LOADING AND UNLOADING CHARGES

                                        

( Symbolic burning of the  "Death Shadow "  by Kashmiri Hindus at a crematorium in Jammu  .Photo ...Avtar Mota )

 LOADING UNLOADING CHARGES

“The soul is not liable to birth nor to death; neither does it take its origin from any other or from itself; hence it is unborn, eternal without reduction and unchangeable; therefore the soul is not injured by the hurt which the boy may receive.”…Katha Upanishad

 

Jagan Nath (age 80 years) died in his Jammu house where he lived with his wife Raj Rani, while his only son had moved to Canada permanently. As this sudden tragedy struck the old couple, Raj Rani didn’t know what to do or where to go. Both Jagan Nath and Raj Rani were patients of hypertension, diabetes and painful osteoarthritis. They could not walk. Jagan Nath had been confined to bed for about six months before his death. Hearing the sad news, Chaman Lal (age 75 years), their neighbour, came running and sat on a chair. He was suffering from painful varicose veins and hypertension. Sitting on the chair, he directed all arrangements at that critical juncture. Some more elderly neighbours and relatives arrived limping and seeking chairs to sit in. There was none to weep for Jagan Nath. Then, Raj Rani believed that death had favoured Jagan Nath. It had ended his suffering. Looking towards the ceiling of the room, she sat near his body.

The neighbours and some elderly relatives gave the ritual bath to Jagan Nath’s body before the departure to the crematorium. There was no young person among the mourners who could lift Jagan Nath’s body and put it inside the vehicle sent by the crematorium. Finally, Chaman Lal requested the driver and his two helpers to put the body in the vehicle. In the evening, Jai Shankar Bairagi, the caretaker of the crematorium, sent a bill of rupees 8750/= to Raj Rani that read like this:-

 

(1)    Timber for the pyre                   3800

 

(2)    3 Helper charges                         1500

        for burning

(3)    Vehicle                                           550

 

(4)    Loading and unloading               900

 of the body

 

(5)    Donation                                     2000

 

                                              Total     8750.00

( Avtar Mota )

PS

Known as ' tchhaayi naar zaalun' or the practice of burning "Death Shadow" symbolically at a crematorium, is still practised by Kashmiri Hindus. Before returning from a crematorium, a bundle of dry grass is burnt, and those who had come with the dead body make three rounds around this fire and leave for their homes. Poet Farooq Nazki uses ' tchhaayi naar zaalun' as a metaphor in his heart-touching poem about Kashmiri Pandit exiles. I quote the specific lines ," Chhe draaga-mokal  yemberzalan tchhayi naar zalaan,  Yimav qadam kaed garav neibar, tim na aayi pheerith ,na zchhendi sontan". If the lines are read in context, Nazki intends to say," When the narcissus flowers were not seen in the garden, greedy brokers arrived, burning even their shadows to thwart their return to the garden. Alas!  Those who stepped out of their homes neither returned nor did the spring season seek their whereabouts."

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.