Bathe the body and tie the neck
Against the wall to make it sit
On a wooden cot.
Women cry their hearts out.
They have to.
Men can't, they've to pretend
To attend to other chores.
Some gather bamboo to make
'Sidagi', some warm their drums
For a loud announcement.
Some wait for the alcohol.
Kids from the sidelines wonder
About everyone's mixed behavior.
They're hungry but gotta tolerate it.
By this late in the noon, they too-
Understand that food can't be
Cooked in their house of the dead.
Sidagi- a carrier for dead body till the graveyard