Shameful!

My grandma passed away recently. I was not close to her for other reasons. In order to pay her last respect, I did attend the funeral. I was disturbed and disgusted at few things that I observed. Its not in terms of customs and practices, these things are man-made and can always be relaxed. What I was petrified about was the basic human behavior.

I m back human bashing again, but I cant help it. People mourn, grieve or experience sorrow depending on how close they were to the person who has passed away. Those most affected by the loss observe mourning and are expected to observe a quiet and respectful behavior. Even when one does not relate to the dead person, the least expected is a sober behavior.

But not all display a sober behavior. The gathering to mourn someones loss is viewed a get-together. Its appalling; but catching up with long seen relatives and friends, introducing children and bragging about what they are studying, their foreign trips and exchanging business cards!!! And yeah, how did I forget the gaudy attire and the jewellery? The gathering was a forum to display wealth.

Considering Hinduism, death is not final end but the next stage of journey for the indestructible soul. I am sure this doesn't mean one has to celebrate!!

Is it that people go through such deep hardships in life that most of us are so insensitive and that we are so merged in our life that given any opportunity, we flaunt selfishly? The constant proliferation and access to struggles faced by man has made each one of us numb? Our minds are saturated by handling problems, struggling through out that consciously or unconsciously, we tend to handle things 'easily'? A person is dead, the least one can do is pay the person respect and observe silence. Was this the way to pay homage to a lost soul?

It was dismaying and shameful to observe such scenes. People behaving indifferently...I was a mute spectator and felt sad that I could do nothing about it.