The FUNERAL

                                         

                                 Life after Death is an illusion, does the soul wander or does it reincarnate? Will we meet anyone whom we know on that path or the Creator himself?  Heaven or Hell -How that matters after death? Or Is that referred to different phases of our life itself? 

                                        Many thoughts were thronging my mind and I definitely know that it’s quite absurd to think about a Life after Death while we are still alive in this beautiful world, but are WE really LIVING? I have a different perception about it and that made me write this!!!

                           Am I living or am I just passing my time here… More or less it has become  mechanical, half the time thinking about what I actually want to do and another quarter spent in regretting about the past, half the day in workplace competing & rest in social media to meet the 4^th basic need – TO BE CONNECTED!! At the end when sleep drips through my eyelids I feel terribly sick, sick of this life…Yes, It was ironical that this happened the same night I had all this thoughts…

        The beauty of the mountains lit by the full moon and the sounds of running water through the woods were mesmerizing, the land was moist and I could feel that rains had just stopped. A steady breeze is making me cold, still I walked to the sound of the streams. I could see something glowing there in the woods near the banks of the river and I walked towards it. The winds were carrying ashes in it and a burning smell, slowly the mist was fading and I could see that it was a pyre!

 I walked towards it and saw that it had just lighten up. The saffron cloth was still seen and the fire was catching up slowly, may be because of the rains! I couldn't find anyone there near the place, just me & the raging fire...

"The raging fire that was        catching up the pyre,

The wooden blocks were breaking down in fire,

The sounds made me close my ears in fear."

          

                        Clouds slowly blocked the full moon and shed darkness in the valley. Suddenly I heard a moaning sound and it made me little frantic. The unexpected darkness that fell over the woods, the moaning sounds and the burning fire woods was horrifying me. I slowly sneaked to the other side of the pyre...
Very close to it under the tree a dog was lying, I walked towards it slowly with caution since it was big but I was heartbroken to see that it was my Bruno. I ran to it and hugged, but he didn’t moved an inch. He was still looking at the fire with a gloomy face.

            Mostly we chose our pets but rarely the Dog chooses his master. Bruno was loyal to all but he chose me as its Master. Dogs are not like humans, they always give their attention to its Master. But this is so weird and Bruno have never behaved like this to me! I was so curious to see what would be burning in the pyre that made my Bruno didn’t notice my presence! 
           With a fear I moved towards the pyre, the fire was eating the wooden blocks, the flowers and clothes but still I could see the top was not yet burned fully…

           I could feel the heat and it was literally burning my skin. Through the space between the wooden planks I could see the body was wrapped in saffron, the eyes were closed, there was no smile, the skin was not looking usual and the body is packed tight inside wooden planks and fired, half the body burnt and had a pungent smell but still I could identify who it was...

           
Tears were flowing through my cheeks while I walked towards Bruno. I sat there resting my heads on him and running my hands through his fur. I wiped my tears and leaned against the tree. The pyre was completely burnt and Bruno walked towards it, stood for a minute and left through the trails knowing its master would never return to him….

There was no one with him in that final journey. His loved ones, wealth, ambitions, and not even his favorite dog. But only the FIRE, which he would have feared the most and it made that journey complete!

         
  
Now I don’t see the burning pyre, neither the sounds of the streams nor the whistle of the breeze. All I could see is what the fire has left behind,THE ASHES - A mark of one’s life which would either be washed away by the winds or by the rains or dipped in an ocean or a river!

        

The sun was raising and I walked towards the mountains. The mist was so thick that for every step I took all I could see was the sun rays scattering through the mist... I kept on walking...  To the NEXT LIFE, !!!

The alarm buzzed and I woke up. 

" The dreams are always a realization – about our thoughts, intuitions, fear, love and sometimes a glimpse of our future. Yes this was the realization of what I was and what my journey was. Regretting about my past, anxious about my future and never lived my life but just spend the time. At the end I may have a funeral like what I have seen in my dreams! May be today or sometime later...
 It would be easy to take decisions in our life when we know that we only have a short time left in this world. We would neither offend anyone nor slip into the hands of violence."

It’s my new life... No room for APPREHENSIONS & REMORSE but only one OBLIGATION to myself – Follow the INSTINCTS, be HAPPY, never care about what others think about ME and LIVE the life!!!

"ALL MEN’S SOULS ARE IMMORTAL

BUT THE SOULS OF THE RIGHTEOUS

      ARE IMMORTAL & DIVINE."

                                               Socrates