AMICABLE SOLUTION

People started gathering at Krishnaveni’s house. She was pronounced dead. She was living alone in her house. Her four sons had deserted her long ago considering her to be a dead weight liability on them. Considering her pitiable situation, she was engaged as a farm labourer, by one of the landlords in the village. She had learnt to live within whatever she received as wages. There was no scope for extravaganza, wastages, or luxuries.

Now that she was gone, villagers sent a messenger to get her sons for conducting death related rituals. “Oh! When it comes to that, there is quite a lot of work… someone has to prepare the stretcher like structure with green bamboo and coconut sheaths, someone has to blow a conch, someone has to carry a pot of fire, someone has to go ringing the toll bell, all these actions simultaneously through a long march to the cremation ground… and one more … some may or may not want to spend on fireworks, along with bands and drums, which also were also part of the customary practices”.  

Munian, Sadaiyan, Karuppan and Mani came hurriedly with their spouses and children. Sheila’s husband Subbu also came there to the have the last view of the dead woman. He was there mainly to oversee how things were shared among brothers and whether he too was counted in that sharing.

People from neighbouring houses also thronged. A few women started wailing, some crying and some discussing …. The sons were busy discussing about who should inherit the house, what other valuables she had, vessels, grains, groceries and what not. The land owner came there and asked the sons to hurry up to attend to cremation related tasks. Before leaving, he also advised the sons to carry on their discussions on inheritance after the cremation was over. Munian and his brothers sat down to prepare bamboo stretcher. Mani went to local toddy shop to fetch liquor for all. It was customary to offer booze to all who gathered. This he preferred as a better way than spending on fireworks even though it was a customary practice. He said to himself that it was an austerity measure and he was not sure whether his brothers would share these expenses also among total expenses to be incurred.

The ladies sat around Krishnaveni and were wailing with intermittent interruptions. One would narrate an old anecdote and other with another recent one ... and that way all kept telling tall stories about her good behaviour and good nature. This made everyone feel that missing the dead woman was very painful. Finally, things were ready for her last journey. Munian’s son took the fire pot, another grandson took the conch and one more grandson took the toll bell. The four men brought Krishnaveni and laid her on the stretcher and then lifted it. All four sons lent their shoulders and carried her. The grandchildren slowly moved towards cremation ground while sons followed them carrying the body. A few local boys too joined them with flowers and were spraying them as they marched. Slowly and steadily all of them kept walking. Some women also joined them. They were shedding tears. They were advised to remain silent or recite some prayers if they wanted to come along till cremation grounds.

Cremation ground was not very far, but surely it was away from the village dwellings. Once the funeral pyre was lit, it would burn for hours. People could see the smoke billowing upwards with sparks of logwoods cracking along with bones from the dead body cracking and shattering. In a rare case or two, some people sighted ghosts arising from the corpse and going upward with the smoke. In such rare cases, those who gathered there, left the place immediately in fear of ghosts settling on them. People started guessing and gossiping whether Krishnaveni would been haunted by any ghost or would she herself settle upon entering on somebody as ghost.

Krishnaveni’s final journey started, one blowing the conch, one ringing the bell and one carrying the firepot. The four sons carried the mortal remains. As the procession moved, suddenly one lady in the crowd screamed loudly with one hand on her mouth and the other one pointing to the stretcher bed where Krishnaveni was laid to rest. Because of sudden screech and scream, everyone in the crowd stood still. Everyone in the crowd felt a wave of chill under their spine. Did any wild animal come here smelling the dead body? Did the dead body emanate ghost spirit even before it was burnt? Was there any sign of some mysterious happening befalling on the poor villagers? A sense of fright engulfed everyone. Suddenly Munian felt some shaky movements upon his shoulders. At first, he thought Mani who was drunk and carrying the body on his shoulders must have tilted the stretcher. So, he asked Mani to be steady and strong. On the contrary, Mani thought Munian was not holding the stretcher properly and that was why he felt the shake on his shoulder. He asked his brother to hold the body firmly.

Meanwhile all brothers could clearly hear a weird sound coming from Krishnaveni. All four looked at each other in fear and fright. They left the body on the ground and ran away and stood at a distance. Their leaving the scene and running away made others panicky. The villagers had never seen a funeral march ending half way. Surely it was not a good omen. Something deadly might befall. Who knows what unfulfilled desires the dead woman had for which she wanted to take revenge on others by her eerie movements.

Again, there was a screechy sound from her – this time loud and clear. Very clear and very loud. She lifted her thumb and placed it on her mouth signaling she was thirsty and needed water to drink. But who had the courage to go near her?  She sat up on her bed with difficulty and ran her fingers on the bed and was wondering as to why it was cold. The villagers who were keenly watching her and her weird movements, now gathered a bit of courage. Some of them openly proclaimed her to be alive ... She was coming back to life. She might not be a ghost living in a dead body trying to threaten everyone. Instead, they concluded that there must be simple possibility that she fell into coma or stupor. People wrongly presumed her unconsciousness and that too for hours together, as her having been dead. Nobody had any inclination to call a doctor to confirm her death. It was a different matter that there was no doctor in that village either.

A Sidhha Vaidya doctor of Seventh Generation known for his herbal compounds, used to visit a nearby village on a weekly basis. Mani took a bicycle from his neighbour and went to fetch the herbal doctor. He used to diagnose perfectly just by feeling the pulse of any patient and gave treatment for their ailment. Mani went in search of him. Luckily that day was the doctor’s weekly visit day. At first, the doctor declined. He had good number of patients to be seen. After completing his routine rounds of check-up, he had to proceed to another village. He had already drawn programmes for the whole week. Any disturbance in his time schedule, would undoubtedly disturb his visits to other places. Initially Mani had problem in convincing the local patients of this doctor about his priority.

Mani requested the patients who were waiting for the doctor to cooperate with him. He narrated everything about his mother’s death, her funeral procession and her coming back to life again. At the outset, they laughed at him and told him that they were not fools to believe his cock and bull story. Mani repeatedly narrated about his firm conviction and wanted the doctor’s verdict about Krishnaveni … Is she alive or is she a ghost. He even told them that he had come here half through the funeral procession. He had left the body which was already placed on bamboo stretcher and he had came running to this village to see the doctor to take him. After repeatedly telling the same thing they got convinced about his urgency.

Dr. Brahmaraj, the Seventh Generation doctor, finally agreed. The doctor who was all along dealing with varieties of patients, had absolutely no fear of any ghost or any other evil spirit haunting on some dead human being. He despised all such stories as rubbish – stupid - nonsense and branded them as blind beliefs. While being escorted by Manian, he collected information about Krishnaveni and learnt that she was not a wealthy woman and nor her sons were. All she held as valuables, were a few brass and bronze vessels apart from some basic aluminum and stainless-steel utensils. May be a little bit of groceries and may be a few more precious items of her choice. Overall, he understood that she was not a wealthy woman to pay him his fees – nor his sons would pay. He understood that they were keen on taking away whatever was left over. Now he had to take up this as an honourary job, for which he was accustomed to. In most of the villages he visited, things were somewhat similar. That was also one of the reasons for his popularity amongst the villagers. He was noble and kind hearted.

He straight went to the site where Krishnaveni was laid to rest. He checked her pulse and felt that it was very low. She was sinking, but was alive. He guessed that some villagers mistook her unconsciousness. In a hurry they pronounced her to be dead. The humdrum, hoopla and noisy surrounding coupled with jolts and jerks on her body made her gain consciousness. Her senses also got awakened. But she was too weak to sit up and walk out. Doctor wanted to make her sons to come to an understanding about sharing her scanty belongings. For them that was the big hook which held them together and brought them to the village. He played a trick using their blind belief. He stood up and said the lady was sinking and, in a few minutes would pass away peacefully, provided, the ghost in her was satiated. Local Tantri, the witchcraft man who was already present there came hurriedly with bunch of neem leaves. He was about to beat her with the leaves by uttering usual haa-hoo and magical words, thereby invoking demigods and goddesses. In situations like this, he relied upon “Jaidevi Jakkamma” - a popular deity whom everyone always thought of. Doctor did not allow him to thrash her body with neem leaves. He asked him to get some Bilva leaves, generally used for worshipping God Shiva. While Tantri was away, doctor looking at four sons told them to write off all her left-over belongings to presiding deity of this village, Karuppasaamy. This Karuppasaamy was also the caretaker of cemetery. In this manner, the ghost would be driven away faster and Krishnaveni could also die peacefully. The doctor told them that this method was practiced in some other village where he was visiting on a weekly basis. All four of them were a bit reluctant as they were keen on getting some benefit from their mother’s belongings There could be some jewelries hidden in some grocery pots ... But the villagers insisted on four of them to follow whatever doctor said. Because they were sensuous and already had a sense of fear that ghost might enter somebody’s head and would wreak horrors. They had some time earlier seen some exorcist movies where such things were highlighted. In the interest of everybody in the village and in their wellbeing, this was drawn as an easy way out. The sons were made to agree.

All four of them obeyed his orders and wanted to know the procedure to carry out his orders. Doctor asked them to bring her belongings and keep them in front of Krishnaveni. All vessels and groceries were neatly arranged by her side. The Tantri, the priest came with Bilwa leaves and muttered some hymns. Meanwhile doctor listed the items and mentally put a price tag on each of the items. Landlord was the first one to come forward. He had engaged Krishnaveni as a labourer. He gave a few hundred rupees as her wages for last few days she worked for him. Now the doctor took out a note book and started writing the items and their rupee equivalent in that note book. Landlord’s cash amount was the very first entry. Then doctor stood up and told the people waving his notebook, that an amount of few thousands had been accounted for so far and that included her house also. He announced that all these now belonged to God Karuppassamy. This was accepted by all as final settlement.

He then bent down and checked Krishnaveni’s pulse and her heartbeat. He happily looked at all those gathered there. He said in a low voice that since everything was now transferred to God Karuppasaamy, the ghost resting on her body abandoned her. He told them “Krishnaveni has now attained the lotus feet of Karuppasaamy. You can proceed to cremate her mortal remains.” The funeral procession started with usual customary practices. Finally, Krishnaveni left for her heavenly abode.   

Before the sons could lift the bamboo stretcher, doctor had made one more announcement. Now that everything of what belonged to Krishnaveni, now belonged to the God, anybody in the village including her sons, can pay the amount and use the articles. “It is God’s prasadam” with His divine blessings.”

Cash poured in for groceries, vessels, one small golden nose ring kept in a jar, and for many other petty items. The landowner’s daughter came forward and announced that she would like to take the house on rent and pay monthly rental amount to God Karuppasaamy.

She wanted to start a Self Help Group for making incense cones using dry flowers and neem leaves – an ecofriendly attempt to keep people free from mosquitoes. She needed place for organizing this activity. She was hopeful that this being an economic activity, would certainly earn money for the women group. Lot of women showed interest and the work started.

Wives of Munian, Sadaiyan, Karuppan and Mani were among the first few to join hands in this cone making unit. Their children were also fascinated and wanted to enroll. Since child labour was prohibited, they were not allowed. In stead they were sent to schools. Bereft of wife and children, these four sons could not go to their previous places of work and were forced to stay back in the village and look for alternate jobs.

Munian applied for a bank loan and started a flour mill. Sadaiyan who was working as a carpenter at his previous place of work quit the job there and started his carpentry work here in this village. Karuppan joined the women’s group as in charge for packing and marketing the neem cones. Manian went to landlord and asked him to keep him as a replacement for his mother. Thus, he became a farm labourer now in his own village.

Krishnaveni from her heavenly abode was laughing at the irony of things that took place in her village. While she was alive none of her sons ever bothered about her nor visited her once. But her death brought them all together. People in the village viewed this change as an act of ghost of Krishnaveni. Had it not been for the ghost, these four idiots would have cremated her and then engaged themselves in a bitter fight for getting a major share in her meagre possessions. But now, the ghost of Krishnaveni paved a path and offered an amicable solution to end their quarrels. Not only that – each one has a decent job on hand, and their spouses too, earning a decent living.

Ghosts were not meant to be fearing, nor be afraid of them. People hail the ghost. Dr. Brahmaraj had to take a note of it. He might even weave a different story in yet another village. There he might say “Ghosts are most welcome.”

Ghosts are now welcome in this village.