Ahmedabad: With Covid cases continuing to rise, crematoriums and burial grounds in Ahmedabad are working non-stop. Undertakers can be seen digging graves and setting up pyres even late at night. Busy creating the path for the dead to make their final journey, these workers have no reprieve from the grief and yearning.
While some of the dead get their turn quickly, other bodies wait in long queues. On pavements, on the path to the burial pits, bodies can be seen everywhere. Family members of the deceased have to spend long hours waiting and mulling over the value of life. Even after performing the last rites and offering their final prayers, the queues give them a lot of time for introspection.
As residents shut themselves inside their homes during the night curfew that sets in at 8 pm, the passage to the underworld glows bright red from the crematorium’s furnace.
ThePrint team spent two hours visiting several crematoriums and burial grounds across the city. We bring you some of poignant moments we saw in the lives of those who can never sleep.
