My mom was shouting at the top of her voice that I needed to wake up and get out of bed at that very moment so that the priest does not get delayed for the sacred thread ceremony which was due to start in 30 minutes time. As I was still sleeping like a polar bear, she came hurriedly to use her clever tactic that she had been employing ever since my school days - switch of the fan! It was then I woke up not because my mom switched the fan off but my mom was in a state of shock and screamed feverishly on seeing my injuries. I hadn't woken her up when I came quietly and slept into the room after all the dress ups and injections which the doctor had given me last night. I knew it was Avani Avittam but the intense searing and piercing pain in my arms and legs sufficiently ensured that I could neither sleep nor be ready for the festival. Before my mom could ask me any specifics on the deadly incident, I told her that everything can wait until the sacred thread is over. But, there was a catch here! The doctor had particularly warned me not to take bath for at least couple of days. However, the situation mandated that I should necessarily have a shower to complete the ritual. So, I was patiently waiting for the priest to solve this intricate problem.
Avani Avittam is a very special event for all the brahmins world wide as the day gives them a ripe and golden opportunity to discard their old sins which they had committed in the last one year and begin afresh a new year with pure intentions and actions when their "poonal" is changed on this highly auspicious day. "Avani" is the tamil month and "Avittam" is one of the 27 stars in Tamil Astrology. Legend has it that the protector of this world, Lord Vishnu had incarnated as Lord Hayagriva - the Lord of Knowledge who restored the Vedas on this divine day. I was remembering whatever my dad had taught me about this important day when the priest arrived with his disciple.
He was also horrified on seeing my condition and enquired whether I would be in a position to perform the rightful religious rites as ordained by the scriptures. I told him that I was ready but I hadn't taken a bath! Like the many loopholes in our Indian legal system, the priest did some quick thinking and said that as mine was a genuine case, I would be considered as an exception and exempted to take the bath to perform the rituals provided I do the Ganga snanam. So, the priest became a judge instantly and gave his judgement after careful deliberation of the facts and applicable laws to my case!
I was gritting and grinding my teeth to every inch as the pain became more than unbearable when I was asked to sit on the floor in the "chaplangaal" position to execute the rites one by one. After bearing another 30 minutes of excruciating mental torment and physical agony, the "poonal" changing ceremony was completed with the priest's blessings. Soon after the priest and his disciple had departed, it was an extremely volatile time for me then as I was thoroughly inundated with a flood of open question regarding the incident of the accident.
Epilogue:
I had wanted to write this blog as a horror story infused with my own personal experiences. Unfortunately, I couldn't fit in the element of ghost properly and the big guffaw is on me now!
x-----concluded----x
PS:
Whether I had intentionally created a ghost character or not and concluded in such a fashion in this blog is solely left to the discretion of the reader... :) :)
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