As kids see it ...

The other day I was going to buy a TV, accompanied by my childhood friend's daughter, Drashti who is just seven years old studying in second standard. While we were passing by Indira Gandhi bridge near Ramnath Para, I showed her the chimney-pot of the crematorium emitting black smoke and asked her, "What is that?"

"It is Chimaney-pot of some factory." Said she.

I veered my bike towards the gate and asked, "Now tell me

what is this place?"

She saw the big statues of lord Shiva and heavenly apsaras and without wasting time replied, "Oh! It's the crematorium. I'm dying to see it from inside. I've told my dad for umpteemp times to take me there."

I temporarily postponed my plan to visit Sony Tv's outlet and we went inside. I showed her electric crematorium first. It had an embossed wall painting depicting the various stages of life from childhood to old age when a man becomes quite feeble and is ready to die. There were some people chatting idly here and there. She understood what black smoke, that the chimney was emitting, was.

Then we visited the part of crematorium where bodies were cremated with logs. There were four grilled beds for the cremation. I told her those who don't choose electric crematorium, they came there.

While we were loitering, watching other idols and prayer-room etc, I noticed Drashti had slipped into a plaintive mode.

I was just about to ask her why she kept a mum when she said: "I would never like any of my family members to leave me and get cremated."

I thought I should say some comforting words after exposing her to such facts of life, so I said, "You know, death is inevitable. People die when they are old and feeble. We cannot help it. That is a natural phenomenon."

"Yeah, true. Don't young people sometimes die and leave us, all of a sudden? Considering that it's natural that people die at old age...!!!" Said she

And I stopped walking, scratching my head and wondering, "Was it she that spoke those worldlywise words!!! Or some spook transported into her body was uttering those words to me!!!...?"

:-) :-) :-)