The image of a relative of the patient dying from Covid-19 in India mourning in protective suits has become familiar to the international media for the past month.
At the cremation site, where the fire was only temporarily extinguished late at night, loved ones had to wait for hours to say goodbye. The cremation scene was photographed, filmed, even broadcast live on social networks. These images will be sent to relatives in quarantine across India. They even appear on entire world news and newspapers, bringing India’s tragedy to a global audience. Fire ceremony participants must wear masks and protective gear. Photo: The New York Times. From the rooftops, local residents took pictures of the fire to show the world why they had to wear masks even indoors. Smoke and a strong smell of death, enveloping narrow alleys all day, even crept through closed windows, according to The New York Times. The cremation flame is a testament to the devastation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic on India. Exhausted from cremation The Covid-19 virus spread too quickly in India. The country continuously records more than 400,000 new cases every day. Nowhere in the country is beyond the devastating “tsunami”. Every day about 300 official deaths are recorded in New Delhi. However, this number is not believed to reflect the reality. “Before the pandemic, I received six to eight bodies a day,” said Jitender Singh Shunty, founder of a volunteer cremation organization Seemapuri, east of New Delhi. Now, every day I have to hold a cremation ceremony for about 100 bodies. Through his organization Shaheed Bhagat Singh Sewa Dal, Mr. Shunty has provided free or low-cost cremation services to the poor for 25 years. As demand skyrocketed, Mr. Shunty’s full-time workforce encountered numerous difficulties. They had to build dozens of new crematoriums in the adjacent field. Mr. Shunty’s cremation center received 100 bodies a day. Photo: The New York Times. Mr. Shunty’s daily job is to help move bodies and arrange the location of his cremation. During a pandemic, he had to change his protective shirt, mask and gloves dozens of times a day. At night, he slept in his car because his wife and two sons had Covid-19. Crematorial staff are receiving special care in the hospital. “Our team is about 16 people. We are working day and night, ”he said. “It is only 8 am, but I have received 22 phone calls to confirm the body.” According to Hindu tradition, cremation is a frequently used method. They believe that cremation disrupts the association of the soul with the physical body. The eldest son will lead the funeral delegation and relatives will carry the body onto the funeral pyre. A Hindu monk, also known as pandit, will recite his last prayers before the fire is lit. The ash of the deceased will be scattered in the Ganges or another sacred river. Mourners will gather at the deceased person’s home to commemorate and conduct prayer rituals. Families usually collect the ash immediately to avoid confusion. Unclaimed ashes, Mr. Shunty said, are held for up to two months, after which they are scattered into the Ganges River. Separate birth and death In addition, the pandemic also deprives the deceased’s final rites and deprives relatives of their private space. Traditionally, relatives will gather to share the pain of loss. Now, the fear of infection keeps most loved ones away. Even many bodies were cremated with no one nearby. “My family members can’t even see those last moments,” said Mittain Panani, a 46-year-old businessman. Mr. Panani and his brother are the only two people who directly attended their father’s cremation in Mumbai. His mother is still hospitalized with Covid-19. “Even if you have money, power, influence, you can’t do anything in that moment. I feel really powerless, ”he said sadly. Relatives brought the body of Covid-19 patient to the cremation area. Photo: The New York Times. “Flames were rising from the funeral pyre, relatives wearing masks and protective clothing. The scene is like the end of the world, ”said Dimple Kharbanda, a film producer who returned to New Delhi to attend the cremation ceremony of his late father. She had to beg relatives, including aunts in the neighboring state, not to come to Delhi because of the risk of infection. “When someone in India dies, we get together and talk about them, their lives, their habits and the good things. However, at this point, we can’t even do that, ”said Poonam Sikri, Ms. Kharbanda’s biological aunt. “When I watched his cremation (Miss Kharbanda’s father) on the phone, it felt like I had lost a part of my body. I want to stroke his hair, rub his face and hug him one last time. But I can’t do it ”. For the families of Covid-19 victims, the cremation site is the final stop of a series of difficult trials. It ended a series of days dragging patients from hospital to hospital in search of a bed and struggling in line for oxygen. Last stop Before Darwan Singh’s body was taken to Seemapuri, his family did everything they could to save the 56-year-old breadwinner. His fever did not go away while the oxygen level in his blood dropped to a dangerously low level of 42%. For two days, his family could not find a hospital bed or an oxygen tank. His nephew, Kuldeep Rawat, said he was given oxygen for an hour before the hospital supplies ran out. The family brought Mr. Singh home at night. The next day, they had to wait another five hours in the parking lot of another hospital. Mr. Rawat said the family had to pay a bribe of about $ 70 to get a free bed in a public hospital. Unfortunately, Mr. Singh died overnight. According to Hindu tradition, cremation is believed to break the connection of the soul with the physical body. Photo: New York Times. With the Seemapuri cremation center overloaded, the hospital was unable to immediately hand over the body. On April 25, his body and five other people were taken to the cremation site. Mr. Rawat said he had to get in an ambulance to confirm his uncle’s identity. The family then took him inside the crematorium and had to wait 5 hours before it was his turn to bring his uncle to the pyre. Even the last stop also cost them a relatively large amount: 25 USD for the prayer meeting, 34 USD for wood, 14 USD for the pandit priest and 5 USD for the protective suit. Mr. Singh’s family could not even come to the funeral. Both his mother, wife, daughter and son were infected with Covid-19. Mr. Rawat feared that he would also be infected during the period of sending his uncle to the emergency room. “They have a hard time understanding what’s going on.” For the families living around the crematorium, the fire that burns all night and day is a constant reminder of Covid-19’s death that awaits them. In the Sunlight Colony, where shabby houses and flats lie with Seemapuri, smoke is so much that many people are forced to wear masks while indoors. Children are rinsed with hot water before going to bed and laundry is dried in the room. People living near cremators must wear masks even when indoors. Photo: The New York Times. Waseem Qureishi, a resident right next to the Seemapuri crematorium, said: “My kitchen is upstairs but I really can’t stand it inside. If the wind is headed towards my house, the situation is even worse. Anuj Bhansal, an ambulance driver who lives near the Ghazipur crematorium, also in eastern New Delhi, says he is very worried about his four children. He said every time the cremated body number reached 100 people, children in the neighborhood would run up a nearby garbage hill to see. “When the children watched the fire and smoke coming from the cremation site, they asked why it did not go out,” Mr Bhansal said sadly. “They have a hard time understanding what’s going on.” The chaplain’s account of the funeral for 150 Covid-19 patients before cremation Every day, Hindu cleric RamKaran Mishra performs a funeral for about 150 people who have died from Covid-19 at the Ghazipur crematory facility east of New Delhi, India.
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