The only thing certain about life is death. This world is but a sport and pastime. Unto Him shall we all return. This reality, unfortunately, dawns on most of us a tad too late in life. In fact, only at the end of someone else’s life. End of life. That is also the place the faithful believe, a new journey starts, a journey that culminates in the final abode. The first step towards the final abode begins at the graveyard, the cemetery, the crematorium. And in a place like Delhi with everybody rushing to beat deadlines — real or imagined, it is only at these places that one stops to ponder over the meaning of life, the reality of afterlife, the akhirat, the salvation point. About heaven and earth and all that lies in between.
For evidence, some day, stop at Nigambodh Ghat where some mortal being would be consigned to flames. Or go across to Dayanand Ghat where electric crematorium does the same with the push of a button. Or go to a Muslim cemetery near ITO or Jamia Millia Islamia as the faithful gather to lower the body of the departed in the grave, covering it slab by wooden slab, before the grave is all covered, and the loved one gone for ever. Ditto for a Christian cemetery in Khan Market or Kashmere Gate. Here a wooden coffin is used, the departed going away in all finery for the final destination. The near and dear ones stand around, some say a silent prayer, others wonder about the good of it all. ‘If this is how mortal flesh is supposed to go, what’s so great about life? Why hanker for all material accomplishments when all that goes with one is one’s karam?’
A few minutes of introspection while some rituals help send away the dead for good, and people come out of the crematorium, cemetery. Back into the cars, their mobiles ring. Life asserts itself all over again. Till someone else’s journey is cut short. And….
Relatives carrying veteran actor Zohra Segal’s body to the electric crematorium on Lodhi Road. Photo: Monica Tiwari
A scene at the Nigambodh Ghat. Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
A Christian cemetery on Prithivraj Road. Photo: S. Subramanium
A view of New Cemeteryfor Mohammedans near Firoz Shah Kotla. Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma
A view of New Cemetery for Mohammedans near Firoz Shah Kotla. Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma