CHINESE FOR DEAD

CHINESE FOR DEAD

Rishi Majumder visits this over a century old Chinese Cemetery, one of the only two Chinese burial sites in India, and it's very interesting caretaker

"Mare Se Kya Darna. Zinda Se Daro," Mohammad Rafiq Shah rejoins to a local warning him that photographing graves might be a bad omen. Then using his crutches he leads on inside the grey walled overgrown Chinese Cemetery on Antop Hill, one of the only two Chinese graveyards in India. Shah, caretaker of the Chinese dead, is 76 years old. He's been working at this cemetery since age 10. "My father worked here before me. And my sons are ready to carry on the tradition," he enlightens, spraying a hose over lush plants growing above the corpses. The cemetery, opened on 1890 (one of Mumbai's oldest) has graves over 120 years old – of people buried even before its completion. It's divided into two parts: "As per Chinese burial rites, each grave is dug up after 4 years and the bones are buried 'permanently' in the other part of the cemetery, in a plastic box covered with a marble plate," Tulen Chen, Chairman of the Maharashtra Chinese Association which maintains the graveyard, tells us. So in two by two feet plastic boxes, lie bones of Chinese sailors, doctors, servicemen, businessmen and even concubines from over the country. A few Japanese skeletons, not having found a graveyard of their own, have settled down under these marble plates as well.

Jiang Wei, Sun Quan, Zhou Tai… some names are inscribed in Mandarin, others in English: "Earlier all names would be in Chini bhasha. But now the younger Chinese staying here don't know the language, so… English," claims caretaker Shah as he walks in between graves to stop at one saying Maharashtra Chinese Association Trust. "Here lie lawaaris bodies. Names unknown. The trust does their last rites." These rites normally consist of placing before the grave items of food dear to the deceased along with flowers and lighted candles. One supposes the lawaaris bodies go without favourite foods. "If a young person dies, then it's a quiet affair. But if it's an old man, there's a lot of fanfare," Shah remarks. Undertaker Danny Pinto, who prepares coffins and bodies for Taoists as well as Christians, points out, "During Christian funerals there's three or four people giving the music. But during Chinese ones there's a full set band with around 15 people!" Then a small meal is set up, consisting of cold drinks, coffee and more of the dead man's favored edibles.

On a flat concrete structure at the yard's entrance, the name of Kuan Kung, supreme god of the Taoists, stands inscribed in red on a marble plaque, overlooking the section with the burial site's most recent graves. Flora abounds here – planted ritually, grown wild. "Either the young have become less respectful, or there's no time," Shah sighs. "Earlier people would come as per tradition three days, 10 days, 20 days, 40 days and then 1 year after the burial." Now, he claims there's lesser of that. There's also lesser praying during the festivals of Chinese New Year, or the death anniversaries. "Maybe it's also because from 25000 Chinese in 1962, only 24 families remain," observes Chinese Association Chairman Chen. "The rest migrate to better opportunities in the USA, England or New Zealand. Here we aren't even given a minority status."

Shah waters the remaining plants, deftly balancing himself on both crutches with one hand as he leans out with the other: "I lost my knee cap while watering one of these graves - slipped and smashed my knee on the marble." Besides gardening, Shah's functions include grave-digging, guarding, sweeping and digging up the bones to be transplanted after four years in the middle of the night to wash them with spirit and brandy before sunrise… "as dictated by ritual"

And don't these calling cards left behind by the grim reaper scare him at his age? He laughs for a full three minutes. "Death? I've lost a knee cap and…" he rolls up his shirt to show a wide operation scar across his stomach: "Ulcers!" He runs his finger down to point to another larger cut: "Appendix!" The finale is lifting his lungi to show us stitches on his thigh. "…but I'm still alive. I ask Allah to give me Maut twice a day," Shah giggles. "But he gets irritated and prolongs my life for another five years. Everyone should try this formula." Here's one deserving that full set band. And an encore.