A Finale and a New Life

ARUNA JETHWANI





Believe it or not, Jamnagar's cremation ground is a popular picnic spot. Its entrance gate is colourful, its passages decorated with frescoes and relief paintings. The sprawling woods around have some amazing dioramas, depicting incidents from mythology . All this is set amidst fountains, moats and lotus ponds. There are thoughtfully placed benches and wood stumps for you to sit and take in the aesthetically pleasing ambience. The oath to the cremation enclosure is flanked by statues of renowned saints, including that of martyr Sindhi Saint Kanwar Bhagat Ram.On several visits to Jamnagar, I avoided visiting this place.How can the sorrow of a departed soul be mingled with fun and frolic? Then, realising that death was an exit and an entry , I ventured to that holy spot. A body was being consigned to flames as children played around, and visitors read the writings on the diorama or on the walls, and children discussed the mythological characters depicted there.
The entire ambience conveyed one message: death is a natural part of life. If all life is a celebration, then death, too, is a celebration. Death is freedom from the gross physical. Says Sadhu Vaswani, “When you die, you drink the waters of the river of silence. Coming to the other side, you glimpse the light and your soul bursts into a song of joy!“ Who among us doesn't want to go home? All of us have to take the journey forward. As a doctor said, a rose is fragrant and smells sweet, because it is going to fade.