I read this gut wrenching story recently of a man who carried his wife's dead body for 12 kms after she died of tuberculosis in an Orissa hospital. He was not provided any transport to take the body home and had no money to take her otherwise. The hospital authorities told him to remove the body and he could think of nothing else to do. Dana Majhi's village was 60 kms away from Bhawanipatna town in Orissa.
It is irrelevant to discuss the technicalities about how he started his long trek with such a heavy to carry - because no one really seemed to have helped him until after 12 kms.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-37183011
Whatever transpired - Dana Majhi decided that if he had to cremate his wife Amang Majhi with some modicum of dignity - he had better head back to his village - even if he had to carry her all the way for days. He had with him his weeping 12 year old daughter Chaula, who walked along with him.
I wondered what would make a man decided to carry his wife's body for 60 kms. It is quite evident that whether anyone helped or not, Dana, would have carried his wife's mortal remains to the village. How many would even think of doing anything like that? How many would carry a loved one for a few hundred metres? How many would leave the body at the hospital? How many would think of many ways to dispose of this burden and disappear? How many weird ideas would an urban mind think of in a situation like this?
Whether Dana loved Amang in our conventional filmy sense of love or not, the very act of carrying her back to their village against such physical odds, speaks of a love that has no name, that cannot be contained in words. It is also futile to ask of him as some reporters do - if he did it for love? It transcends questions, words. It's an act, for its sheer innocence, simple mindedness and incredible courage, that transcends what any man would do.
I have read, seen and heard some stories of great love, but this one, rises above all. Amang's soul, would be a happy one, to see what her husband was doing for her.
It is irrelevant to discuss the technicalities about how he started his long trek with such a heavy to carry - because no one really seemed to have helped him until after 12 kms.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-37183011
Whatever transpired - Dana Majhi decided that if he had to cremate his wife Amang Majhi with some modicum of dignity - he had better head back to his village - even if he had to carry her all the way for days. He had with him his weeping 12 year old daughter Chaula, who walked along with him.
I wondered what would make a man decided to carry his wife's body for 60 kms. It is quite evident that whether anyone helped or not, Dana, would have carried his wife's mortal remains to the village. How many would even think of doing anything like that? How many would carry a loved one for a few hundred metres? How many would leave the body at the hospital? How many would think of many ways to dispose of this burden and disappear? How many weird ideas would an urban mind think of in a situation like this?
Whether Dana loved Amang in our conventional filmy sense of love or not, the very act of carrying her back to their village against such physical odds, speaks of a love that has no name, that cannot be contained in words. It is also futile to ask of him as some reporters do - if he did it for love? It transcends questions, words. It's an act, for its sheer innocence, simple mindedness and incredible courage, that transcends what any man would do.
I have read, seen and heard some stories of great love, but this one, rises above all. Amang's soul, would be a happy one, to see what her husband was doing for her.
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