Rituals Without Rest
- Madhukar Dama
- Apr 12
- 8 min read
Updated: Jun 1
Setting: A remote mud hut in Karnataka, under a neem tree.
Characters:
Shankar (52) – The father, devout, anxious about honor and customs.
Meena (48) – The mother, always busy preparing for some puja, tired but dutiful.
Aarti (24) – The daughter, pressured to marry “before the stars fade.”
Raghav (20) – The son, bitter and sarcastic, secretly wants out.
Madhukar (65) – The Hermit, calm, earthy, speaks with silence as much as words.
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Scene 1: The Arrival
They arrive tired, dressed in fresh traditional clothes, with a silver plate of fruits and flowers.
Shankar: Namaskara, Swamiji. We’ve come to seek your blessings. So many things happening — daughter’s marriage must be done on the shubha muhurta, son’s education not going well, health is declining. But we are doing all rituals properly.
Madhukar: (smiling) You all look like a walking calendar.
Meena: (confused) Calendar?
Madhukar: Full of dates, events, timings, and duties. But tell me, when was the last time this calendar rested?
Aarti: Amma hasn’t rested in weeks. She fasts every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. She barely sleeps.
Meena: But it's for their good! If I skip even one fast, something might go wrong. That’s what the priest said.
Madhukar: And what has already gone wrong, Meena?
(Silence)
---
Scene 2: The Mirror
Madhukar: Shankar, how many rituals did your father perform?
Shankar: Many. He taught me well.
Madhukar: And yet, he died worrying. You?
Shankar: I… also worry.
Madhukar: Then who will be the first man in this lineage to breathe freely?
(Shankar looks down)
---
Scene 3: The Real Offering
Raghav: Swamiji, why do they believe that skipping one ritual will bring bad luck? Isn’t this fear?
Madhukar: It’s not faith if it grows in fear. Real devotion is not scared — it’s silent, like a tree giving shade.
Meena: Then what should I offer if not rituals?
Madhukar: Offer rest to your tired body. Offer listening to your children. Offer food that doesn’t come with guilt. Offer time to your own breath.
---
Scene 4: Liberation Begins
Aarti: But the marriage astrologer said I must marry before August or I’ll never be happy.
Madhukar: And who is this god that punishes a girl for being late? Let’s light a lamp — not for fear, but for clarity.
(He lights a simple oil lamp and places it before them.)
Madhukar: Sit here. No chants. No mantras. Just this flame. Watch it. Until you remember that the light was always inside you.
---
Part Two: “The Pause Between Bells”
Scene: One month later, the family returns to the hermit’s home — less dressed-up, a little more human. No offerings this time. Just themselves.
---
Madhukar: (smiling) This time, you’ve come empty-handed.
Shankar: We didn’t bring anything, Swamiji. Not even a fruit.
Madhukar: Good. Now your hands are free to hold truth.
(They all sit under the neem tree. Birds chirp in the quiet.)
---
Meena: I stopped fasting three times a week. At first, I felt guilty. I thought something bad would happen. But…
Madhukar: What happened instead?
Meena: I slept. Deeply. For the first time in years.
(Tears well up in her eyes.)
Madhukar: Sleep is a lost goddess. She only returns when fear is dismissed from the temple.
---
Raghav: I’ve stopped mocking them. Earlier I was just angry at everything. Now I see… they were scared. Just like me.
Madhukar: Mockery is pain dressed as sarcasm. Forgiveness is pain allowed to heal.
---
Aarti: I told the marriage broker to stop rushing. I want to know myself before I’m thrown into another ritual called marriage.
Madhukar: Bravo. Self-awareness is the only dowry that truly matters.
---
Shankar: I still light the lamp every morning. But not with trembling hands. I just sit. Breathe. Watch the flame. I even skipped one shraddha ceremony last week.
Madhukar: Did your ancestors curse you?
Shankar: (chuckles) No… but I think they were relieved. I wasn’t rushing around. I remembered them in silence.
Madhukar: Ritual becomes real when it turns into remembrance, not repetition.
---
Meena: But Swamiji, our relatives are gossiping. They say we’ve become lazy. Disrespectful.
Madhukar: Let them talk. Their rituals are loud because their hearts are not yet peaceful. Yours can be quiet.
(Pause)
Madhukar: Remember, truth doesn’t need noise. Nor defense. It just needs time to flower.
---
Aarti: But what is a good ritual, Swamiji?
Madhukar: One that leaves you lighter, kinder, and freer.
If you fast, but grow bitter — it’s not a ritual, it’s punishment.
If you pray, but can’t love your family — it’s noise, not devotion.
If you perform all customs, but forget compassion — you’ve missed the real temple.
---
Shankar: So we shouldn’t abandon all rituals?
Madhukar: No. But don’t let rituals become your god. Let life become your temple.
Eat with presence — that’s a ritual.
Speak with gentleness — that’s a ritual.
Rest without guilt — that’s a ritual.
Help someone quietly — that’s a ritual.
Sit with your breath — that’s worship.
---
Final Scene: The Bell That Doesn’t Ring
As the family prepares to leave, Meena looks at the old brass bell hanging outside Madhukar’s home.
Meena: You never ring this bell, Swamiji?
Madhukar: No need. Silence is my bell now.
(They smile. Aarti picks up a fallen neem leaf. Raghav takes a deep breath. They walk back home — still wearing clothes, but a little less ritualized inside.)
---
Part Three: “The Quiet Diwali”
Setting: Six months later. Festival season. The family is preparing for Diwali — once a whirlwind of cleaning, sweets, guests, rituals, and exhaustion. This time, something is different.**
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Scene 1: The Morning Before Diwali
Meena is sitting on the floor, grinding fresh masala. Not in a rush. Shankar is sweeping the yard. Aarti is planting marigolds. Raghav is making diyas with clay instead of buying electric lights.
Meena: This feels strange. No gold shopping. No long guest list. No fifty sweets to make.
Shankar: And no tension.
Meena: I almost feel guilty for being… calm.
Shankar: Maybe peace is the real luxury we forgot to afford.
---
Scene 2: Gossip and Pressure
A neighbor auntie enters, dressed in silk, dripping with jewelry.
Neighbor: Aiyyo Meena! Only three diyas this year? No firecrackers? No halwa?
Meena: Just enough for the four of us.
Neighbor: But how will Lakshmi come if you don’t do the full ritual?
Meena: If she only visits loud houses, she’s not the goddess I’m looking for.
(The neighbor leaves, muttering. Meena smiles. Raghav brings her a cup of ginger tea.)
---
Scene 3: Unexpected Resistance
Later that night. Aarti looks troubled.
Aarti: Amma… I sometimes feel lost. Without all the rituals, I don’t know who I am.
Meena: I know, kanna. It feels like we’ve removed scaffolding. But what if we’re finally seeing the real structure?
Aarti: But the old ways gave us meaning.
Meena: True. But now we can choose meaning — not borrow it.
---
Scene 4: A Letter to Madhukar
Raghav sits down to write a letter to Madhukar.
> “Dear Swamiji,
This Diwali was the softest one we’ve ever had. No shouting. No show. Just light.
But sometimes the silence feels scary.
It’s like being alone with ourselves — and we don’t always know who we are.
Maybe that’s why people love rituals.
But we’re learning. Slowly.
We’re lighting fewer lamps, but seeing more clearly.
With gratitude,
Raghav”
---
Scene 5: A Visit from Madhukar
A week after Diwali, Madhukar arrives unannounced. They greet him with warm eyes, not garlands.
Madhukar: So… how was the festival?
Meena: Simple.
Aarti: Quiet.
Raghav: Real.
Shankar: And hard. At times. But… we didn’t feel fake.
---
Madhukar: That’s the turning point. When you can face discomfort without rushing to distract it with rituals.
The lamp is not outside anymore.
It is in your chest, flickering, steady.
Remember:
Even simplicity is not a ritual.
Don’t make peace into pride.
Don’t make minimalism into a badge.
Just be… kind. And real. And free.
---
Final Scene: A New Ritual
The family gathers in the backyard. No chanting. No instructions.
Shankar: Should we say something?
Madhukar: Just breathe. That’s the only ritual the universe understands.
(They all sit quietly under the stars. No one tries to explain the moment. And that is what makes it sacred.)
---
Part Four: “The Gentle Rebellion”
Setting: One year later. Same home. Same people. But the energy has changed. Laughter is easier. Meals are slower. Now, they’re about to welcome another family — Shankar’s cousin, Ravi, and his wife, Kamala — deeply entrenched in rituals, arriving with their two children.
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Scene 1: The Arrival of the Relatives
Ravi’s family arrives. Kamala is holding a copper kalash. The children are dressed in matching kurta-pajamas. Ravi touches the door frame, bows to the tulsi plant, and enters with ceremonial stiffness.
Kamala: We brought holy water from Ganga, five coconuts, and these ladoos from the famous temple in Tirupati.
Shankar: Thank you. But you didn’t have to. Really.
Kamala: How else will your home stay pure?
Meena: Our home stays pure when we rest well, eat real food, and speak the truth.
(A beat. Ravi and Kamala exchange a puzzled glance.)
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Scene 2: Observing the Change
That evening. Ravi’s children are glued to phones. Kamala is making a list of upcoming pujas. Ravi is scrolling through WhatsApp forwards about what to eat during eclipse week.
Ravi: You all seem… different. Peaceful. But don’t you feel something’s missing?
Shankar: We thought the same last year. Until we met someone who asked us: “What if rituals are meant to be tools, not chains?”
Now, we breathe more. Sleep more. Fight less.
Kamala: But what about karma? If we skip rituals, won’t we be reborn as…?
Meena: Reborn as what, akka? Tired people again?
---
Scene 3: Aarti and Kamala Talk
Aarti gently takes Kamala aside after dinner.
Aarti: Chithi, may I ask something?
Kamala: Of course, kanna.
Aarti: When was the last time you laughed with Ravi, not at a joke, but out of nowhere? Or slept past 6am without guilt? Or ate sweets without thinking of calories or sin?
Kamala: (long pause) I don’t remember.
Aarti: That’s the only fast we’re breaking. The fast from joy.
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Scene 4: Children Connect
Raghav shows the kids how to mold diyas. They laugh with clay-stained hands. No screen in sight.
Kid: Uncle, you don’t have TV?
Raghav: No. But we have sky. Moon. Neem tree. And stories.
(He begins to tell them a story Madhukar once told. The kids listen, spellbound.)
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Scene 5: Ravi Opens Up
That night. Shankar and Ravi sit on the verandah. No tension. Just quiet honesty.
Ravi: I’ve been doing every ritual to fix my asthma, Kamala’s migraines, the kids’ anger. But nothing changes.
Shankar: Maybe healing doesn’t come from outside. Maybe you’re just tired, not cursed.
Ravi: I feel like I’m holding up a crumbling wall.
Shankar: Then let it fall, anna. What’s behind the wall might be peace.
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Final Scene: A Seed is Planted
Next morning, Ravi and Kamala leave. No kalash. No chanting. Just a soft promise.
Kamala: Do you think… we could meet this Madhukar?
Meena: He’ll say what you already know inside. Just more gently.
(They hug. The children wave goodbye. Back inside, Aarti lights a single lamp.)
Aarti: That was the first Diwali where we gave something invisible.
Raghav: Peace is always invisible. Until someone shows it to you.
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