Word: papu
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...death?than savory samosas. It takes about three hours to burn a body, and the cost can be prohibitive, usually starting at $200 for a modest affair. Whole streets are dedicated to the selling of shrouds and the influx of tourists has spawned a new school of opportunists. Papu, a self-appointed guide to the Hindu rituals of death, walks visitors through the ceremony, then earnestly describes the karmic benefits of giving $10 to a widow with no means. What a donor gains from Papu taking a cut is not explained...
Finally the mourners, their voices hoarse and cracking, make their way down to Manikarnika Ghat, where bodies are burned on the riverbank, to lay down their burden. The widow is directed to an observation deck above the burning platform. "Women cannot come to the burning," explains Papu. "They cry and wail and shout, and the soul cannot be released to Nirvana if someone is calling him back with tears...
...that remains of one; on the other a heat-shriveled thigh juts out, still attached to a cracked pelvis bone. Curiously, there is no odor of burnt flesh or hair. The bodies, in preparation for burning, have been dipped in the Ganges. "The holy river purifies all beings," says Papu, spitting betel juice from between blackened teeth. "That is why there is no odor...
...Papu is not concerned about voyeuristic tourists. In fact, he worries they may be too timid to approach the burning platform. "Cremation is an education for everyone," he says. "People see the dead bodies and think about the meaning of their own lives. They realize that at the end of a life only the good deeds and the bad deeds remain." As for earthly trappings, they won't make it through the flames. Those you leave behind in Varanasi...
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