The living room telephone rang shrilly and Michael Aarokyaraaj hurried across from his verandah to pick up the phone.   He was just relaxing after a long session of bible school at his church (he held bible school for little children every Sunday evening).  ‘Who could this be,’ he wondered as he said hello.  

‘Not our traditions amma, just yours and certainly not mine and NEVER will be.  You very well know how I do not believe in all these heathen and pagan rituals.  I’ll certainly pray to my one and only true lord in heaven for appa’s welfare.  If the inevitable does happen, please ask cousin Senthil to perform the last rites according to your Hindu traditions.  We all know how close he was to appa.’

Michael silently hung up the phone and headed back to his stool on the verandah.  Two years back, he had fallen in love with a Christian girl at college and had to accept the religion as a condition for marriage, which was to take place later this year.  And in these two years, his faith had also become firmer and almost bordering on a fanatical zeal to Christ.  But all that came at a huge personal cost.  The subsequent fallout with his staunch Hindu appa, Aarokyaraaj Pillai, and consequential separation from his family was indeed a bitter one.  Michael had then made a vow that he would have nothing to with his family anymore, especially his father.   The telephone rang shrilly a few more times but Micheal did not bother to answer it.

'Appa do not speak of dying.  Your Lord Narayana is with us all the time and he will see you through this.'

'After I pass away, please do all the final rites in the Hindu tradition of our ancestors.  I know that your present religious views and beliefs are not compatible with this.  But please discharge this duty as a son and do the same for your amma when her time comes. Of course, I'm not in anyways asking you to revert back to the religion of your ancestors. Just treat this as a dying man's last wish.  Even criminals facing the gallows have their reasonable wishes catered to.  So would you please accommodate my wishes Murugan?'

'Ah.. I can die in peace now.  I'm overwhelmed son by your change of heart and here I ask you one more favor.  I gift you my gold locket with the Baala-Krishna-Baala-Murugan pendant for you.  You know that this locket goes a very long way back and has been handed down to me through our paternal generations.  I now gift it to you.  Of course I will not compel you to wear it if it goes against your beliefs but promise me that you will keep this treasured and pass it down to your son in your old age.'

‘Appa, why would I not wear our ancestral locket?  In fact, it will forever remain around my neck along with my holy cross till my last breath.  And these Hindu Gods are as dear to me as my own Christ as I’m a proud Bhaarateeya Christian, who is proud of the Hindu heritage of his ancestors and his sacred land and moreover love, devotion, charity, and compassion are not the monopoly of a single religion.’

‘All by the blessings of the Lord and elders appa,’ Michael placed his head at his father’s feet. And then Arogyaraaj slowly drifted into unconsciousness. Michael then broke open and poured the waters of the Ganges into his father's mouth from a brass chombu (pitcher), which the family had kept sealed in the pooja room. In another hour, Aarokyaraaj had passed away peacefully with a beatific smile on his face…………………..................


Monday 5.00PM, Chennai

As he had promised his father, Michael performed all the Hindu last rites to text book perfection, with his ancestral locket proudly adorning his neck.  Even the pundit was impressed by his diction of the mantras as well his devotion to the rituals.  After everything was over, he took the ashes of his father to the sea and then it was time to leave back for Delhi as he had to report to work; but not before making the promise to his mother that he would be back for completing the rituals of the 16th day.

Tuesday 4.00AM, Delhi

Michael again woke up with a start.  He had seen the same dream again. He vividly saw the smiling face of his father with a shining cross in the background.   He immediately got off his bed and walked towards the small altar in his living room which housed a small golden statue of Christ on his cross..  It was then that the phone rang; his mother was on the line.
‘Did you reach safely son. I was worried as you had promised to ring me as soon as you reached Delhi.  And thanks son for coming to Chennai and satisfy appa’s dying wish.  Thanks for completing all the rituals. You don’t know how much it has gladdened the innermost recesses of my soul.  May God bless you son and I look forward to seeing you back for the rituals of the 16th day.’
‘Ayyo amma, what are you saying amma.  When did I ever come to Chennai?  I can’t even make head and tail of what you are saying. It is so early in the morning and you are speaking half asleep.  And by the way, how’s appa’s condition now?’
‘What my dear Muruga, I think you really is the tired one and still half asleep.  I can understand after all the long rituals yesterday that you performed so meticulously and patiently and of course the flight back to Delhi. Anyway, go back to bed and take rest.  I’ll call you back later.  And do not forget to take good care of the ancestral locket that appa gave you.  It looks so appropriate and fitting on you..........................'

It was then that he caught sight of the shining locket with that so so familiar pendant dangling from the cross of the Christ statue and the phone receiver immediately slipped from his shivering hands.  “Hello hello hello,’ his mother’s voice crackled through the receiver on the floor.  And then his robust young knees buckled under the weight of his body as he knelt sobbing.  For the first time in his life, he felt HIS true universal love.