Goodbye Sagarnath

I could clearly see worries on her face. I have known my Grandmother for quite sometime now. She had always been a bold lady with a strict tone to her voice. I loved my grandmother when she was tough . Now she was a different lady with a weak personality. Boldness seemed to have faded away. The person whom she loved and lived together for her entire life, laid motionless on bed paralysed, not even being able to move his eyelids. Honestly speaking , even though I was a kid, I could still feel , how painful It was for her to live her life with the fact that the person whom she loved the most was about to leave her until and unless a miracle happened. Miracle however happens only in storybooks, not in real life.

Me, my mother and my grandmother were on our way to Sagarnath, leaving my Grandfather under the care of my uncle back in Kathmandu because we human never give up . Hope is the only reason why humankind still prevails on earth. Since modern medical procedures were unable to show any effect on my grandfather, we decided to believe in a miracle instead. That was the reason why we decided to travel back to Sagarnath, and meet Nepalbajay ( Man who used natural and traditional healing methods contrary to modern medical science). Only if I knew about the fact that I was travelling with my grandmother for the very last time, I would have hugged her the entire time.

My Grandfather was a very influential person, not only amongst his blood-bonded relatives but also amongst the people around him in the society. As soon as we arrived in Sagarnath, about hundred of people welcomed us .Many with tear-drops on their eyes asking about the health of my grandfather. I had never seen my grandmother crying until that day when she laid helpless on the corridor and cried in front of the people perhaps closer to her than her own children who visited them once or twice a year. Everything in that house was painful for her. She saw memories of her husband everywhere, which she told us frequently. There was not a single day when house was empty and was not full of visitors until we stayed there. Many came by and read Veda and Puran (Holy Scripts) for the health of my grandfather. Some people even stayed throughout the night ,awake and volunteered in guarding the house ,realising the fact that my grandmother was alone and the person whom we all loved was not there.

It might sound a little bit exaggerated for most of the readers , but when we arrived there ,even our domestic animals had tears on their eyes, and we all agreed to that fact. Perhaps our eyes were always full of sorrows and tears, that we saw everything around us from our own perspective. But it was unforgettable for me because I saw it with my own eyes.

Finally we got what we came for. The traditional herb man made us some sort of ointment that needed to be rubbed, which never actually worked.

We returned back to Kathmandu. The Situation couldn’t be worse. There was some sort of internal conflict because children couldn’t decide who was going to take the responsibility of their father so they decided to sent them both back to their own so called home in Sagarnath, all alone, all by themselves. I am not saying that no one went there to visit them, but they were all alone most of their times in those dark electricity less nights until my grandfather finally died and was cremated. My grandmother was traumatised by the fact that her husband no longer lived. Less than a week after her husbands death, she fell down on the corridor. It is kind of superstitious but my grandmother told her children a night ago before her downfall that her husband came to her in her dreams and asked her to come to him because he was all alone. She was taken to Kathmandu for her treatments but died after few weeks.

I never really got chance to spent most of my time with them but I am glad that I have some beautiful memories which will stay with me forever . This is my small tribute to them, may they rest in peace where ever they are .