Thursday, August 04, 2016

The Chennai woman who runs a Hindu crematorium...

It's mid morning and the Valankadu crematorium in the Anna Nagar district is a hive of activity. Ms Soloman, the administrator, is a picture of efficiency as she checks the arrangements one last time before the next body arrives.

Minutes before noon, a sombre funeral procession reaches the crematorium. A man of 88 from a nearby area has died and his family has brought his body to perform his last rites.

At the gates, the procession is met by N Manikandan who ushers the mourners in, hitting a brass plate with a gong and blowing a conch shell to announce their arrival.

(...)

It's a sombre moment as she hands over the urn to the family.

As we bid farewell, I ask her what she thinks of death.

"There's nothing after death, that's what I understand," she says. "So be happy, enjoy what you're doing and do something good while you're alive." Full story...

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