The Best And The Worst

Tragedy brings out the worst in people. My family recently went through a tragedy and I have discovered the truth of this saying.

My grand uncle passed away on Sunday. He was a 66 year old with a history of heart trouble, yet his passing was a complete shock. He left behind a wife and 4 boys and a whole host of extended family. It turns out that he was also very active politically and will be sorely missed by those who knew him.

The man that he was is not the point of this entry. The point of this entry is how in times of crises, our deepest, darkest neuroses rise to the surface. Given that in times of loss, like a funeral, family is thrown together in close quarters for extended periods, this is not a good thing.

In the Hindu faith, there are a series of rites, rituals and prayers that have to be followed. So in times of loss, not only does the family have to deal with the loss of a loved one, we have to bloody run around like headless chicken organising a series of ceremonies. Organising a single ceremony is monumental enough, but to have to do it time and again over the course of a month is just plain exhausting. Of course, all this in addition to living day to day is just a disaster waiting to happen.

Of course, given the family I come from, disaster waiting to happen is putting it mildly. My family is a walking disaster area, on a good day and in times like this, well, you get the idea. So here I am stuck playing intermediary for paranoid, drama fed old ladies who have been lying in wait for an occassion like this. It's like these old crones have nothing else to bloody do with their time except brood in a corner all day, watching tamil serials and feed their own delusions of grandeur.

So I have a week more of putting up with this powder keg parading as a family before I am free of them for awhile. Wish me luck.

Just Me.

Tradition

Some times, people do things the way they do things, because that's the way they've always done things and they refuse to do things in a new way even though there is irrefutable proof that there is a better of doing things and then it's become tradition when all they really mean is FUCKING habit!
Just Me.