They aren’t dead
but deplorably
they aren’t
alive either.
Distressed,
trodden, and
completely flattened
by the uncertain
volcanic eruptions
of their own life,
they are lying
on the towers
of silence
with their stomachs
open to the sky
waiting for the vultures
to come and munch
the remaining them
little by little
pieces by pieces
as the corrosion
of the moment
that erodes
the gate
of the eternity
tick….tock….
tick….tock….
with their beaks.
Copyright 2006 Bhuwan Thapaliya
*Towers of silence:
The Towers of Silence (also dakhma or dokhma) are Zoroastrian funerary towers, the majority of which are located in Mumbai, India, belonging to Parsi Zoroastrians, and in Yazd and Kerman, Iran, belonging to the Iranian Zoroastrians.
Zoroastrians consider the dead body to be unclean, and their religion prohibits allowing corpses to pollute the pure elements of earth and fire. Corpses are therefore placed atop the Towers of Silence for their flesh to be consumed by vultures. Once the bones have been bleached by the sun and wind, they are thrown into the ossuary pit at the center of the tower.
somewhat similiar to the american indian's ritual of cleansing the body allowing the body to assimulate back into the spirit of the air ... though the body is placed on a wooden platform in a way that the vulture's weight can't handle the platform so that they avoid consuming the body ... interesting and well written, Bhuwan ...
When I die I want to be cremated and buried. I do not want to be eaten by any worms or any other life objects; and most of all, the thought of being slowly deteriorating and melting away is just too much for the dead body to bear. Cremation is clean and is less costly.
Some of the Idian traditions are very strange, especially when it comes to women of poor family and villages. I have watched a documentary on the TV and I was appalled to see how some of the poor women were badly treated by their husbands and their in-laws. Apparently, the law in India allows these poor women to be treated in such manner. Some of the women in India have no ground to stand on, and some were murdered by their husbands and their in-laws.
In my own opinion, it is cruel to be treating a dead body in this manner. Even a corpse needs dignity and not to be violated. That is my opinion.
I had never thought of fire being polluted by a corpse, rather the other way round, the fire destroying the possibility of pollution by a corpse. One reason why I prefer the idea of cremation to ground buriul. Strange how ideas can differ so much.
In a post-coup America, an Illinois farm boy is drawn into the resistance by his brother's death. Captured, he is given a choice: betray his friends, or the girl he loves will be lobotomized.
Love Tinka
thank you for a glimpse into a diferent reality
good write
john+
Some of the Idian traditions are very strange, especially when it comes to women of poor family and villages. I have watched a documentary on the TV and I was appalled to see how some of the poor women were badly treated by their husbands and their in-laws. Apparently, the law in India allows these poor women to be treated in such manner. Some of the women in India have no ground to stand on, and some were murdered by their husbands and their in-laws.
In my own opinion, it is cruel to be treating a dead body in this manner. Even a corpse needs dignity and not to be violated. That is my opinion.
Sandie May Angel a.k.a. Sandie Angel :o)