Father used to perform Shradha annually,
To pay to ancestors a token of love, respect and homage,
With all prescribed rites and solemnity.
He would never fail to cover up cats the unruly,
Lest they should profane the offerings causing impurity!
Alas! The son was least aware of the cats’ episode at an early age.
After father’s demise as he grew up to practise the same,
The most abiding son left no stone unturned.
But, alas! Now there were no cats, and what a shame!
He urged his wife and kids ignorant and unlearned:
“Go out and fetch the complements to be baskets under,
Else, I’ll shirk, Shradha will be incomplete and sin I’ll incur!”
No sooner did the kids return, after a sweating search, with the cats,
Than the anxious father, beamed with a smug smile, uttered ‘Congrats!’
* complements – the literal meaning is without which something/someone is incomplete. Here ‘cats’ are the complements.
* Shradha – annual functions as offerings, with Vedic rituals and worships, to the souls of the deceased of the paternal or maternal family
Copyright: Shankar D Mishra 04.04.2018
No comments:
Post a Comment