rituals of death

every year,

without fail,

during the month of baisakh,

my aunt undergoes a day's fast

and do a puja the next day

in remembrance of my uncle.

it is our ritual of death.

i've been around

rituals of death

from a young age

when i lost my grandparents.

here,

the dead are mourned for a year,

and every year after that

on the day they died.

you forsake salt for a meal,

garlic, onion, tomatoes,

and the list's probably longer

but this is all i remember.

you give alms to the pandit,

have rituals

and sanctuary

to remember the dead.

it is a process,

one that my family partakes painstakingly every year

to remember all who have left before us.

sometimes when i see the banks of pashupati,

i wonder,

'is this where my body will be burned?'

will it be my final resting place?

do people think about death?

do you?

so every year,

there is a reminder

that although the living will keep on living

until their day arrives,

you show respect

to those who've left us behind.