Cremation unwise idea say the Australian scientist:

Cremation unwise idea say the Australian scientist:

Professor Roger Short, said people instead could opt to pack the bodies in a cardboard box and donate to the forest, there is a provision as such, while the body can be a very high a nutrient to the forest, which takes the carbon dioxide and provides oxygen for decades, whereas it is a shame that while cremation, you go up in a big bubble of carbon dioxide, so why waste carbon dioxide on your death..
Professor Short also says, an average male in Australia during which the body is heated to 850 degree centigrade for 90 minutes produced 50kg of carbon dioxide and that does not include the carbon cost of fuel or the cost of emission released during the production and burning of the wooden casket [not applicable in India though]. The professor feels it may be small a contribution towards global warming, but it would be advisable if people could actually think of our earth planet and save our forest by donating our bodies…..

Here in India we are actually slaughtering the trees in the name of development, which has been so haphazardly given permission by the very BMP and collecting taxes on them for so many years, now come up with great development by axing the very tree which had been planted by either the government or public who thought about the environment some decades ago, when you look at the Bangalore city, through Google you get a vision of only buildings coming up and the greenery that we seen today gone in a month….at least the sanctioning of the building plan should be given with enough space all around but bribery all the way, even the electrical lines are covered with plastic pipes after the damage of construction been sanctioned to come so near the road, the realtors greed for space is the damage of the decade ahead.

When developed countries are already lashed with storm so high is only because they have been doing what we r doing now, when u look at all those storm scenes and typhoons u see a lot of open space done up with different buildings, may be the ouirts are spared…..hope we Indians should also wake up, fast and very fast I must say to contribute something towards, global warming….regards sunkan

hello akka

i also read this article in hindu today...

erithuvida ninaithaalum
puthaithuvida ninaithaalum
munnorgal seithathai..
inru maatra mattum iyalaathu
carbon di oxide koodum engiraargal
parunthu koottam eraatha?
parunthu kootaam erinaal.
theenikku manithan saavaana?
vatta vatta vadivinil
vaazhkai sikki varugume..
makkal thogai eruvathaal
maramum vetta ninaikkiraan
erikka marathai vettuvaanen
indru electric crematorium irukkayil
athuvum theernthu pogumanaal
irukkave irukku alternate fuel...
nalla ullam kondu `ponaale'
konjam virage pothumo...?


sathya

Sundari(sunkan),

I like your views on keeping forest land sustainable. And I agree that we all need to contribute in labour and efforts,whatever little we can to replenish dwindling tree covers.

But I totally disagree with the views of the Australian professor wrt cremation. I am no scientist, nor a spiritual starwalt (not that this needs mentioning).And I am sure the learned scientist has studied this much. But cremation is a time honoured and scientific method of reaching the physical body to where it belongs. Not to mention the sacred principles behind it. Even the ancient Romans knew this and cremated their dead. With cremation, all the infections in the body are totally destroyed.This may be insignificant in most cases, but valuable in cases like AIDS deaths, anthrax,plague etc.

I agree that cremation uses large quantities of wood, esp in Kerala our politicians use only sandalwood to cremate their dear departed.For the general unwashed public, there are corporation owned electric crematoriums which do very well. Maybe with time, the emission issue will be addressed too.

The Parsi community places their dead bodies in the Tower of Silence for vultures to peck. Apparently, now some virus from a body spread to the vultures and their population has dwindled. They are repopulating vultures now.

I remember Pupul Jaykar quoting the scriptures when Smt Indira GAndhi was cremated. She spoke of how each constituent of the body is released to the Pancha Bhoothas,the elements. The breath to vayu, the ash to water.Fire plays a major balancing role here.

Viva la cremation!

dear vidya,
i agree with u in all ur points but, romans were a different time, y even pupul jayakar's time is a long time one, now addressing the global warming in an alarming rate, other countries are coming with so many solutions, whereas in india under the name of development they r slaughtering the trees, and taking bribes like anything over buildings which are going to turn bangalore into another over populated stinking land. Here i was giving more importance to that and if we can come up with some solutions, like donating our body to the medical institutions, i know we do love our dear ones, but when it comes deep down for the benefit of earth, we need to work out something somewhere as contributions and not stik on to the old customs just because it was so..change is inevitable..love sunkan