Death and taxes....

A few days ago, a post by Puja Gupta on the touchy subject of death got my attention. Today, this came out….Not a fun topic, so please read on with that caveat. 

I was talking to my wife’s cousin yesterday about the concept of death and how most of us are scared to discuss it. Yudhistra in the Mahabharatha is asked about the greatest miracle he has seen. His reply ‘death is certain for all of us, but humans go around thinking it won’t happen to them.’ Yup, quite amazing how we have been socialized to disassociate with the topic of death.

Some of you have heard me tell the story of the princess and the four boyfriends Well, today, I had yet another exposure to the main thesis of that story. I spent an hour at the crematorium this morning sitting quietly next to my friend who had lost his father. We did not talk for more than 30 minutes. Just sat next to each other. Words are so inadequate at times like these.

This is my second trip this year to this place and for more reasons than one, it is quite a humbling but also liberating experience. We truly do leave with nothing material that we have worked so hard to hold on to. Further, in Chennai, the crematorium is probably the most egalitarian place. Everyone who is cremated from different walks of life HAS to finally come to one of the government run crematoriums. Interesting that one has to learn this lesson at the end!

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