19th October 2006 – 9:49 – HCMC
For the memory of grandmother…
“This is the river!” a boy shouted as if he has never seen it before. They were on the road for more than two hours to release the ashes of grandmother to the infinitely long surface of the river. They have carried the ashes in specially decorated containers and this is the last journey grandmother is going to take. The children were joyous with the first scene of the water and they were giggling with the happiness growing inside them. They were not aware of what made them happy but somehow they were thinking that it may not be so right to show happiness where others were either looking pale or shedding tears quietly and invisibly.
The coolness of the fresh water easily spread into the air with its strong odour. Everyone in the bus was stunned by the glimmering light beams coming from the surface of the river and it was difficult not to feel the power of life once watching the elegance of the purity in the water. Although they came here to commemorate grandmother’s death, livelihood of the water and its indefinite being force people to be optimistic for their future. The river was there, before they came, before the little boy exclaimed, before grandmother was born… It was infinite with its people around…The river created the people and gave life to villages around. It was the power of life they came to celebrate. It was recycling itself through mountains and the ocean. It becomes rain, then river, then ocean, then air, then cloud and then rain again…
The sun was setting down on the downside of the river as if the whole river is pouring into the sun to cool it down. It was late afternoon and soon it will be night with the silence of mourning family members and sound of flowing stream. The river was only one! It was one piece with arms, feet and body. It was a living creature same as people and trees. It was both the source of life and the life itself. It was one at every point as if it wants to deny the existence of time. At the beginning, at the middle and at the end where it joins to the ocean, there was only one river. All the fluctuations and turbulences happening in the river will disappear when it reaches to the ocean as if a crying child is hugged by his mother and soon he calmed down.
The family members stood beside the river and looked at it as if it is the one who will take the grandmother away from them. The cycle soon will be completed by the return of the ashes to the water again. Then, grandmother will travel in the wind and water, she will be part of earth and ocean, she will be part of indefinite cycles of being, births and deaths. It is the last journey for the people who are sending her but it is only a small part of a big journey of life which has no end in the every sense. She soon will be flying in the chaotic turbulences of wind then will land on the little waves of the water then soon she will join to the ocean where she actually came from.
The shimmering light from the surface of the river was amazingly vivid in the eyes of the family members as if they are spreading the ashes to a mirror whose surface is cracked and thousands of suns were blinking. Each fraction was a moment in the life of grandmother. Here she was born, here she got married, here she gave her first child, here she lost her husband, here she saw her first grandchild, and here she learnt she is sick… All the tiny reflections of sun were giving a little clue about her life. One of her life-long friends looked at the river as if she was looking at her friend. They were going to school together somewhere on this river… She tried to catch the moments of joyful days on the glimmering surface.
Then, the oldest son took a handful of ashes into his right hand. It was time to say good bye but it was difficult somehow. He has seen others were doing this ceremony many times without feeling what it really means for the ones who lose their loved ones. He looked at his children’s faces and saw his mother’s deep silhouette. Without any intention, he smiled shortly. The birds were still singing with the joy because they knew that if the sun sets today, it will rise tomorrow again. But the eldest son of grandmother knew that this is the last time he will have chance to be with his mother. He released the ashes in his hand to the wind… The colour of gray started to move from his hand as if a sort of magical elixir was flying away from an alchemist’s hands. The ashes soon became the part of the air. It did not take more than a few seconds for the ashes to disappear with the power of the wind. They were in the river now as invisible tiny dust particles moving with the current of the water toward the redness of the setting sun. One more time, grandmother was moving in the hand of nature as if a body floats on surface of the water without caring where the waves take it just because the ultimate trust between the waves and his/her body. She will soon arrive at the ocean to unify with the “one” and melt in the pot of “oneness”. Some call it God, some simply call it nature, and some call it Brahman. It does not matter what worldly name you give to the light of one regarding on your belief. The ultimate end for everyone and for everything does not change… To return where we came from!
Then other sons and daughters came one by one… They did the same thing while hardly keeping the tears in their eyes. The river promised them that grandmother will safely take the journey and will soon be “one” in the boundless mercy of the ocean. There was a silence in everybody’s heart… Silence for grandmother’s long prosperous life… Prosperous with deeds and children…
The silence was broken with buzzing sound of a telephone. It was the eldest grandson, calling from hospital. He told his father that he just held his first baby girl in his arms. Father smiled and without much thinking asked his son what name he plans to give to the new baby. The eldest son understood what his father wants to say. He slowly said the name of grandmother to the ears of his father as if there was no other choice. Father smiled and lifted his telephone to the air to show people around him as if he is showing the baby. He shouted “My son had a daughter…” The people smiled with enormous relief. Then father added the words, “She will carry my mother’s name…” The joy one more time struck to the family. Grandmother was back! As the river promised, the ashes become water, water becomes air, air becomes clouds, clouds become rain and rain becomes river…
For the memory of grandmother…
“This is the river!” a boy shouted as if he has never seen it before. They were on the road for more than two hours to release the ashes of grandmother to the infinitely long surface of the river. They have carried the ashes in specially decorated containers and this is the last journey grandmother is going to take. The children were joyous with the first scene of the water and they were giggling with the happiness growing inside them. They were not aware of what made them happy but somehow they were thinking that it may not be so right to show happiness where others were either looking pale or shedding tears quietly and invisibly.
The coolness of the fresh water easily spread into the air with its strong odour. Everyone in the bus was stunned by the glimmering light beams coming from the surface of the river and it was difficult not to feel the power of life once watching the elegance of the purity in the water. Although they came here to commemorate grandmother’s death, livelihood of the water and its indefinite being force people to be optimistic for their future. The river was there, before they came, before the little boy exclaimed, before grandmother was born… It was infinite with its people around…The river created the people and gave life to villages around. It was the power of life they came to celebrate. It was recycling itself through mountains and the ocean. It becomes rain, then river, then ocean, then air, then cloud and then rain again…
The sun was setting down on the downside of the river as if the whole river is pouring into the sun to cool it down. It was late afternoon and soon it will be night with the silence of mourning family members and sound of flowing stream. The river was only one! It was one piece with arms, feet and body. It was a living creature same as people and trees. It was both the source of life and the life itself. It was one at every point as if it wants to deny the existence of time. At the beginning, at the middle and at the end where it joins to the ocean, there was only one river. All the fluctuations and turbulences happening in the river will disappear when it reaches to the ocean as if a crying child is hugged by his mother and soon he calmed down.
The family members stood beside the river and looked at it as if it is the one who will take the grandmother away from them. The cycle soon will be completed by the return of the ashes to the water again. Then, grandmother will travel in the wind and water, she will be part of earth and ocean, she will be part of indefinite cycles of being, births and deaths. It is the last journey for the people who are sending her but it is only a small part of a big journey of life which has no end in the every sense. She soon will be flying in the chaotic turbulences of wind then will land on the little waves of the water then soon she will join to the ocean where she actually came from.
The shimmering light from the surface of the river was amazingly vivid in the eyes of the family members as if they are spreading the ashes to a mirror whose surface is cracked and thousands of suns were blinking. Each fraction was a moment in the life of grandmother. Here she was born, here she got married, here she gave her first child, here she lost her husband, here she saw her first grandchild, and here she learnt she is sick… All the tiny reflections of sun were giving a little clue about her life. One of her life-long friends looked at the river as if she was looking at her friend. They were going to school together somewhere on this river… She tried to catch the moments of joyful days on the glimmering surface.
Then, the oldest son took a handful of ashes into his right hand. It was time to say good bye but it was difficult somehow. He has seen others were doing this ceremony many times without feeling what it really means for the ones who lose their loved ones. He looked at his children’s faces and saw his mother’s deep silhouette. Without any intention, he smiled shortly. The birds were still singing with the joy because they knew that if the sun sets today, it will rise tomorrow again. But the eldest son of grandmother knew that this is the last time he will have chance to be with his mother. He released the ashes in his hand to the wind… The colour of gray started to move from his hand as if a sort of magical elixir was flying away from an alchemist’s hands. The ashes soon became the part of the air. It did not take more than a few seconds for the ashes to disappear with the power of the wind. They were in the river now as invisible tiny dust particles moving with the current of the water toward the redness of the setting sun. One more time, grandmother was moving in the hand of nature as if a body floats on surface of the water without caring where the waves take it just because the ultimate trust between the waves and his/her body. She will soon arrive at the ocean to unify with the “one” and melt in the pot of “oneness”. Some call it God, some simply call it nature, and some call it Brahman. It does not matter what worldly name you give to the light of one regarding on your belief. The ultimate end for everyone and for everything does not change… To return where we came from!
Then other sons and daughters came one by one… They did the same thing while hardly keeping the tears in their eyes. The river promised them that grandmother will safely take the journey and will soon be “one” in the boundless mercy of the ocean. There was a silence in everybody’s heart… Silence for grandmother’s long prosperous life… Prosperous with deeds and children…
The silence was broken with buzzing sound of a telephone. It was the eldest grandson, calling from hospital. He told his father that he just held his first baby girl in his arms. Father smiled and without much thinking asked his son what name he plans to give to the new baby. The eldest son understood what his father wants to say. He slowly said the name of grandmother to the ears of his father as if there was no other choice. Father smiled and lifted his telephone to the air to show people around him as if he is showing the baby. He shouted “My son had a daughter…” The people smiled with enormous relief. Then father added the words, “She will carry my mother’s name…” The joy one more time struck to the family. Grandmother was back! As the river promised, the ashes become water, water becomes air, air becomes clouds, clouds become rain and rain becomes river…
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