Bayaji was badly burnt and he was in great agony. He asked for water all the time. As
his eyes began to roll in his head, his eldest son moved closer, gulped down the sorrow that
was surging in his throat and asked, 'Nana, what's your last wish?'
'Sons, I want you to build a storeyed house, I've no other wish.' With these words, his
head collapsed like the storeyed house. Bayaji was quiet and the fire too had calmed down.
Bayaji's mother wept bitterly. 'Your father passed away without giving me a burial. At
least your hands should have pushed the dust over my dead body. Bayaji, speak to me.' She
was mad with grief.
Bayaji's wife was sobbing her heart out, crying repeatedly, 'Who's done this evil to
us? Let the house burn to cinders. Save my husband first!'
The entire family was shattered by the calamity. The spirits of all the men were
dampened like a cooking fire on which water has been poured.
In the morning the village officers and witnesses visited the place to record the facts
of the accident. 'Bayaji's death was the result of an accident due to a petromax flare-up,' was
their conclusion.
The house was burning before the house-warming ceremony was over and Bayaji
was in ashes in the cemetery instead of enjoying the comforts of a retired life.
After the funeral, people returned hanging their heads. All of them were pained at
heart to think that having come to celebrate the housewarming, they had the misfortune to
attend the funeral of the host.
All were sitting in a sullen mood in the pandal when Bayaji's eldest son came out
with three or four baskets, a spade, a pickaxe and a hoe. He outlined a square with the
pickaxe and began to dig.
The eldest son was digging, the second was gathering the earth with his spade and the
others were lifting it away in baskets.
The guests asked in amazement, 'Children, you are in mourning! What's this you're
doing?'
'Our father's soul cannot rest in peace unless we do