Serving the Soul

I was all set to take charge of my aged father-in-law, reading `how to take care of aged' blogs & sites and by not accepting any new job contracts. He was to come to HYD around 20th Feb. But destiny was different. I had to travel to Rajamundry on 17th ... to be part of the elaborate rituals for his journey to heaven.

His own cute house in Rajamundry was certainly a better place for his departure with his friends - innocent looking squirrels and a variety of birds on the mango and jack fruit trees bidding farewell, and his grand children paying homage with hibiscuses from his own garden.

Articulate priests and artisanal washerman (washer couple!) took charge of the rest. I had to do several `things impossible', wear the saree in a traditional manner, take a dip in the holy waters of river Godavari, cook in an earthen pot on the river bank with firewood. To my own surprise I could do everything with ease. Thanks to our priest whose instructions were very clear and he literally provided `context sensitive help'. To me the whole exercise seemed to be like a well designed e-learning module. No wonder, we later learn't that the priest has been a faculty in Mechanical engineering. Although he entered this profession rather reluctantly, he now finds it spiritually satisfying and initiated even his sons into it. In fact I was also quite enthralled with the numerous concepts and terms and wished for a TOR to build a concept map for religion.