Pupal Take on Death

Pupa and me had a heart to heart on DEATH. Of course Osama's got us talking. Without going into the usual differences on 'was it him', 'proof kya hai', 'what role did Pak play'....let me come to the crucial question of Death.

I must say Pupa with his ample laze time does come up with some genuine thoughts. Anyway so here is the crux of a 'Pupal take on death'.

Pupa says (this reminds me of Buddha says...but strictly this is me just paraphrasing him) death haunts us from even before the conception of life. Well how many larvae turn into caterpillars? How many caterpillars turn into pupae? And how many Pupae into butterflies?

Profound but true. Death hovers round from the womb to the grave or the funeral pyre...ok lets just add...some reach the Towers of Silence too!

So should one be scared of death? Pupal take, it would be foolhardy to claim that one is not scared. All of us are. Well maybe not of death as death..but the forms it comes in or the wishes which go unfulfilled or the tasks which could not be completed.

How come some people are branded evil or saintly after death? While Mother Teresa gets a beatification, Osama gets the sea! Pupa believes God doesn't permit us to take such liberties. But when have jurisdictions not been over-reached? A Pope is going on to become a Saint. Who are we to decide who is the sinner or the saint? Even if we are in awe of someone's good earthly deeds, are we to become judges? Are we even capable of being judges? What moral, social, cultural, religious or intellectual claim do we have to make decisions about someone's deeds, life or afterlife. And even if we do...seriously it doesn't even matter.

You may condemn certain acts, you may appreciate some good deeds. But you cannot be a judge because as Pupa says a judge gotta be impartial and who can claim that for oneself! No wonder we go 'gaga' over someone one day and pelt rotten eggs on the same person the next day. Has the person changed or has our perception of him changed?

They say each one of us comes to the world with a specific purpose. So are we simply puppets in the hands of God? That reminds me of Rajesh Khanna in Anand -

"Babu Moshai, Zindagi aur maut uparwale ke haath hai jahanpanah, jise na aap badal sakte hain na mein. Hum sab toh rangmanch ki katputlian hain, jiski dor uparwale ke haath bandhi hai. Kab, Kaun, Kaise uthega, yeh koi nahi janta."

Was/Is Osama a puppet in the Almighty's hands too or did he go mutant...some chemical locha?? Dunno.

Pupa says what Osama did is between him and his God. He would be answerable to Allah even if his way to jannat or jahannum is through the sea! As for the 'discipline and punishment' of the earthly world he deserved what he did. But does the body deserve what it is getting?

Is it not sadomasochism in a new garb to show your hegemony on a lifeless body by condemning it to the SEA!! Is US playing Noah's Ark? Even Hitler got a grave!! (though an unmarked one). And our ever curious Pupa wants to know bout the justification that no country would give its land to bury Osama, well Mr. Obama did you ask these countries which you claim to be the 'sole spokesman' of?? Will the human rights folks say something or Uncle Sam with their Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo appear holier than thou to them!!

AB Senior takes centrestage - Anand mara nahi, Anand marte nahin.

Osama mara nahi, Osama marte nahin.

The soul didn't die, Soul never dies.

P.S - Violence in any form is bad, be it physical or emotional.

So that's a Pupal take on death with supplementary comments by me.

P.P.S - Did Will-Kat seal it with a "Till death do us apart" :p