Why do Hindus burn their dead? I have participated in protests where effigies symbolising somebody whom we are protesting against are burnt. Burning somebody in public is an act of rejection. Why do you reject your loved ones after they are dead? And for that you have to cut a tree and increase emissions for climate change. If you bury the dead, the earth will gladly accept the body so long as your body is not filled with plastic or synthetic substances. If you are buried, you can even contribute to the fertility of the soil. Just imagine the madness of burning millions of people who die. Life can become a hazard. But why should death be? Both the rivers of Ganga and Yamuna have been polluted with half burnt and un-burnt dead bodies. Such water from Ganga is also collected and marketed as `prasad’ or holy water for drinking in different places in India. There is a Hindu sect of saints who wait for the half burnt dead bodies which float on Ganga. They collect these bodies, cook them and eat them. That is understandable. At least, your dead body is used as food for somebody and you become useful to others after your death, if not in your own lifetime. But a human body takes so much of time to evolve and in the end, it should take time to merge with the earth in a most natural manner. Burning does not help that process. I do not want my body to be burnt after my death. I would like my body to be buried. But the problem is that I do not possess six feet of land so that my body can be buried. The Adivasis in Waynad have had similar difficulties. Since they do not possess the land to bury their ancestors, many of them have to dig up their kitchen and bury the dead in their kitchen. I do not think my landlord will allow that. I have paid my rent so far, but my kitchen is on second floor. And if anybody tries to bury my body under the floor of my kitchen, my dead body will fall down to the bedroom of the tenants on the first floor. So my real worry at the moment is: What the hell should I do with my dead body?
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