Arrivals & Departures: Sewri Cemetery
Director: Madhusree Dutta; Cinematographer: Avijit Mukul Kishore
Duration: 00:38:12; Aspect Ratio: 1.366:1; Hue: 42.039; Saturation: 0.154; Lightness: 0.404; Volume: 0.098; Cuts per Minute: 1.544; Words per Minute: 51.039
Summary: This is part of a series of study on the cemeteries of different communities in Bombay. In order to trace the multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious composition of the city the history, anecdotes, location and class structure of cemeteries were studied. This cemetery is known as Sewri Christian cemetery. Founded in 1865, the cemetery was meant to be the burial ground of the ruling British personnel and other European residents. Below are some excerpts from online queries about the cemetery from all over the world.
"My grandmother, Sophie NICHOLAS, d. 1951, and was buried in Sewri Cemetery, Church of England/Scottish Section (Plot #NE2, Row E, Grave No. 6--white border around grave, grassy top with a white stone cross on top), Bombay. My Mum's last visit to the gravesite was in 1997, and she took photos, and it was upkept well.
Aloma"
"Further to Aloma's query, does anyone know of a source (preferably online)
which lists the names/details of those interred in the Sewri Cemetery.
Trying to find Ernest FREED who died in Bombay about 1934. TIA.
Warmest regards,
Terry Waters-Marsh
Australia"
"Sewri Cemetery Bombay burial record
Ellen Blunden (View posts) Posted: 7 Aug 2006 6:15PM
I am seeking further information if possible on the record of burial for James Topliss buried 6 April 1924".
Once situated in one of the original seven islands that formed Bombay city, the cemetery today is part of the dense population.
Shot by Avijit Mukul Kishore
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The one hundred and thirty years old Christian cemetery. The camera tracks across silent tombstones. The sound of chirpy birds and the shrill crows. Unknown names, unknown faces lie buried under them. The sight of cemetery has inspired cinema from the very beginning. It has a relationship with memory, fate, silence coupled with the patterns of ageing tomb stone – that make cemetery very attractive to filmmakers. Unlike many other Christian, specially European cemetery, Sewri cemetery is maintained well. One reason could be that the cemetery is still in use. The dates and details on the tombstones make no difference to the viewer or to the man clearing up the overgrowth or maybe even to the relatives who visit; in fact, they are just identifiers of who lies beneath.
burial
burial grounds
cemetery
christian cemetery
dead
graves
graveyard
sewri
tombs
tombstones
Bombay
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The camera moves from tombstones to show a group of people huddled around a grave. Close examination shows a family praying and offering their last respects to a deceased relative. The camera zooms in, capturing this very private moment. As the Pastor leads, the group prays and sings for the dead man's soul to rest in peace. It is interesting to note that the hymn that so automatically springs out from the lady of the house, is in a language most Christians in the world wouldn't even know exists: Telugu! What she sings is, to put it in a word, a "customized" hymn. As Christianity tried to spread its monolithic constituency across the globe, through various unethical and ethical means, it has got more layered and decentralized by the local cultures. What we see here is a local ritual.
9th day
11th day
burial grounds
burial rites
cemetery
christian
christian family
christian prayer
dead
funeral
graves
graveyard
last rites
memorial
memorial day
prayer
sewri
tombs. tombstones
Madhusree (M) : So, where have you come from?
Pastor (P) : I just come from Hyderabad. I am pastoring in Hyderabad. Baptist Church.
M: The person who died….
P : Yeah. He's my father-in-law. My wife's father.
The filmmaker manages to get the entire family in front of the camera for a small conversation. Note the way the family has gathered. When a family stands together, maybe for a group portrait, the eldest member takes centre-stage, with the rest of the family surrounding him. Here too, the tradition seems to be followed. The family of man, wife and children with their closest blood relatives are gathered around the family elder, the dead man in his grave. It is strange to put it this way, yet interestingly true.
9th day
11th day
bereavement
burial
burial grounds
cemetery
christian death
christian family
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dead relative
death in the family
funeral
graves
graveyard
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mourning
pastor
prayer
sewri
soul
tombs
tombstones
P: So, he's Mr. Kuruvalli Paul Aminjiappa. And he's of… native of Karnataka, settled here. And, he died on 29th. So, we are unable to attend his funeral. And today is the Memorial Day. The 9th day. With my wife, and with my relatives, we come to attend this memorial. So, we again remember his love, specially, a reason coming here, he is our bone of bone. So that we remember, Jesus said that He has resurrected from the dead, and he will again resurrect the people who believe in him. So that is the faith that we pray for this soul, so that he will be resurrected.
M: You could not come for the funeral.
P: Yeah. Unfortunately, yeah. We are unable to come. Even though we attend the funeral also, this is the custom that even for the ninth day, or the eleventh day, we come here. And we just remember again. As the family and the friends, we come together and remember his love and whatever he did for us. So, that is in our, custom-like, so that…
M: Madam, what is your mother tongue?
Tabitha (T) : My mother tongue is Kannada.
(Light conversation in Kannada)
M: Madam, what is your mother tongue?
T: Kannada, Karnataka.
M: What is your name, madam?
T: Tabitha. My name is Tabitha. Tabitha Tabadhdar.
Man: Karnataka.
M: Nobody stays in Mumbai?
Man: No.
P: These are all the family members, sir, there. They have come day-before and something, so they are busy in making the things.
Man: My wife's sister has been married away in Mumbai. He (the deceased) was her (his wife's) grandfather. So, we have come here to see.
M: Do you live in Bombay?
Man: No, we don't. We live in Karnataka.
Wife: We went away to Karnataka.
Man: We came to see. We couldn't get through over the phone, so today…
M: You came for the memorial.
Man: So… yeah.
M: Can you please light the candles?
The belief that the funeral is a ritual accorded to bring together the relatives and friends of the dead, allowing a sharing of grief and faith, is obvious from how this family has gathered from a city hundreds of kilometers away, Hyderabad. The ceremony marks a day of remembrance, a prayer for the soul of the dead. It is believed that the funeral helps us face the inevitable reality of death, and to see a loved one consigned back to earth is the final step to accepting death and to easing the pain. The logistics of various rituals to follow ease out the sorrow.
The camera plays voyeur capturing that very ritual
9th day
11th day
bereavement
burial
burial grounds
cemetery
christian death
christian family
dead
dead relative
death in the family
funeral
graves
graveyard
memorial day
mourning
pastor
prayer
sewri
soul
tombs
tombstones
A final resting place to some, a stopgap bed for some, this cemetery seems to be for multiple uses. We talk of reducing burying spaces. We talk of the homeless. In a city that is so crowded and yet somehow manages to accommodate more and more people, the sleeping man on the gravestone becomes a symbol of multiple uses of land. And in the process, he foregrounds the questions of land and its usages in a space starved metropolis. There have been instances in Bombay where homeless people have taken over abandoned and over flown cemeteries and made homes over the graves. What would be our ethical response to that?
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burial grounds
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cemetery
christian
dead
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graveyard
sewri
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This rather extended shot follows the sweeper in the cemetery as she cleans the cemetery grounds. She does it like it is just another job. Like any domestic maid would go from house to house doing the cleaning, she goes from tomb to tomb, clearing away the dirt and old offerings from around them. The area she cleans contains graves of children. The graves in this section are small and somewhat informal and temporary looking, maybe designed such a way to match the nature of the deceased children. She speaks of them in a later section in this event.
burial grounds
cemetery
children's graves
christian
christian children tombs
dead children
dead christian children
graves
graveyards
service
sewri
sweeper
tombs
tombstones
worker
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The camera tracks on the stones of signages - The Church of England, the Church of Scotland… with arrow marks pointing to where these places are within the cemetery grounds! These are signs of territorial control of various churches. But how strange they sound, specially after 60 years of independence. Scotland, England are just exotic sounding or abstract names for most people here, like the faceless worker with the ragged feet and tattered slippers who is resting on one of these markers. He represents all the people working here and maybe some who come here to bury their near ones.
Yet, these are signs of. mankind's entangled history and of intermingling and many times, unfathomable identities based on religion, refuge, rebellion, colonization and violence.
burial
burial grounds
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christian dead
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This part of the cemetery talks of an era gone by, and these buildings that sport an alien architectural style stand testimony to this. This place means different things to different people. Built post-World War II, this memorial stands as a salutation to all the Italian prisoners of war who died on Indian soil after the British brought them here.
cemetery
indian-italian history
italian architecture
italian soldiers
italian soldiers in mumbai
italian war memorial
italians in mumbai
italians soldiers in india
italy
memorial
mumbai and italy
sewri memorial
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To the cleaner who nonchalantly wipes the memorial plaques clean, this is just his workplace. He could not care less about the history or the irony behind the construction of the place, a memorial built by Italians in newly independent India (1954) to commemorate Italian soldiers captured by the British army in World War II and who died in the then colony of the British, India. This magnificent piece of history lies here inaccessible to most people - Italian, British or Indian.
cemetery
indian-italian history
italian architecture
italian soldiers
italian soldiers in mumbai
italian war memorial
italians in mumbai
italians soldiers in india
italy
memorial
mumbai and italy
sewri memorial
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To the fellow countrymen of the dead, this place denotes the sacrifice of their soldiers, and is an integral part of their history. They might see this as a reminder of World War II and their soldiers' regaining of a place of respect after the defeat to the British. To us Indians, especially Mumbaikars, this could just be another exotic memorial for another unknown cause.
cemetery
indian-italian history
italian architecture
italian soldiers
italian soldiers in mumbai
italian war memorial
italians in mumbai
italians soldiers in india
italy
memorial
mumbai and italy
sewri memorial
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Yet, there is so much history hidden in these bricks, and in the plaques that name soldiers who have died in Dharamsala, Bangalore, Mumbai etc…., far away from their country of origin. It is a memorial that respects the fallen warrior, and salutes the bravery of the defeated. It is said history is the version of the victors, but here, the ones who lost seem to have found their niche here, in a far away foreign country.
cemetery
indian-italian history
italian architecture
italian soldiers
italian soldiers in mumbai
italian war memorial
italians in mumbai
italians soldiers in india
italy
memorial
mumbai and italy
sewri memorial
It was a time (1941-46) under British rule. when most probably Indians, at least the ordinary citizens, were not allowed to enter cemeteries as this one. To see a memorial for people of another European nationality that died during those years in different parts of India is very strange and ironic. The British and the Italians fought. The British won and caught Italians soldiers as PoW. After peace was declared, the Italian Government got this memorial erected. By the sheer identity of having been a British colony, India figures in the above transactions and interactions. Interesting how history can tie up places and people.
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cemetery
indian-italian history
italian architecture
italian soldiers
italian soldiers in mumbai
italian war memorial
italians in mumbai
italians soldiers in india
italy
memorial
mumbai and italy
sewri memorial
A wide shot of the cemetery. The settlement at the border of the cemetery can be seen in the background. The sun is setting. The tombstones under the setting sun acquire peaceful yet sad. An young boy in uniform waters the plants around the tombs, also washes the graves. A ritual, maybe only a daily chore – but still it looks serene and very cinematic. Against this silent ritual around the dead one can hear the scream of the boys playing at the settlement in the background. A finely balance co-existence between life and death… so far.
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burial grounds
cemetery
cemetery cleaner
cemetery maintenance
cemetery sweeper
cemetery worker
cleaner
cleaning burial grounds
cleaning tombs
graves
graveyard
sewri
sewri cleaner
sewri sweeper
sewri worker
sweeper
sweeper lady
tombstones
watering
worker woman
working in cemetery
working in sewri
young worker
Closer shot of the same. The place of the dead is being preserved and maintained.
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burial grounds
cemetery
cemetery cleaner
cemetery maintenance
cemetery sweeper
cemetery worker
cleaner
cleaning burial grounds
cleaning tombs
graves
graveyard
sewri
sewri cleaner
sewri sweeper
sewri worker
sweeper
sweeper lady
tombstones
watering
worker woman
working in cemetery
working in sewri
young worker
No transcription
This shot looks beyond the graves, literally. Across the graves and monolithic structures, we can see rows of houses. Closely huddled together, congested. A stark contrast to the graves, so spaciously arranged out and so carefully cared for.
burial grounds
cemetery
cemetery cleaner
cemetery maintenance
cemetery sweeper
cemetery worker
cleaner
cleaning burial grounds
cleaning tombs
graves
graveyard
sewri
sewri cleaner
sewri sweeper
sewri worker
sweeper
sweeper lady
tombstones
watering
worker woman
working in cemetery
working in sewri
young worker
Madhusree (M): Tai, since how many years have you been working here?
Tai (T): Twenty. Twenty years.
M: How did you get this job?
T: Neighbor got me the job.
M: Tell us some story about it. Speak in Marathi.
T: No story!
M: Hmmm? Tell us, how did you get this job?
T: I got the job from someone I knew in the neighborhood, my neighboring uncle. Earlier they would stop it in the middle, every three months or fifteen days they would shut the place and then start it again. Then after nine years they made it permanent.
M: So, what do you call this place?
T: This? Kabristaan (Cemetery).
M: Whose cemetery?
T: Christians'.
M: So, you are not frightened… working in a cemetery?
T: No.
M: How is that? We get frightened, about working in a cemetery.
T: Now, when these people come, I am not frightened. I go to see.
M: How are these people buried?
T: They make a hole for 6 feet. They bring them (The dead) in the box (Coffin) right. They put the box down, put mud over it. Over the mud, they put flowers. Then they go away.
M: It's not like ours?
T: No.
M: It's a different method?
T: Yes.
M: So, you go to see, is it?
T: I do.
M: Don't you get frightened?
T: No.
M: Tell us some story.
T: No story.
M: Tell us please, tai. Any story. Stories about your work here.
T: I just work.
M: Any big shot that came here. Something that happened.
T: Nobody… Govinda had come. Then…Johnny Lever had come. For his father's burial.
M: And? Nobody else? Nobody else was a big shot, is it? Why did Govinda come?
T: Govinda came with Johnny Lever.
Sitting in the backdrop of the graves she cleans for a living, the sweeper-lady talks of how she came to work here, and how the job is just like any other. Outsiders might be frightened of the cemetery and its bizarre stories, but for this woman, this is bread and butter. She has become used to the sights she sees there everyday, and burial rituals are everyday experiences for her.
cemetery cleaner
cemetery sweeper
cemetery worker
govinda
johnny lever
sewri cleaner
sewri sweeper
sewri worker
sweeper
sweeper lady
worker woman
working in cemetery
working in sewri
Renu (R): What else happened? There must have been more heroes and heroines? Tell us about that?
T: I already told you.
R: Tell us again.
T: Govinda had come, Johnny Lever had come.
R: It's been quite a while since you've been working here. Don't you feel scared?
T: No I don't feel scared. Nothing happens.
Throughout the conversation, she gives away no hint of fear about working in a cemetery. She is very matter-of-fact about her work, and stays cool and talks of the graves and of film stars in the same vein!
cemetery cleaner
cemetery sweeper
cemetery worker
sewri cleaner
sewri sweeper
sewri worker
sweeper
sweeper lady
worker woman
working in cemetery
working in sewri
As the conversation warms up, she admits to initial inhibitions. But, the job seems to have grown on her. She is taking it, literally, like a pro!
R: How do you feel looking at all these dead bodies?
T: I don't feel anything. Earlier I used to be scared but since coming here I don't feel anything.
R: Where were you before this?
T: Yes, I used to be at Ghatkopar. I left that. I worked there for only two days. I used to be scared there but I came here and I'm not scared anymore.
R: Have any of the bodies stayed here overnight?
T: No. No one stays the entire night. After six 'o' clock, there's nobody, only the watchmen remain.
R: When did you come from your village to Mumbai?
T: It's been quite a while. More than 20-25 years.
R: Who's there at home?
T: At home there's my son, my daughter-in-law, my daughter, her children.
R: And what you think, in the village there are always lots of things like this?
T: Yes. There's always more of this in the village.
R: Why do you think it's not here, even though this place is so large?
T: Still, there's not so much of it here. Or it's there but you won't see it.
R: What's there?
T: If there were something, you wouldn't see it. It should come close to our vision, no? In the village there are jungles, so one understands.
R: What do you understand? And why not here? You know what people talk about don't you?
T: Yes, but there's not much here. The village people get scared the minute it turns dark, there's none of that here.
R: People must be talking right? That since this is a city there's nothing here…
T: Yes, of course they say that.
R: And what about your home. All your relatives, don't they have anything to say about you working in such a large cemetery?
T: No, nothing.
R: What work do you do here?
T: Here I clean the place, tend to the garden, sweep, water the plants.
R: What do you have to do when a body arrives?
T: We don't do anything when a body arrives. The 'hole diggers' do everything that has to be done. Incase they ask for it, we go get them water.
R: Do you have to wash the body or do anything of the sort?
T: No, they only ask for water. We just pour water and those people put in flowers.
R: And do you have any other family working here? You were saying something about putting you daughter to work here…
T: No, they don't keep anyone here.
R: Then how did you get the job?
T: That was a long time ago. There was another sir then, he used to employ us. They won't do that now. They can't even keep anyone in my place, even when I retire.
R: If you were offered a job anywhere else, would you go?
T: I might.
R: Do you like it here? How do you feel about working here?
T: Now how long will I work here…
R: And what would your old sir say? Would he give permission for such things?
T: No, never.
R: What would he say?
T: The graves would be spoilt so he wouldn't let anyone come. Kids would come in which is why he didn't let anyone in.
R: When you were here earlier was it just as large?
T: No. It was a little smaller. They've increased it a little only last year.
R: After demolishing the huts?
T: No. They've just increased the wall. The hutments are still there.
R: Do those people try to enter?
T: No. The height of the wall has increased right? So they don't come.
cemetery cleaner
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sewri sweeper
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worker woman
working in cemetery
working in sewri
M: If you don't tell us a story, we won't go. We will keep sitting here.
T: I don't know story telling.
M: No, any story that occurred here, tell us that. Johnny Lever came, Govinda came… Just tell us something please.
T: I told you that!
M: Tell us something else.
T: A heroine was buried down there. A (film) director came to the area where I work.
M: Then? What happened?
T: That's it. I don't know. Her grave is there. I clean it. I pour water.
M: What's the name?
T: Name… it's written there in English, what do I understand?
M: Then, how do you know she's a heroine?
T: I work there, so I know, right? Her relatives come every month.
Renu (R): So you don't ask them her name?
T: Why should I ask them? If I knew then I would ask them.
R: Where did you say her theatre was? You were saying something about it earlier…
T: No, that was the director. I don't know anything about that.
Try as she might, Madhusree cannot coax the sweeper to tell her the kind of bizarre stories one expects out of cemeteries. Death is commonplace to this lady, even that of a film star or his relative. A heroine under the tombstone or a commoner there doesn't make any difference to her. It's just another grave, another place to clean. All in a day's work!
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graveyard stories
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tombs
tombstones
worker woman
working in cemetery
working in sewri
Like any office-goer, the sweeper has her work profile. That is, she knows the areas she has to keep clean. She knows the authorities keep a watch on her work, and so is very careful not to displease them. In fact, she shows signs of being fidgety as the interview drags on and she thinks that her superior might pull her up for chattering during duty.
Renu (R): Maushi, what were you saying about the cleaning that goes on here? There must be quite a few people? How do you decide who cleans what?
T: No, that's pre decided. Like this place is cleaned by Datta. Up there someone else works.
|M: And yours, where is it?
T: Mine? The place that I cleaned in the afternoon, that's mine.
M: Where?
T: There, near-by.
M: How much is the area?
T: Lots. From this big tree till there. My work covers two grounds. Just me.
M: What do you do?
T: Water the garden, clean the place.
M: That's easy work.
T: Earlier, it was ok. Now, look at my condition. Since a month.
M: What?
T: Those people have their festival on the 2nd, right? So, they want proper cleaning and clearing.
M: If you don't do it, nobody will question you.
T: They complain. That they pay and the gardener doesn't work properly.
M: What do they say, to whom?
T: They complain at the office.
M: What do they do? I don't understand.
T: They complain there. To sir, at the office. That it's dirty, not nice. That it's not well cleaned, and the like.
cemetery cleaner
cemetery sweeper
cemetery worker
sewri cleaner
sewri sweeper
sewri worker
sweeper
sweeper lady
worker woman
working in cemetery
working in sewri
Here, the conversation turns darker as the lady talks of children's graves and how it is the mothers who come in with the caskets bearing their children. But, the years of hardening are visible as the sweeper delivers this piece of information with as little emotion as possible, looking at it completely from a third-person point of view. That proximity to death can make it so commonplace to anybody is a revelation into human psyche.
Renu (R): That place, which you were cleaning earlier, what are the small graves there?
T: Those are of small children. Four days old, two months old, one month old, six months old, a year old, two years old. They are most common in the place that I clean.
R: Do they not put gravestones there?
T: No. They don't allow children that much space.
R: How do you feel when these young children are buried?
T: I can't bear to watch it. I feel very bad.
R: The parents must be crying…
T: Yes. It's always the child's mother that brings the body, along with the other men.
R: Is it always the mother who brings it?
T: There are mostly men, except for the mother.
M: How do they bring the child?
T: If it's a small child then they get it in a cloth and if it is one or two years old, then in a casket.
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child's burial
child's grave
children's tombs
children's tombstones
dead children
dead christian children
graveyard
sewri cleaner
sewri sweeper
sewri worker
sweeper
sweeper lady
worker woman
working in cemetery
working in sewri
Madhusree (M): What do they call this place?
Tai (T): Which place?
M: What do they call this place?
T: Cemetery. Christian Cemetery. What else would you call this place?
M: What do you call it at home?
T: We call home, home.
M: No! What do you call this place at home?
T: Christian Cemetery.
M: You call it by its English term? What do you call it in Marathi?
T: In Marathi, we call it Shamshaan. The Shamshaan of Christian people.
M: Where's your village?
T: Rathnagiri.
Yet again, the lady shows her reluctance to think of her job as any different from what others do. She exhibits the typical human tendency to understand the unknown by associating it with the known. For her, the cemetery is the Christian crematorium. If, in her religion, they cremate the dead, then the Christians bury their dead. Both are just the final rites of saying goodbye to your dead. So, the cemetery is the Christian version of crematorium. As simple as that for the lady!
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sewri sweeper
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working in cemetery
working in sewri
M: So, why are you in Mumbai? Do you like Mumbai?
T: There's nothing in my place. No need to go.
M: Is there no work there?
She is one of those who have moved on to greener pastures in search of work, and has no regrets. One would expect that she hoped that she had a better job, but no such thought is evident from her speech. In one sense, she is a migrant, but feels at home maybe because of the common language and state. Survival is the key, straying away from her roots seems to hold no emotional meaning for her.
cemetery cleaner
cemetery sweeper
cemetery worker
govinda
johnny lever
sewri cleaner
sewri sweeper
sewri worker
sweeper
sweeper lady
worker woman
working in cemetery
working in sewri
Like a working class woman, she is displeased with her salary, wary of clients and frightened of her boss' fury. We find that even at home, her workplace is accorded no special status. Ultimately, try as the filmmaker might, no strange story or interesting gossip results from the long talk. Well, the cemetery might hold some fascination for the outsider, but this worker certainly shares none of that dark enthusiasm! In fact, she mouths her anxiety to get back to work.
M: So were you very young when you came?
T: No. I was temporary for nine years. After nine years, they made me permanent. It's like that.
M: Now, you are permanent? How much do they pay you?
T: Not much. They give me rupees 2500. Now, he will yell, "where did you go?"
M: Rupees 2500? Tai, you have a jolly good job!
T: They deduct. I have a daughter. Her husband died. I have to take care of her… Is it enough? Sir will start yelling. He'll say I haven't come to work.
Renu: Who will yell?
T: Sir.
Renu: What will he say?
T: "You haven't come to work. Where had you gone? Tomorrow he'll be angry with me."
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sweeper
sweeper lady
worker woman
working in cemetery
working in sewri
More shots that show the impeccable service rendered to ensure that the dead are as comfortable as possible! The faceless names on the tombstones are maintained spic and span, day after day. It is difficult to acknowledge that a Padma Harris is buried in the same cemetery as a Sophie Nicholas, a James Topliss or an Ernest Freed. It is equally difficult to imagine that once you exit the cemetery, you will once again be faced with the hustle and bustle of the city. The cemetery that must have been well outside the city limits when it was built, is now a part of the busy cityscape. Imagine trying to set aside such a space for the dead in today's Mumbai!
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burial grounds
cemetery
christian burial
christian cemetery
graves
graveyard
sewri
tombs
tombstones
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