India
Ultimate chaos, burning bodies for €400 a piece
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Johan Kruseman
Updated on 18 August 2024
Updated on 18 August 2024
After four weeks on crutches and two weeks in a cast, I was finally free. The doctor said I needed six months of recovery time, but when I asked if I could continue my world trip during that time, he could only mutter a surprised “yes”. A day later, I had my visa and ticket for India, and a week later, I was on the plane. I couldn‘t wait to exchange the perfect Dutch life for ultimate chaos. And if India excels in one quality, it‘s chaos.
My first stop was Varanasi. Most airport taxi drivers aren‘t the first people I would invite to my birthday party, but this Varanasi driver was a welcome exception. We talked for a full hour. Heartwarming and heartbreaking was his story of earning 6000 rupees a month as a taxi driver and spending 5000 rupees on his three daughters‘ education. Because of this, he only gets to see them one day a month. It‘s beautiful that someone would give up their own life to give their daughters a chance they never had, but it‘s also sad that he can only see them one day a month because of it.
Varanasi was the most intense start to a country that I have ever experienced. In less than two hours after arriving, I witnessed a continuous stream of cremations. Relatives carried their deceased family members to the banks of the Ganges and built a funeral pyre (the higher the caste, the higher up the bank) and placed the wrapped body, sprinkled with herbs and a lump of butter (for better burning) on top. The closest man (husband or son) lit the pyre, and in three hours, the body was reduced to ashes. The herbs couldn‘t prevent the unbearable stench. The ashes were then thrown into the Ganges, and the gold from the crowns in the teeth was sieved out before scattering the ashes in the river. In this way, three hundred bodies were turned into ashes in the Ganges every day. If you were inspired by this ritual, the costs are relatively low by Western standards: 300 rupees (4 €) per kilogram of firewood, of which you need about a hundred; 150 rupees for the workers, and a similar amount for the shroud, decorations, herbs, and butter. So with 30,300 rupees (€404), you can have a fully catered (except for carrying, building the pyre, lighting it, and collecting the ashes) cremation on the Ganges. However, for the taxi driver, this is almost a year‘s salary to cremate himself and his wife in due time...
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Traveled route: Ganges, Varanassi, Agra, Taj Mahal, Buland Darwaza, Jaipur, Fatehpur Shekhawati, Ajmer, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Bundi, Udaipur, Mumbai, Goa, Hampi
× Ultimate chaos, burning bodies for €400 a piece
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Did this story inspire you to go to India? Read more on what India has to offer, what the best months are for visiting and check the handy links for backpacking there.
