My father used to tell us a story about a young non-resident Pahadi cousin who had done well in Mumbai. He was an only child but his parent...
My father used to tell us a story about a young non-resident Pahadi cousin who had done well in Mumbai. He was an only child but his parents continued to live in their ancestral home in Almora. When his father was dying, he came home just in time to do his duty as a son to perform the old man’s last rites.
The priest and the clan were all there when he was told that he and his three cousins had to shave their heads before carrying the bier to the ghat. They would be followed by the clan and various friends. When the uppity youth refused, he was told that the samaaj (society) would withdraw from the ritual.
“You may then carry his body yourself to the cremation ghat,” he was told.
The nonplussed son relented and performed all the rites – including feeding all the participants – in his father’s antyeshti (last rites) both after the cremation and again on the 13th day, when the ashauch (unclean) period was over.
The purpose of the story is to drive home the centrality of all of society in both the life and death of an individual.
Respecting tradition
It was therefore necessary, we were told, to maintain cordial relations...
