If that looks like the entrance to an old graveyard, then that is what it is. This is the final resting ground of Mumbai’s minuscule and quaintly endearing Zoroastrians. The gates are open to Doongerwadi. Or the Tower of Silence. It’s a 54-acre forest on Malabar Hill. Where Zoroastrians dispose of their dead by Dokhmenashini – a tradition that is thousands of years old. In which the deceased is left open in a stone well closed to the rest of the world until the elements gently nudge it back into Mother Nature’s warm embrace.
I was present there yesterday. For a dear friend who had lost her mother. Not to Covid. But to other illnesses that led to organ failure and ultimately her end. Zoroastrians only can attend the last rites at Doongerwadi. But I have learned in every faith that more than any priest’s prayers it is the power of the human touch that offers comfort and gives strength at a time like this. I had gone to do that. Just be there. Not that she needed me. Twenty family members and other Zoroastrian friends, the number allowed in this Covid climate, were there for that. I was the friend standing by.
Once you enter Doongerwadi you are in another world. Not of the dead. But of the joyously and vibrantly living. The American poet Robert Frost, who loved woods that are lovely, dark, and deep, would be at home here. I drove past the crumbling gates uphill into the forest on a cobbled road with dappled sunlight. A muster of peacocks majestically waited to let me through. If you want to know the meaning of verdant then it is Doongerwadi. There’s nothing but lush greenery and luxuriant trees everywhere that shelter it from the highrises of Malabar Hill.
I waited outside a Bungli where I could hear the murmur of the funeral rites. A group of Khandias, the men who carry the deceased to the Tower of Silence, ominously stood by in white. Everywhere was the peace of the living. And the quiet of the dead. The Bungli is a sloping roofed stone bungalow with pillars, glass paneled doors, and windows. Red stone benches outside waited for people to sit on them. Bright yellow toilets glinted in the sun. Birds sang in the trees. Black Pariah Kites soared in the skies. The breeze gently moved the windows and sent the dead leaves scattering from Doongerwadi. Cats roamed around with a proprietorial air.
Then my friend stepped out leading her father. Both bowed beneath the burden of their grief. The elderly surviving parent valiantly refused to be helped down the stairs. My moment had come. I went forward and took them in my arms. I had no words to say. No condolences to offer. Just a heart that beat in sadness for them. I hugged my friend for what seemed like ages. She clung to me. Comforted by my presence. My strength. Then she introduced me to her silent father. “He is like family,” she told him. Which said everything. I’m grateful I could be there for her.
About Mark Manuel
The above thoughts/content has been proudly copied from the wall of Sir Mark Manuel. Being interviewing almost every role model of this country and going stronger each day. Mark Manuel is a respected Mumbai editor, writer, and columnist.
With over three decades of journalism in leading publications. This includes the Free Press Journal, Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Mid-Day, and Afternoon. He is famous for his brilliant pen interviews. He himself is a TEDx speaker.
Further
His interviews have featured in several leading media houses. They include the Hindustan Times, Huffington Post, BBC, and Network 18. Almost every famous person has been interviewed by him in the country from Mother Teresa to Muhammad Ali. His first book is just out. It’s titled Moryaa Re! It is a crime thriller that is perhaps the country’s first police procedural. He began his career covering crime. And in a tribute to his experience and knowledge of this beat.
Several distinguished officers of the Mumbai Police and its Crime Branch collaborated with him to make this book possible. Amitabh Bachchan wrote the forward in a statement of friendship for Mark Manuel and admiration for his work.
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