Swishing Mindsets

About this Episode

Last rites can be wonderfully life-affirming as they guide a family through the ultimate sendoff and bring a community together. A lot of common themes run across India’s various belief systems, explains Minakshi Dewan, author of https://www.amazon.in/Final-Farewell-..., Understanding the Last Rites and Rituals of India’s Major Faiths, published by HarperCollins. Listen in as she talks about her experience of visiting Haridwar where the family ‘tirth purohit’ showed her records from 1941, handwritten by her great-grandfather. She mentions a conversation with an outspoken Parsi priest who offered cremation services over sky burials to his community and was dragged to court for it. Women, she notes, are stepping up increasingly to perform last rites defying patriarchal norms. In future, she also sees the trend of funeral agencies picking up, as seen in the West.