Swine Flu

It was morning 9-30 AM on the busy streets of Hyderabad, I was driving my car. So what? I was on a Lungi and Vest on my body. This is the first time in my life I am dressed driving in the city and that too in the peak traffic time. I had distinguished passengers dressed similarly. Our destination was a cemetery. We were going to pay our last tributes to my just passed uncle. The passengers were 3 brothers of the deceased. Enter the cemetery…

The dead rest here. It is believed. I am sure they would have run away at the first chance to do so from God. It’s a nice combination of Hindu and Muslim epitaphs. Huge trees were swaying as if it were the hair locks of a huge being. The purohit was eagerly looking hungrily at us. The barber was counting the heads. Well no one waited as no one has time. Then who has time. The ceremony rituals started.

In comes a person with a stout stick taller than him trotting in between us. The caretaker enquired about him and got an answer, he was catching the pigs. The caretaker encouraged him and warned him not to leave any pig in the cemetery. He was of the opinion he owns the pigs .In this zeal this guy was almost crossing our arrangements, like a pig. The caretaker shouted at him and this ensued into a brawl. Listening to the voice of the care taker his relatives swarmed in. On proper questioning he informed that he is from the municipality. They came as team. To this they subdued and told him to not to trespass the ritual area as this may offend the departed soul.

Hey you fool close from your left side what are you watching. Run faster. Throw stones. Beat it. Many such filthy words were heard. It was a group of 10 trying to catch a group of 10. The pigs were of different ages and groups. Poor piglets. It was for survival running helter skelter. The cemetery was quite a big one, the pigs and the guys going round and round. After some time I could feel the guys’ breath with tiredness. They could not catch even a piglet. It was man versus animal, war.

One of the brothers sat beside me and started “smasana vairagyam”. He started hitabodha of life to me. Of all why me? Well that’s fate. He narrated 4 points.1. Atman changes the body the way change house. Whenever we shift we take everything with us and leave the house as it is. Similarly the atman leaves the body and takes along with it the 5 senses only. What did my brother take along with him? He did not give any thing when he was alive. What is the use of the wealth he accrued? 2. Why do we break coconuts? 3. Adishankara’s poem which says when you die no one will accompany with you. 4. Why bananas are offered as prasad to god?
On a few dialogues I understood he was having complaints against his brother for not bestowing any wealth on his name or making him his nominee. Alas what a fever.

All this while the pigs and their friends where going on & on round the cemetery. Its past one hour. The guys got pig tired. They could not catch even a piglet. I was eager to know why this exercise. Well they want to eradicate swine flu hence they are catching all pigs in the surroundings and kill them? They were more interested in the money than the swine flu. I felt we should also eradicate swine flu among us. Pray God he sends some one to catch them.