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
I was horrified by this comment of his. He has single handedly managed to give yoga a bad name.
ReplyDeletePrecisely. He is doing a terrible disservice to the real yoga, yogi and Hinduism itself.
DeleteI was horrified...I really was! But, honestly, I was never a fan of Baba Ramdev.
ReplyDeleteThinking people can't be his fans. He is more an entertainer and entrepreneur than a yogi.
DeleteI think he is foolish to cut heads of his probable customers, the current situation in country is like ' Andher Nagri Chaupat Raja'
ReplyDeleteHe could not even pass class 8. What can we expect of him?
DeleteI have felt the same about him Matheikal, I think it was the time when Anna Hazare was in news and this guy suddenly became politically famous. Don't know what the true intentions are anymore!!
ReplyDeleteFair is foul and foul is fair, as Shakespeare's witches said.
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