Differences Between Progresimism And Essentialism

Just steps from the death We play real

Article published on November 2 in the weekly independent Accès Laurentides



The sun fades into the water of the Ganges in Varanasi while the full moon on the faded blue sky guide our steps. By chance, we meet a couple of Quebecers. Like us, they are thrown headlong into the madness of India. Soon, stories jostle. Our experiments seem to merge separate though and it makes us laugh. Our voices ferocity: "Crazy India!"

Oops.

Our laughter is suddenly faced with the silence of death that floods the scene. A grayish smoke takes us by the throat. All around us, a fire. All around us, a body that burns. That of a young woman.



Both cited the life and death, Varanasi is the mecca of the Hindu religion. 60,000 pilgrims arrive every day to take part in a ceremony, usually that of the cremation of a family member at sunrise or sunset. According to Hindu belief, those who are cremated on the banks of the Ganges in the holy city enjoy a privilege: to go to heaven and end the cycle of reincarnation.

We had heard of. But the live show is something else. Around what amounts to simply a campfire to keep the male members of the family. Women can not attend the ceremony for two reasons: they were crying too much and sometimes they outright immolation during the cremation of her husband to comply with the belief that they are nothing without their spouse. Now, a law forbids this type of suicide.

While other tourists attending the event, I can not help voyeur feel. I feel like stealing someone's soul on his last journey. Worse, my eyes can detach from the leg stiff that emerges from the flames. Aaargh ...



A man armed with two long sticks replace the said leg in a fire. Each to his own, but his is very specific: it must ensure that burn the bodies are brought here. He does not pleasure, but rather because it is his karma. It is part of the lowermost caste among the Hindus, the untouchable. 15 years ago, these people were not allowed to attend public places with the rest of the population, not even the grace to enter a temple. Today they have all these benefits, but it still poses a look at them in disgust.

A little later, we begin to "prep" a new body. Soon, the beach will fill these crematorium and bless their families from the deceased. Suddenly, what seemed barbaric and absurd, seems like a magical rite in which the culmination of a life takes its full meaning on the banks of the sacred river. All smiles, I turn to my new friends in Quebec: "The night is young. We should go enjoy it! "It should certainly not Varanasi is also forgotten that the city life ...