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
Brilliant as usual Tomichan :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kalpanaa
DeleteThe moment we realise that the thing we are pretending would have a rather negative effect on us might prevent us from pretending. Coincidentally I am reading thinking fast and slow, where the author talks about an experiment where the subjects when unknowingly make a smiling face become more likely to see positivity in even the worst situations and vice versa. So would it not be wise to pretend a fake smile when that smile can make us more positive in life? Sorry for that long a comment. I have more to say, perhaps need a seprate post.
ReplyDeleteIt's the positivity that i'm advocating, Pranju. Our pretensions are always on the positive side, aren't they?
DeleteI'm waiting for your post on it. Glad to have poked you enough to think of s post ☺
True and beautifully potrayed
ReplyDelete:) trying to convey more in less words.
DeleteAnother layer of pretense perhaps....we are full of these traps....! Was i
ReplyDeleteThe traps are inevitable, inescapable! Religious leaders and many others ensure that!
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