Lent Day 12: Clarification on Hindu Rituals

Despite life getting in the way* I am committed to doing something for today's Lenten journal entry.

Yesterday I finally had the chance to follow up with N about Hindu traditions and clarify what he meant by being able to forget anything within 12 days.  The initial conversation took place on Mardi Gras (two weeks ago) and wasn't nearly as long or in-depth as I would have liked.  Thankfully there will be more discussion to follow.

I should have interpreted N's original comment as his psychological take on the Hindu mourning rituals that last 12 days.  It's not that one forgets anything in those 12 days, it's that the initial mourning phase seems to take 12 days to complete.  (N even cited studies that showed elephants who remain with a deceased elephant for about 12 days before eventually leaving the body.)

And it (the long prescribed mourning period) makes a lot of sense to me, or at least more sense than what this country allows or expects from the work perspective:  the typical bereavement time for corporate America is five days.  Even if one wanted to use vacation days for extended grieving, there would be a huge challenge when returning to work.  It's difficult enough to take off two weeks when planning for it; even worse when it is an unplanned absence.

N also described follow-up mourning rituals that take place monthly and quarterly.  They're designed to remember and respect the departed.  Clearly the goal is not to forget anyone or anything.  My bad, in trying to reflect upon a rushed conversation that darted from topic to topic.  In any case, I look forward to my future conversations with N, which I know won't be nearly as rushed.

*Today's "life getting in the way" included my own weekly volleyball game, attending the high school basketball playoff game (which we -- the home team -- won 78-32), and then dealing with my credit card company about possible fraud alert, which thankfully was a charge that I really made but they flagged as being an unusual pattern.  It still took quite a bit of time to follow-up and resolve.


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