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.
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This brings to mind, that when we lift the body of someone who was always there to guide us when we were small, weak and frail, and when there is no one who will understand what is the meaning of death, in India, we have made a custom of stopping three times at least under leafy trees on the way to the ghats. Is that not beautiful ?
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