Parents called me on skype a while ago to wish me happy Diwali. Out of the blue, they asked me if I wanted to come to India for the Christmas break. Mom already had the ticket prices figured out. But I refused. Mom went on about how this is the one opportunity I have to visit India because there will be other things going on.
" Divya' s exams will be going on, you might want to take courses in the summer..."
I didn't budge. They didn't tell me until a few minutes later that there had been a death in the family.
I had a dream last weekend; about a death in the family... It was Manik tauji. I don't know why it was him. I don't even remember seeing how it happened. But there were definitely some weird circumstances. I saw myself getting ready for his funeral. But something was odd. I was wearing a black suit. As if I was getting ready to go to a Christian funeral.
People wear white clothes to Hindu funerals in India. Even outside India, the close family and the mourners will wear white because of the belief that after death the soul is at peace and free from worldly desires.
So why the black suit? Why was the funeral being held in the western style? I haven't stopped pondering this myself. I am sure that the death was in my family and Most of my family resides in India. But I was clearly in the west. What was the meaning of this? A reference to how I don't intend to return to India again? Or was it a premonition or a warning in disguise?
