Nairobi City Council cemetery in Langata. Those who do cremation are not
in any way less respectful to their dear departed. They are just being
practical. FILE PHOTO | NATION
Humankind has for long had to grapple with how to deal with
mortality, the state in which the once-living become negated and are no
longer with us.
The terrifying thought that one who
was here but a while ago, vibrant and boisterous now lies immobile and
speechless, puzzled tribes people all over the world, and they had to
come up with something to lessen the mystery of death. Where do those
who leave us go?
A great part of religion has to do
with this. Societies have had to invent beliefs that can give us some
assurance that when we die we do not actually die, not for ever at
least.
The afterlife was — and still is — the main
refuge. We die for now, but only our bodies becoming corrupted while our
spirits and souls hover around somewhere until the great trumpet sounds
and we are summoned for the final judgment.
The terror
associated with the negation of life by death is such that whole
philosophies have been erected around the eventual negation of death by
life.
Though we die in body we shall still live in
spirit, we love to tell our children and the little minds are thrilled
to know that grandma, who passed the other day, is watching over us
beyond the valley.
In our own neck of the woods, this
has taught us to deny the basic laws of physics, burying our loved ones
in the ground at the same time as we promise that we shall meet with
them among the clouds.
Down is bad, and up is good.
After a few days, the bodies will decompose, but we comfort ourselves
and each other that that decomposition will be healed the day we
resurrect.
The Egyptians thought about this long and
hard and invented mummification, a scientific way to preserve the body
in such a way it beats corruption and lives on forever surrounded by the
luxury befitting the subject while they were on this side of the tomb.
In
this way the pharaohs are still with us at Giza, that is if you do not
believe in their reincarnation in the form of a Nasser, a Sadat, a
Mubarak or a Sisi.
Yes, reincarnation is another way to
beat mortality, because you got to come back, as a frog, if you were
bad in the earlier life or as a princess, if you were good. The great
Hellenic mathematician, Pythagoras, was an unflinching believer.
But
humanity has known more practical tribes in Asia who simply refuse to
do away with their dead. They simply preserve the body in a state that
keeps their living features as complete as can be and prepare them a
place in the attic (or somewhere) so that if you visit them they may ask
you whether you want to see their great grandfather, and if you say
yes, grandfather would be brought down for you to admire. From time to
time they organise street festivals where the ancestors are paraded.
Kosher
So,
when Kenneth Matiba, the Kenyan doyen of opposition politics died last
month and his body was cremated, as per his wish, a number of people
were surprised.
Wasn’t he a Christian, and wasn’t he
supposed to be buried a la “earth-to-earth?” Somehow the
“earth-to-earth” philosophy still expects the body to be whole at
resurrection more than if your body is cremated. But there is also an
“ash-to-ash” addition in some formulations, which makes cremation
kosher.
We are running out of land for cemeteries as
acre upon acre has been dug up to make space for people who cannot
cultivate the land they are allotted.
We notice that
in some cultures, small scale mansions are built on top of the interred
bodies, but these are mere dollhouses, not meant for any potential
renter. It is a waste of invaluable real estate which the living could
put to good use.
The Japanese, Chinese, Hindu and
thousands of Westerners who do cremation are not in any way less
respectful to their dear departed. They are just being practical.
The
land mass available for our use is not infinite, and it is shrinking on
a daily basis as our populations balloon. In our cemeteries, we know,
bodies are being buried over other bodies, which is a form of
desecration.
Uncle Ken, forever the pioneer, has shown the way once again.
Jenerali
Ulimwengu is chairman of the board of the Raia Mwema newspaper and an
advocate of the High Court in Dar es Salaam. E-mail: jenerali@gmail.com
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