Dr. Farah had explained this too. Rituals are "externalized actions for internalized problems." The brain struggles to process abstract guilt. It needs a physical act to register "payment." The water is the physical manifestation of the unspent love. Kabir lifted the vessel again. This time, he didn't think about the carbon cycle. He didn't think about the dirty river. He closed his eyes. He summoned the image of his father—not the dead body in the hospital, but the living man standing in the doorway with the plate of fruit. I see you, Kabir thought. I am not on a call. I am not busy. I am standing in a freezing river at dawn just for you. "Papa," he whispered. "Take this." He poured the water. He imagined the water traveling through the ether, reaching that lonely figure in the doorway. He imagined his father drinking. He imagined the thirst being quenched. As the water drained from the vessel, something strange happened. The crushing weight on Kabir's chest—the ghabrahat that had been his constant companion for months—lightened. It didn't vanish. Grief doesn't vanish. But the quality of the weight changed. It went from sharp, stabbing guilt to a dull, heavy sorrow. The Preta was fading. The Pitru was emerging. "It is done," the priest said. "He has received it." Kabir looked at his empty hands. He felt lighter. He realized that Forgiveness isn't something you get from the dead; it's something you create for yourself through the act of honoring them. He waded out of the river. He sat on the stone steps of the ghat, shivering, watching the sun struggle to break through the Delhi smog. He pulled out his phone. He had a notification. A meeting reminder: Strategy Sync: 9:00 AM. He looked at it. Then, he did something he had never done before. He opened the calendar event and clicked Decline. Reason: Personal Commitment. He put the phone away. He wasn't ready to go back to the world of "It" just yet. He wanted to sit here for a while longer, in the company of his Ancestor, watching the river flow, one moment at a time. ________________________________________ Key Concepts Covered in Narrative: 1. Rituals as Psychotherapeutics. 2. Preta vs. Pitru. 3. Rinamochana (Clearing Debt). 4. The Shift to "Being".