~Shreedhar Sharma~
Translated by : Manu Majil
Ram Sinha is on his death–bed breathing his last. His death is most certain now. Today is his last day on the earth; the doctor’s recommendation also said it. All including children have hung around him. All of a sudden, his eyes shut. The whole house bursts into weeping and wailing. Then his body is laid on the floor. All neighbors and sympathizers rush to the scene. Relatives for away are sent the message promptly.
Ram Sinha has only one son, Bhakti Bilas. A wealthy young man of high social dignity, he wants to accomplish the last rites of his father in a way unprecedented to the townsmen. He washes the body clean, drapes it in a new piece of cloth and covers it up with a fine piece of taas1.
All including pipers and drummers accompany the richly decorated body of Ram Sinha, all the way through town to ghat. A shower of flowers and coins continues upon the deceased till he is laid at last to rest. The grand funeral rites become a veritable talk of the town. Almost everyone has something to tell in praise of Bhakti Bilas. “What if all sons were like him! ” people talk in groups, lauding his generous act and spirit.
By this time, the funeral pyre is ready. Ram Sinha’s body is placed upon it. All except Bhakti Bilas stand a distance away from the pyre. Only Bhakti Bilas close to it, ready with the dagbatti2 in hand. But he is shocked when he is about to set the sacred fire on his father’s body. He feels that the body on the fire is astir! The pile of firewood is bit shaky! How come ……? To see if his doubt is real, he gets closer and bends over the pyre. God! His father is not dead yet! He is breathing! Bhakti Bilas gets dumbfounded. All others take the good son of Ram Sinha to be bending over his father’s body for the last sight of him. But Bhakti Bilas’ mind is occupied with something else. All the scenes of the day reverberate into his mind : the rituals, the katro3 , the pipes and the drums , the expenses, neighbors, friends and relatives … …
Suddenly occurs to him this: if not today, he will surely die tomorrow, and will require as great and amount of our pains and expense. No sooner it occurs to him, than he sets fire on the pyre, much before anybody could see this.
(Source : Pen Himalaya)
