The poem was published to mark the 15 days period of observance of honoring the ancestors by the entire Hindu community worldwide.

Respects are paid! Memories are rekindled!

Prayers are held! Offerings are made!

Gratitude is marked! Forgiveness is asked!

All this and a lot more is practiced during the Pitra Paksha.

Shraadh is conducted by different people in different ways but the essence remains the same: Remember where you came from: forget them not. You are because they were.

One’s ancestors are not merely one’s parents. They are all those who came in our lives but left before us. The family elders, the siblings, younger ones, teachers, work mates or even the grocer who passed away, the bus driver who drove you to school every day or even the old woman on the street whom you never spoke to: they all become our ancestors if they passed away before us.