May was coming to a beautiful closure, only before I got this tragic
news of my granddad routing to heavens. He was burnt to ashes by the time I reached home, only
to see his empty bed, his clothes hanging with a familiar
lingering smell, an old old radio almost all covered in cello tape and
this beautiful picture of my grand-mom hanging alone on the wall,
smiling at me. Her cheery sentiment struck a chord
instantly of them being together now somewhere in the air or clouds or
skies, I don’t know, and I was happy!
Something more unreal happened after this. My dad took me along to the crematory for what we hindus call “Asthi-Visarjan”… remains of the dead person are collected and immersed in a river. All you have is some left over bones & ashes that have to find a resting place in flowing water. Usually Son of the departed soul is the one who does Asthi Visarjan and whatever the culture or traditions say, girls are NOT to enter the crematory for whatever the reasons may be! Now you know why I said “something unreal happened”- in a small town like Sangli, 50 odd Males in the crematory were looking at me like I came from some other world…. Or like my dad was this insane person who was encouraging me to collect the remains…Or like their own cremation-rituals almost took second place as they all seemed to be forgetful about the recent death in their families…Or me being the only girl there became a more important scene to turn their heads to! Arghhh! All I cared about was cherishing the last pieces of my granddad that were in my two hands and now I had to let them go, for ever!
Unfair believes be damned! I am proud of my dad for taking this step! Let my grandpa rest in lots of peace!
Something more unreal happened after this. My dad took me along to the crematory for what we hindus call “Asthi-Visarjan”… remains of the dead person are collected and immersed in a river. All you have is some left over bones & ashes that have to find a resting place in flowing water. Usually Son of the departed soul is the one who does Asthi Visarjan and whatever the culture or traditions say, girls are NOT to enter the crematory for whatever the reasons may be! Now you know why I said “something unreal happened”- in a small town like Sangli, 50 odd Males in the crematory were looking at me like I came from some other world…. Or like my dad was this insane person who was encouraging me to collect the remains…Or like their own cremation-rituals almost took second place as they all seemed to be forgetful about the recent death in their families…Or me being the only girl there became a more important scene to turn their heads to! Arghhh! All I cared about was cherishing the last pieces of my granddad that were in my two hands and now I had to let them go, for ever!
Unfair believes be damned! I am proud of my dad for taking this step! Let my grandpa rest in lots of peace!
.png)
