Why Am I So Wise Only Inside the Crematorium!
Crematorium- A place of utter liberation, a place of total submission, and the only place where you believe to acknowledge your EGO for the first and last time. This is the place where atheists and theists, forever, share the same point of view for life; "Yes, Everything Ends Here!" A place where "Giving up" doesn't damage your self-esteem anymore, the "Present" starts making sense all of a sudden, and you come to an agreement (Although temporarily) that futility is nothing but indulging yourself in the web of worries that rarely manifested! Here, you see another person ablaze upon a pyre, pondering about his/her Karma, and at the same time sighing deeply, accepting the fact that you shall be here too someday!
 |
| Image credit: AI Generated image by Copilot designer software of Miscrosoft |
Why Am I So Wise Only Inside the Crematorium!
No matter what it is; a crematorium, a graveyard, or a funeral place, the point is very much clear that it all ends here.
A few days back I happened to visit a crematorium in the early morning. A riverside crematorium that was being revamped with red and brown bricks and had a multi-compartmental layout with arched entrances to each of them. At first sight, they looked beautiful, and clean, as if it was a structure in the time of the British-Indian era.
Conversely, the older crematorium, on the other side, was withering. So ironic, isn't it? But it wasn't out of service yet, no. In fact, we cremated our beloved one up there, on the wood stacks, slowly, boringly, and poignantly. It even offered a "Pro" service; an electrical crematorial furnace, where it is fast, you can chatter in the meantime, and pain might last insignificantly, but we dissented. Besides, though it had broken roofs, rusted iron beams, exposed floors, and faded quotes of wisdom written on the walls here and there, it still could cease your mind from the afflictions of the outer world, and tenderly would set you in the state of deeper wisdom. And yes, it did to me! And if I am not wrong, it does it to all who happen to stare at the pyre.
THE SCENE
As I forced myself to be part of the last rites, I saw mourning faces, lamenting humans, an employee of a death ceremony unfeelingly arranging the wood stacks, streams of pure Ghee (Clarified Butter) being poured, match sticks being ignited, and hays turning eager to be fired on, but the corpse wouldn't flinch a bit! How trifling our being goes as we die!
And now, pyre caught fire, I stared and started to brood I didn't know when!
In between, I saw a few more travellers destining whose journey was over, I saw dead being registered (Maybe their last registration that they were here), I saw people folding their hands and leaving as if for them it was a task to be over, I saw some still sunk into their tears while some bragging with the life lessons, even, I saw some reading the wisdom quotes so solemnly as if they would just start working on them as soon as they would leave the spot.
I brooded deeply when I forced myself understanding the point of views of the bunch of families thriving with the business of cremation; How would they look at death? Do they ever feel the pain of loved ones? What could make them so strong? Or heartless! What according to them the wisom of life and death would be? Do they really believe that "Everything Ends Here"? Or they just know this better than all of us!
And again I looked at Pyre, half-burned.
Next moment, an array of thoughts hit me; If ultimately, one day, I too, would be burning here without feeling the pain of burning, and if these pain, suffering, the wholewordly negative emotions and its acknowledgments are just never going to come along with me, then what is the point, that presently, I am too much attached with them? Becasues in the end I would feel nothing; no pain, no suffering, no guilt, no lust, no anger, no greed, no envy, in fact, no love, no care, no empathy, no happiness, no joy, no pride, even no EGO! Then why on the earth am I being entertained by them all? Why am I so dumb to realize that ultimately, without fail, I am going to go.
Bystanders would forget me as soon as they cross the perimeter of this crematorium, and if so, what is the point in putting up a fray in the first place, and not to just love. Then I comprehended, that my present existence just don't matter in reality as long I boasted as if it had. What actually matters is "Time"; Bystanders would quickly forget, closed-ones would showcase their sympathy for a week or two, friends would post the status for until next one or two years, and family wont celebrate the festivals for next one or two years and shed the tears now and then, but ultimately I am going to be forgotten and remembered occasionally!
Then I summarized, that if this all is true, as what it looks like from my perspective (Maybe yours too), then what actually we come on the earth with and what we claimed back in return?
After ruminating for long, I reached to a conclusion; we came on earth with a noise (First time ever when we cry at birth) and left with eternal silence! In between what happens to us, or with our lives, is all about how do we respond to them (Emotions, Material, Attachment, Detachment, and Ego). Should we cry? Or should we maintain the silence?
I have decided to be quiet!
What is your take? Think, or visit a crematorium once again!
Something More in Creative Writings:
Very interesting article.. description of minute observation of crematorium makes the article worth to read ... મૃત્યુ વિશેની ફિલોસોફી હંમેશા હૃદય ને હચમચાવી દે તેવી હોય છે. આર્ટિકલ વાંચ્યા પછી જીવનની ક્ષણ ભંગુરતા વિશે વિચારવા મન પ્રેરાય છે. જે લાગણી, પ્રેમ, આનંદ, શાંતિ, દુઃખ, સુખ, આપણો ઇગો, સ્થાવર/ જંગમ મિલકત કે બીજું કશું જ આપણી સાથે આવવાનું નથી,તે જાણતા હોવા છતાં આખા જીવન દરમિયાન આપણે કેમ તેમાં જ અટવાયેલા રહીએ છીએ તે ખરેખર આશ્ચર્ય પમાડે તેવી વાત છે..!!!
ReplyDelete