Lucknow: He had never met former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee but he was so impressed by the latter’s speeches and behavior that he began looking up to him as a father figure. When Mr Vajpayee breathed his last on Thursday, Manish Upadhyaya, who works in a saree shop in Chowk area, Varanasi, decided to follow all rituals that are held by a son after his father’s demise. He got his head shaved off at the Manikarnika Ghat and, thereafter, performed the pind-daan, a post death ritual.
“I will also perform tehraveen for Atalji on the thirteenth day”, he said. His employer Sunil Kumar said that Manish was inconsolable when the new of Mr Vajpayee’s demise came. “Seeing his feelings, we all accompanied him to Manikarnika Ghat where he got his head shaved and performed the ‘pind daan’. Manish looked upon Atal ji as his father and we can understand his sentiments”, he said. In Hindu mythology, it is believed that if one last rites are performed at the Manikarnika Ghat, then the person attacins salvation.
