Brazil Diary - Face to face with the living dead
The second day( 12-05-2006) started off with a visit to a crematorium by name Crematorio de Sao Paulo Dr.James Augusto Lopes.It was one of the most enriching visits of my life.
``Until death do us apart´´goes the saying but can you imagine a lady who embraces death as her greatest friend? Lady!!!!!no, you cannot imagine. I will talk about her later. The crematorium is the oldest in Sao Paulo and existed since 1974. It is the home of the dead and is a much safer place than the real world. The place is maintained so neatly that even the best of the house-keeping departments of the biggest hotels in the world will be put to shame.
The crematorium is spread in a lush green area of almost 15 acres in the city of Sao Paulo with the cremation hall in the centre. It has a cathedral on the ground floor and the icinerators in the basement. The bodies of the dead are cremated for free for those who cannot afford to pay and at a fee ranging from $40 to $1500 for the rich. It is the Buddhists and the Orient who prefer to be cremated in a city like Sao Paulo where most of the people are Catholics.There are
on average 14 cremations per day and are done round the clock. It is obligatory on the part of the Crematorium authorities to complete the process within 48-72 hours of the body arriving there provided the death is natural and doesn't involve an accident or murder that requires the judicial clearance. The system works in a perfect manner. The blood relatives of the deceased have to firstly register with the Crematorium, the details of the dead person and fill a form with the credentials required. Then they are accorded approval to bring in the body in a box for the final prayers at the cathedral.
The prayer hall looks like the UN assembly hall. Body is lifted with the help of a hydraulic lift from the basement so that it appears in the centre of the hall. The prayers are held here and there is a cylindrical hall adjacent to the main hall which hosts a music system. After the prayers, a song selected by the kin of the deceased is played. The number on the registration book on the day of our visit read like CCCXXXIII meaning there are so many registers in the last 32 years. What a great way to honor death and life!!!!
After the prayers the box containig the body is kept in the basement in refrigerators. The basement can hold 35 bodies at a time and we saw the boxes lying side by side. I was very much moved when I noticed two very small boxes, may be one and half feet in length, beside each other and learning that they belonged to small babies. It looked as if they were sleeping there without bothering about the vagaries of living. They are liberated very early.
The bodies are cremated in American Incinerators at a temperature of almost 1000 degrees centigrade. Though there are 4 incinerators only two are in use as the older two of the lot are causing pollution and authorities have shut them down. As the door of the incinerator was opened, I saw the reality of life. There, they were, the ashes of two people who lived on this earth and went into it with the help of death. What if, there was no death. Could have the best scientists in the world invented it? The population could have kept growing. All is hell without death, what do you say? God is Always Great.
The box containing the body is put in the incinerator after the metal handles are removed and the ashes are collected in boxes which carry a tag with the full details of the dead. They are stored in a neatly maintained room as if books in a good library for a maximum of 30 days before which the relatives have to pick them up. The ashes are carried home by some and kept in a pot. Some wear them in a pendant on their person and some spread it in the garden of the crematorium while some mix it in the river like we do in India.
Those who expect to die in their near future, give an advance declaration that they would like to be cremated and upon information of their demise the Crematorium authorities complete the whole process.
Now, do you remember the first lines of this story? If yes, please realise that a lady namely Ms.Roseli is incharge of this crematorium and I could see GOD in her. When we asked her how she feels about dealing with 14-17 dead bodies a day, she says`` it´s normal. I derive my happiness in comforting the families of the deceased and I feel part of each of the family. I feel this is the best I can do to the community.´´ Can there be a better job than this in the world? I felt
she was working in the Office of Lord Shiva. She is invincible. I could see tremendous satisfaction and unassuming greatness in her eyes which resembled the sun and the moon as she performs her duty round the clock.
This day was one of the best in my life as I was in the park of Lord Shiva and saw life taking rest after a great dance. Just as sound emanates from silence and relapses into it, death emanates from life and vice versa.
The next visit from here was to a college which is akin to our polytechnic colleges.
The name of the college is Escola Senai Humberto Reis Corta founded by Humberto on 13-9-1970. The courses offered are mechanical, electrical and electronics engineering. The basic objectives of the college are Team building, developing good qualities, logic and insight and the most important is finding solutions to problems. The class rooms were real good with solo sitting for each student at a teacher, student ratio of 1:32. They follow the semester system with 1600 hrs for each semester and 100 days/semester and 4hrs/day. Each of the classrooms is equipped with a TV and CD player and a LCD projector. It has a massive practicals hall and a nice canteen where TT tables are provided for the students. Mr.Sultan had a go at it for a minute.
We had our lunch at a club meeting of RC Al Alpina. After the meeting we saw a school being run by Rotary at the ground floor of the Club´s premises. In one of the classrooms, the students were being trained in singing and as per our team leader´s command we sang our national anthem to the thundering applause of the students. They too sang their national anthem and we departed for the day to meet again for dinner at an Italian restaurent with all the host families.
``Until death do us apart´´goes the saying but can you imagine a lady who embraces death as her greatest friend? Lady!!!!!no, you cannot imagine. I will talk about her later. The crematorium is the oldest in Sao Paulo and existed since 1974. It is the home of the dead and is a much safer place than the real world. The place is maintained so neatly that even the best of the house-keeping departments of the biggest hotels in the world will be put to shame.
The crematorium is spread in a lush green area of almost 15 acres in the city of Sao Paulo with the cremation hall in the centre. It has a cathedral on the ground floor and the icinerators in the basement. The bodies of the dead are cremated for free for those who cannot afford to pay and at a fee ranging from $40 to $1500 for the rich. It is the Buddhists and the Orient who prefer to be cremated in a city like Sao Paulo where most of the people are Catholics.There are
on average 14 cremations per day and are done round the clock. It is obligatory on the part of the Crematorium authorities to complete the process within 48-72 hours of the body arriving there provided the death is natural and doesn't involve an accident or murder that requires the judicial clearance. The system works in a perfect manner. The blood relatives of the deceased have to firstly register with the Crematorium, the details of the dead person and fill a form with the credentials required. Then they are accorded approval to bring in the body in a box for the final prayers at the cathedral.
The prayer hall looks like the UN assembly hall. Body is lifted with the help of a hydraulic lift from the basement so that it appears in the centre of the hall. The prayers are held here and there is a cylindrical hall adjacent to the main hall which hosts a music system. After the prayers, a song selected by the kin of the deceased is played. The number on the registration book on the day of our visit read like CCCXXXIII meaning there are so many registers in the last 32 years. What a great way to honor death and life!!!!
After the prayers the box containig the body is kept in the basement in refrigerators. The basement can hold 35 bodies at a time and we saw the boxes lying side by side. I was very much moved when I noticed two very small boxes, may be one and half feet in length, beside each other and learning that they belonged to small babies. It looked as if they were sleeping there without bothering about the vagaries of living. They are liberated very early.
The bodies are cremated in American Incinerators at a temperature of almost 1000 degrees centigrade. Though there are 4 incinerators only two are in use as the older two of the lot are causing pollution and authorities have shut them down. As the door of the incinerator was opened, I saw the reality of life. There, they were, the ashes of two people who lived on this earth and went into it with the help of death. What if, there was no death. Could have the best scientists in the world invented it? The population could have kept growing. All is hell without death, what do you say? God is Always Great.
The box containing the body is put in the incinerator after the metal handles are removed and the ashes are collected in boxes which carry a tag with the full details of the dead. They are stored in a neatly maintained room as if books in a good library for a maximum of 30 days before which the relatives have to pick them up. The ashes are carried home by some and kept in a pot. Some wear them in a pendant on their person and some spread it in the garden of the crematorium while some mix it in the river like we do in India.
Those who expect to die in their near future, give an advance declaration that they would like to be cremated and upon information of their demise the Crematorium authorities complete the whole process.
Now, do you remember the first lines of this story? If yes, please realise that a lady namely Ms.Roseli is incharge of this crematorium and I could see GOD in her. When we asked her how she feels about dealing with 14-17 dead bodies a day, she says`` it´s normal. I derive my happiness in comforting the families of the deceased and I feel part of each of the family. I feel this is the best I can do to the community.´´ Can there be a better job than this in the world? I felt
she was working in the Office of Lord Shiva. She is invincible. I could see tremendous satisfaction and unassuming greatness in her eyes which resembled the sun and the moon as she performs her duty round the clock.
This day was one of the best in my life as I was in the park of Lord Shiva and saw life taking rest after a great dance. Just as sound emanates from silence and relapses into it, death emanates from life and vice versa.
The next visit from here was to a college which is akin to our polytechnic colleges.
The name of the college is Escola Senai Humberto Reis Corta founded by Humberto on 13-9-1970. The courses offered are mechanical, electrical and electronics engineering. The basic objectives of the college are Team building, developing good qualities, logic and insight and the most important is finding solutions to problems. The class rooms were real good with solo sitting for each student at a teacher, student ratio of 1:32. They follow the semester system with 1600 hrs for each semester and 100 days/semester and 4hrs/day. Each of the classrooms is equipped with a TV and CD player and a LCD projector. It has a massive practicals hall and a nice canteen where TT tables are provided for the students. Mr.Sultan had a go at it for a minute.
We had our lunch at a club meeting of RC Al Alpina. After the meeting we saw a school being run by Rotary at the ground floor of the Club´s premises. In one of the classrooms, the students were being trained in singing and as per our team leader´s command we sang our national anthem to the thundering applause of the students. They too sang their national anthem and we departed for the day to meet again for dinner at an Italian restaurent with all the host families.
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