This story was translated from Nepali. Read the original in Nepali
Shivu Khanal
Deukhuri. Unable to find the body of their loved one who went missing in the flood, a family has had to perform the last rites using a symbolic body made of kush grass. This was no ordinary farewell. For the family, it was a hard decision made amid a long wait, pain and uncertainty. Sukdev Chaudhary of Butkauwa, Lamahi Municipality ward no. 4, went missing after the flood. His relatives and family kept searching for a long time, hoping he would return safely. But his body could not be found. The days passed, and the hope in the family’s hearts slowly turned into pain. In the end, following Hindu religious tradition, a symbolic body of Sukdev was made from kush grass and the last rites were performed at Rapti Ghat on Tuesday according to religious practice. The kush body lay at the ghat, surrounded by relatives. But Sukdev’s real body was not there. What was there was his memory, the family’s grief, and the end of a wait that will never be fulfilled. Performing her father’s last rites with her own hands made the moment even more painful for his daughter. Sukdev’s eldest daughter, Parasika Chaudhary, lit the funeral pyre. Though her father’s real body was not before her, she completed the religious rites and bade him a final farewell.
For the family, this was not just a moment of completing a ritual. It was the harsh reality of having to accept a loved one’s death without being able to see him. The flood took Sukdev away from his family, and his body was never found. But he will never be far from the family’s memories. In that symbolic body made of kush, the family tried to see Sukdev’s final form. Treating the kush as his body, they completed the religious rites, lit the pyre, and finally held his symbolic funeral at Rapti Ghat. Performing the last rites without seeing the body has deepened the family’s grief. Normally, people say goodbye by seeing the face one last time, touching the body and completing the rites. Sukdev’s family did not get that chance. The days spent searching for him, the hope the family held on to, and the symbolic funeral they finally had to perform without his body have all left a deep mark on their hearts.
As the religious rites were being completed at Rapti Ghat, memories of Sukdev kept returning to his family. There is no longer any reason for the family to hope that Sukdev will return. But the funeral held without seeing his real body will leave one question in their minds forever: where was Sukdev lost, and what were his last moments like? The flood did not only make one family member disappear; it also left the family with a deep grief they will carry all their lives. With the pyre lit on the kush body at Rapti Ghat on Tuesday, the religious last rites for Sukdev Chaudhary were completed. But for his family, his memory, their love and those days of searching will never end. Though without his real body, the family has bid their father a final farewell through the kush body. The pain of not seeing his face one last time, however, will always live on in the hearts of Parasika and the family.
