’s self-preservation.

Maybe it’s overload.

Maybe we’ve just seen too much pain to hold all of it.

But those 241 people…

They weren’t numbers.

They were someone’s “I’ll be home soon.”

Someone’s saved contact.

Someone’s favorite laugh.

Someone’s everything.

And now — silence.

We say life goes on.

And it does.

It has to.

But maybe, once in a while,

We pause.

Not for headlines.

Not for hashtags.

But for humanity.

A breath for those who lost theirs.

A thought for those left behind.

A reminder that behind every tragedy is a table with one chair empty.

Grief shouldn’t be trendy.

It should be real.

Quiet. Inconvenient. Human.

So tonight, I won’t scroll past.

Tonight, I’ll remember.

And maybe you will too.

Love,

Dhruv.