Of Funerals and Music and Parades and Stuff

While travelling in a shuttle back to our hotel from the mall, we saw what looked like a parade up ahead. There was a large float covered in flowers and there were men dancing and chanting in front of the float. There was drumming and fireworks. It looked very festive. 

I picked up my phone to take a picture while saying, “Ooooh, what’s that all about?”, expecting the driver to tell me about some festival I was unaware of but suddenly very interested in.

“Funeral” he said.

“What did he say?” I asked husband.

“It’s a funeral, see the dead guy?”

“..oh” and I put the phone down, because I don’t take photos of funerals, usually. Is that just my rule? If you are curious about this kind of thing, feel free to google Hindu Funeral and you will see lots of youtube stuff that people without the same rule as me, have posted. 

Anyway, so they do funerals a bit differently here. If you are Hindu that is. I haven’t seen any other types yet.

The body is cleansed and prepared by singing women while a guy puts together a stretcher out of bamboo and twine (or rope – I didn’t ask), the driver called it a death-bed.

The procession with flowers and dancing and celebration is all about sending the deceased away with good energy for the next life. The “mourners” who look like revellers do not wear black. White is preferred as it gives off good energy. They save their proper mourning for the 13 days after the funeral.

So, if you ever see this festive procession, you now know the cheering and dancing is not because they didn’t like the guy very much, but because they wish him well in his next incarnation.

Eden is talking about funerals today and asking about funeral songs. I’m not sure what I want mine to be. It changes a lot. 

I’ve been to a lot of funerals. Mostly thanks to my couple of years working in a nursing home. Lot of death there. Those funerals tended to have a lot of hymns at them.

I went to the funeral of a boyfriend when I was just 15. They played his favourite music, Guns N’ Roses – it was 1993. There were two songs selected; Sweet Child of Mine and Patience. I don’t know who was in charge of the music but they left the tape playing afterwards and the next song came on loudly. “I used to love her, but I had to kill her, I had to put her six feet under…..” It was slightly inappropriate and his brother rushed to turn it off while we tried to stifle our shocked yet amused teenage laughter. I still giggle when I think about it. I’m sure Scott would have liked it but I don’t think his Grandma did.

So, back to me. No hymns. There are hymns I really like, musically, but it feels somewhat hypocritical having songs of worship at the funeral of a heathen. 

Green Day: Time of your Life is a bit done, isn’t it? Maybe, Train: Drops of Jupiter – that song does things to me, I don’t know why. A bit of Smashing Pumpkins, something from Siamese Dream perhaps. Bit of Pearl Jam maybe. Oh, gotta have some Kiwi music too! Bit of Dave Dobbyn,  Bic Runga, Exponents and – gosh… too many songs to choose from. Maybe I’ll put a CD together and it can be played at the wake. 

As for THE song. The music played at the ceremony, the song to be known as THE funeral song. I dunno. Maybe I’ll know closer to the time. Maybe it hasn’t been written yet. Maybe the person that writes my funeral song hasn’t even been born yet – here’s hoping.