People are happy when someone new comes to a family. A birth, a wedding, the new house etc., all are welcomed and celebrated in grand fashion. Parties are thrown out, friends are invited, everyone has a grand celebration.
If someone leaves, all the celebration is replaced by sorrow and pain. You leave for a different city; your entire family (cousins, friends, friend’s friends, neighbors and everyone you ever knew) would send you with sadness and tears in their eyes. Worst is when someone dies. We mourn like there is no tomorrow. If it’s a celebrity, we mourn the demise for seven days and entire nation comes to a stand still.
Here in Chennai I saw something very different from what I have seen in North India.
When people die in Chennai, they celebrate. There are no tears, no sorrow but it’s a huge ball. I am not implying that kin are happy about someone dying but the way they look at it is entirely different.
A typical funeral procession is lead by group of people throwing flowers on the road. They make something like a flowerbed that the procession walks on. Just behind is an army of drums, percussion instruments and a group of people dancing fanatically. Next is the body of deceased. Following this are the next of kin and everyone who has gathered to pay the last homage to the deceased.
First time I saw it, I thought someone was getting married. And no, this is not meant to be funny.
For a change I like this deviation from North India. The world moves on, the clock ticks away, nothing changes when people die. Mourning is not the way to send someone to his heavenly abode. (And yes I am an atheist). Lesson to be learnt.
Someone once said ... The Show Must Go On.
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