The body of my grandmother was kept in the same position as she slept in the room the last night. Someone was successful in contacting my grandfather and gave him the sad news. He came running and was in a bad shape. Shyam could not be contacted as it was difficult for someone to reach him. However as per the village customs she had to be cremated before the evening. No one could wait more for Shyam to come back. My father and Chandra cried a lot but reconciled after few hours and sat quietly in one corner. Someone gave food to them and a barber came to shave off his head. This is a common custom in North India to shave off the heads of all male relatives of the dead. Her body was bathed in water sprinkled with holy Ganges water and draped in a new set of clothes. Fresh vermilion was applied on her head as a token of dying before her husband. A special bamboo bed was made and she was finally laid on her new bad for final journey. Led by my grandfather carrying an earthen pot of Ganges water, men and women folk took into a small procession chanting "Ram Nam Satya hai" (The only truth is the name of god Rama) and she went away for ever.

It was a very tragic scene when Shyam returned next day to find that he could not see his mother even for the last rites. He cried without consolation and kept cursing himself for this mess-up. His deep love for his mother surfaced out that day. In his mind he has made up his mind, to go away from the house. The only person he loved most, his mother was no more. He took an oath of making the last wish of his mother come true – Making my father a "Big Man".  It was that day onwards, my father and Shyam and the rest of the family drifted away on different paths of life.

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