No religious mourning for Ankhi,just as he willed

There will be no bhog ceremony in memory of novelist Ram Sarup Ankhi,just as he desired. Ankhi,who passed away on February 15,had ‘willed’ his desire to not have any religious rites beyond his cremation in the preface to one of his books,Apni Mitti De Rukh Vichon. “I am not religious by nature,no religious ceremony should be held after my death. On the third or the seventh day after by death,my friends,readers and relatives should sit together for an hour or so and talk about me. This would be the biggest tribute to me,” he wrote.

Ankhi’s son Kranti Pal said,“We have decided to hold a meeting on February 21 where 20 people who have been very close to my father,including his fans and some of his colleagues,will speak. There will be no religious ceremony.”

Kranti,who edits vernacular magazine Kahani Punjab,added,“My father had desired that his last rites be formed at Ram Bagh in Barnala and his ashes me submerged in Harike Branch. He wanted his ashes to meet the pure water of Satluj.”

“He used to say that the water of the great Satluj flows into our fields,and he too wanted to be one with the soil he belonged to,” said Kranti.