Book Review “ Death ends life, not a relationship ,” as Mitch Albom put it. That is why, we have so many rituals associated with death. Minakshi Dewan’s book, The Final Farewell [HarperCollins, 2023], is a well-researched book about those rituals. The book starts with an elaborate description of the Sikh rituals associated with death and cremation, before moving on to Islam, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and finally Hinduism. After that, it’s all about the various traditions and related details of Hindu final rites. A few chapters are dedicated to the problems of widows in India, gender discrimination in the last rites, and the problem of unclaimed dead bodies. There is a chapter titled ‘Grieving Widows in Hindi Cinema’ too. Death and its rituals form an unusual theme for a book. Frankly, I don’t find the topic stimulating in any way. Obviously, I didn’t buy this book. It came to me as quite many other books do – for reasons of their own. I read the book finally, having shelv
Thanks, Jeena.
ReplyDeletevery nice thought !
ReplyDeleteNice to see you here, Deepanshi.
DeleteAs free as the birds, Saurabh. "They do not sow or reap..." said Jesus.
ReplyDeleteAt the pace the world is we are not too far.. good one Tomiachan .. Happy new year
ReplyDeleteThe world is always with us. Happy New Year to you too, Sangeeta.
DeleteEveryday we open our eyes with a new hope and spirit. ..keep that spirit high and start ur hunt for a new path
ReplyDeleteAlready started. And we've begun to see light at the end of the tunnel.
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