'Antim Yatra.....An Extra-Mile Of A Daughter'

LIFE...just a four-letter word holds an ocean of numerous unanswered questions and it becomes all the more difficult when in a family instead of a boy there is a girl-child so, who'll do the last rituals of a father who just left and said adieu to this world. Only questions and eyes overflowing with doubts embraced this protagonist- Kamya.  

With each step, she was sinking in the burden of customs and culture, her broken heart and teary eyes were not ready to hold that cold -lifeless body of her father, who was the strongest source of life for her. He filled her life with unconditional love and warmth. It was just two days back she left him in her native place, her Miyka, with a hope to meet him again. Now, when like a storybook that all of a sudden reached its last page. Two days back when she reached back to her husband's house little did she know that the weekend will bring news and her world will shatter like an autumn leaf?

 In our Indian culture, society has all the rules and norms for girls but all the rights are bestowed upon men or boys. Now, stand in a place where a girl gets this heartrending news of losing her father or mother. All of a sudden, the boy of the family takes all the duties on his shoulder... the unsaid duty given by society to him..he has the right to say goodbye to his parents by giving mukhaagni ( Fire/ cremation duty) but it's not permissible for a girl child. 

Kamya, being grief-sicken, was outbursting with shrieks and howling cries, louder enough to give shudder to everyone present there. She was unable to believe that life has taken this tragic turn. She was standing on the threshold of her parent's house and in front of her father's body was covered with a white sheet. Those arms, where she could feel the strongest support and security, were lay lifeless. She was screaming to bring back those days but it's all over now.

Here, begins the actual fight between her emotions and the demands of rituals. Now, the biggest challenge was who'll do all the duties of cremation, her own loved ones were suggesting her options for this. But she stood tall and kept her father's words," You are my SON... not a daughter...an asset to me...not a liability ... I gave you such strong upbringing that you can do anything or everything like a boy." So, she took a brave step and defy the strict norms of society, and like a brave boy...being a girl she performed all the duties, she was tearing her heart with her own hands and said goodbye to her father. 

Did Kamya, commit something incorrectly, didn't she possess this right to actually act like a boy/ son in this situation...is the pain of losing parents has different language for son or daughter?? After watching her doing all those rituals I could see mixed expressions on the faces of people gathered in the crematorium. She walked an extra mile...the most difficult one-emotionally and practically ... in this Antim Yatra of her beloved father, being the first and the strongest love in the life of any daughter. With her numb hands and shattered heart....in deafening silence, she was questioning this society...The last RIDE of my father-it wasn't my RIGHT??