Sewri Cemetery
Duration: 00:38:18; Aspect Ratio: 1.366:1; Hue: 42.111; Saturation: 0.154; Lightness: 0.402; Volume: 0.098; Cuts per Minute: 1.566; Words per Minute: 50.960
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The camera tracks to reveal dark and silent tombstones that sit mightily in the midst of greenery and light. The camera zooms in on a man working on removing weeds and the overgrowth, fulfilling the task of keeping the dead as comfortable as possible in their final resting places. The camera moves around, showing the sight of a man earning his living amidst the dead.
burial
burial grounds
cemetery
christian cemetery
dead
graves
graveyard
sewri
tombs
tombstones
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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.
9th day
11th day
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cemetery
christian
christian family
christian prayer
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funeral
graves
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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, no mean task considering that the family is in mourning.
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11th day
bereavement
burial
burial grounds
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christian death
christian family
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dead relative
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graves
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memorial day
mourning
pastor
prayer
sewri
soul
tombs
tombstones
However, the family shows no sign of recent bereavement and rather enthusiastically, details their history and their customs. The conversation is pretty much matter-of-fact. Though one can't judge them with so little knowledge about them, their enthusiasm does seem rather morbid to the viewer who naturally expects some grief in them.
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?
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. The sight of people sleeping on someone's tomb is very morbid, yet somehow ironic and thought provoking. We talk of reducing burying spaces. We talk of the homeless. In a city so crowded that somehow still manages to accommodate more and more people, the sleeping man in the frame unwittingly seems to have found a solution for himself!
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burial grounds
buried
cemetery
christian
dead
graves
graveyard
sewri
sleeping man
tombs
tombstones
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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.
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cemetery
children's graves
christian
christian children tombs
dead children
dead christian children
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graveyards
service
sewri
sweeper
tombs
tombstones
worker
Like any good worker, she cleans the ground near the Cross and sweeps away all the flowers that relatives brought their dead. There is nothing in her demeanor to suggest that the workplace seems different to her. Like any 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.
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burial grounds
cemetery
children's graves
christian
christian children tombs
dead children
dead christian children
graves
graveyards
service
sewri
sweeper
tombs
tombstones
worker
No transcription
The camera tracks from one stone pointer to another, crossing the tombs and tombstones, giving a picture of complete silence. Nothing moves, it's just the silent graves, until the camera finally rests on a pair of feet that subsequently move out of the frame.
burial
burial grounds
cemetery
cemetery worker
christian dead
church
dead
graves
graveyard
tombs
tombstones
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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.
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.
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
No transcription
To the fellow countrymen of the dead, this place denotes the sacrifice of their soldiers, and is an integral part of No transcription their history. To us Indians, especially Mumbaikars, this could just be another tourist spot, a good-looking place we can visit on weekends.
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
No transcription
Yet, there is so much history hidden in these bricks, and in the plaque that names soldiers who have died in Dharamsala, Bangalore and Mumbai and the blank plaque that seems to salute an anonymous soldier.
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 when Indians were aliens in their own land, i.e. between 1941-1946 of the British rule. To see a memorial for people of an alien nationality that died during those years in different parts of India is very strange and ironic. This is one thought that strikes me right on the face as soon as I saw these images.
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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
Even a place for the dead takes as much maintenance as a place for the living! The sweeper swept clean the premises, the cleaner wiped clean the plaques, and a man pulled out the overgrowth and now the little boy works to keep the place green by watering the plants around the graves.
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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
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The boy meticulously waters the green around the graves lining each side of the pathway.
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
As I said, keeping the dead comfortable seems quite a living!
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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
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.
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johnny lever
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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 even when she talks of film stars.
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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.
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cemetery sweeper
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sewri sweeper
sewri worker
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sweeper lady
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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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
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burial grounds
cemetery
christian burial
christian cemetery
graves
graveyard
sewri
tombs
tombstones
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 the lady's 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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cemetery sweeper
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dead christian children
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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.
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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.
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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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cemetery sweeper
cemetery worker
govinda
johnny lever
sewri cleaner
sewri sweeper
sewri worker
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!
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burial grounds
cemetery
christian burial
christian cemetery
graves
graveyard
sewri
tombs
tombstones
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