November 20. “Button, I was leafing through Tehelka when a particular story caught my attention.”

“And?”

“And jolted me up.”

“What could the story possibly be?”

“The story was about a 65-year old woman, Maariyamma, in Tamil Nadu’s small industrial hub of Virudhunagar, who was about to be killed by her son because he was unable to take care of her!”

“What are you saying? I thought mercy-killing was not legalized in India!”

“This is not mercy-killing. It is cold-blooded murder! And if this is not bad enough, a ritual is followed prior to the murder!”

“And what ritual is that?”

“It’s pathetic but I’ll, nevertheless, tell you about it.”

“Please.”

“In Tamil, it is known as thalaikoothal. This is a long, leisurely bath that is given to the aged man or woman before the crack of dawn. During the rest of the day, they are given  several glasses of coconut water which, when drunk in excess, causes renal failure. Some of the other methods practiced is forcing the person to swallow mud dissolved in water which causes indigestion and an undignified death.”

“This is unimaginable.”

“There are other methods too which aren’t worth a mention.”