Outstanding Stories » Who Will Put The Vibhudhi?

“Who Will Put The Vibhudhi?” is one of the outstanding stories (junior) of the second biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Anand Gopalakrishnan, Oakridge International School Einstein Campus Hyderabad, India.

Who Will Put The Vibhudhi?

I am a Tamilian child in seventh grade. Before going to school, I always have to put on vibhudhi*. I live in a joint family with my parents, grandparents, two brothers, uncle and aunt in Hyderabad.

Everyday, I get the blessings from thatha*. He puts the vibhudhi on my forehead every morning before I go to school. But one day, thatha had to go to Chennai for some work. ‘Who will put the vibhudhi for me now?’ I asked myself. 'Ah! How about pati*?', I thought. So for the next few months, I went to pati for vibhudhi. But that did not last for long. Pati had to go and help thatha in Chennai, since he had fallen ill. 'Hmm... who will put the vibhudhi now?'

After thatha and pati left, I asked my uncle, since he was now the eldest member of the family. So, I started getting vibhudhi from him. But my luck was short-lived. My uncle was posted to Mumbai for three years. I started feeling really frustrated. 'Who will put the vibhudhi now?' I next went to my aunt. She gave me vibhudhi until I had completed the seventh grade. After that, she started to teach in a university which was very far away. Meanwhile thatha had passed away in Chennai. ‘Who,’ I asked myself, ‘will put the vibhudhi now?’ and I heaved a huge sigh.

With my uncle and aunt gone, I had to ask appa* to put vibhudhi for me. He put it on me for a few weeks but he often went on really long official trips. So when he was out of station, I asked amma* to put vibhudhi for me. She always puts, but soon she became so busy with household work that she stopped. So I went to anna*. Do you know why I like anna? Because he is very clear. The first day I went to get vibhudhi from him, he put it for me and then threw me out of his room. He said that he was doing a last-minute homework for college that he’d forgotten to give two weeks ago. I am never like anna. I always submit all my homework on time. 'Who will put the vibhudhi now?!'

Sulking, I went back to my room. My little brother, who was just a toddler, offered to put vibhudhi on me. I told that only elders could put vibhudhi on. So I put some vibhudhi on my little brother, sat down on a chair and thought.

I feel a lot of changes, going from a joint to a nuclear family. With all the elders passing away, the middle aged all either moving away or too busy with work and the youngest generation being either too young or too busy with school work. And now to answer the big question:

Who will put the vibhudhi?
Thatha has passed away in Chennai.
Pati is staying in Chennai.
My aunt is teaching in a university far away.
My uncle has been posted to Mumbai for some work.
Appa just doesn’t have time from his schedule.
Amma is always busy with the housework.
Anna always does last minute homework.
And my little brother is not supposed to put vibhudhi for me.

So who will put the vibhudhi?
Well, the answer is... me!
And I rubbed the vibhudhi on my forehead.

*vibhudhi - sacred ash; thatha - grandfather; pati - grandmother; appa - dad; amma- mother; anna - elder brother.