THE ROYAL COUPLE

Chapter 46

Vihaan's pov

Yesterday I went around door-to-door like a delivery man to force everyone to eat little and now today is gonna be the toughest day of all, the hospital has returned the casket and all the preparations for the funeral is going on, at exactly 10 we r going to leave the palace to go at the cremation site whereby prayers would be held and everyone would be allowed to see dad for the last time(mukhagni), later on at around 4-5 will be the cremation(antyesti).

Sachit, sanjay uncle(sachit's dad), me and some other close men washed and dressed dad's body for the final rites. It was all so emotional.

Swasti's pov

Draped in a simple white cotton saree all of us were sitting infront of the open casket and a large portrait of his,  surrounded by our family and friends as the helpers served water to everyone.

The panditji started with the gayatri mantra, followed by yamunashtka, hanuman chalisa and many more mantra jaap so that the soul rest in peace and is freed from this world forever. Normally, extra mantra are said specially as papa passed away at a young age hence alot more rituals take place, not only religiously but also legally they r many more procedures taken and thorough investigation is done and for papa it's wayyyyyy alottt because not only did he pass away at a young age but afterall he was a Maharaj and a great businessman too.

Being in a graveyard, they r certain rules ur supposed to obey such as not sayin words like chalo or we will meet again and not touching the body as well,  which made everything even more heartbreaking, I mean I can't even talk to papa freely for one last time. Moreover there is also a rule that u should not cry when ur saying prayers to free the soul, I felt that these rules r so stupid but upon knowing the reasons as to why certain things r not said or done and y some stuff r always worn when in a graveyard, I had no problem as it was all logical.

Then it was time for speeches, everyone gave a speech about their best memory of papa.Now it was my time:-

Swasti; He may be strict, He may be cool, he may be strong, he may be soft, he may be a villain , he may be a hero, he may be bitter, he may be sweet, each and everyone present here will be able to describe their Father with atleast one of this characteristic, but I have seen my papa with each and every one of this characteristic and with each characteristic I found myself falling in love with him all over again, I know most of u would argue this is something u say to ur love of ur life, but for me infact the most of us, our first love, our first boyfriend, our first best friend is always our father, our dad, our papa, a person that can be super protective,possessive and strict not because they care about what the society will think about us but because they truly care for us, a person who will always buy u something u have always want but have received a straight "no" from ur mom, afterall if he is strict than he is also the reason of us being pampered, he may make us feel like a caged Bird at times but he is also the same person who will protect you from all the problems you face, he may sound like a bittergourd but he is also the same person who will motivate us through our hard times with his honey sweet words, kuch aisi hi thi meri aur mere papa ki kahani, kabhi khatti toh kabhi mithi.( I said chuckling at our memories as a few tears also dropped)He may not be with me physically but I believe in him, he will always be there for me when I need him In any form possible, I know he will find A way to reach me when I need him, afterall that's how fathers r right? Lastly, I dedicate this one poem to my hero-my papa.