Writer Minakshi Dewan was very close to her father, Vijay Dewan, an entrepreneur. He lived in Ambala Cantonment in Haryana. But in 2019, because of liver sclerosis, Vijay passed away. His death came as a shock to Minakshi.
She lit the funeral pyre and immersed her father’s ashes in the Ganges at Haridwar. During this time, she conversed with the purohits and became fascinated by the rituals at the end of life. That’s when she got the idea for writing this book.
She began her research by visiting shamshans and kabristans in Delhi. Minakshi also went to the Harishchandra and Manikarnika ghats in Varanasi. She read articles, newspaper clippings, books and watched films on the subject. She interviewed journalists, activists, funeral directors, academicians and filmmakers, among many others.
The Final Farewell, a product of all of this, is her attempt to decode death, as she explores the nuances of the last rites in Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Sikhism. It is a valuable book because it gives followers of each religion an insight into the meanings behind their rituals, which most people tend to perform mechanically. One also gets an idea of the rituals of other religions, creating an opportunity to evoke empathy and understanding of other religions, especially at a time of grave communal polarisation in the world.
