Friday, March 10, 2006

Choosing cremation tree

"Don't let anyone chop off the tree near the village pond", said my Grandfather, narrated a village community leader, "You will need it for cremating me". Similarly, his father too around the time of his death, told him, "please use the long tree in our front yard to cremate me, that way I would be properly cremated and there would be no problems". (In rural Tamilnadu and indeed across India, the sign of a content life is equated to the completeness with which the person's body is burnt during cremation). We don't have any problem with death, it is a fulfillment of life commented the community leader after narrating this family tale.