Thursday, June 30, 2016

Stone and Iron

A sort of iron staple holds
those two pieces of stone
 together
The headstone is missing
but the craftsmanship is
amazing - sandstone with a
rectangular slot, marble
 and an iron peg.
This grave might have had a
marble cross which has
broken off

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Dorothy Shirin Chowdhry Basu died 1970, Mrs G. Kamble died cir 1967

DOROTHY SHIRIN CHOWDHRY BASU
DAUGHTER OF EDWARD THOMAS CHOWDHRY
DIED JULY 19, 1970
*
AGE COULD NOT WITHER
NOT CUSTOM STALE
 HER INFINITE VARIETY
(Mother of June Basu Mishra
and ...)
MRS G. KAMBLE
DIED cir 1967

John Osmond Charles 1901-1971

In Loving Memory
of
my husband and our father
JOHN OSMOND CHARLES
Born on 22nd Nov 1901
Died on  21st Dec 1971
*
The Lord shall preserve thee
So that sun shall not burn thee
By day, neither the moon by night
*
Erected by a sorrowful wife Polly and children

Mr R. H. McAulliffe died cir 1971

MR R. H. MCAULLIFFE
DIED cir 1971
(This is a variant of the surname
that usually has only one 'L' )
Nishatganj Cem., Lucknow

John SW Vance

JOHN SW VANCE
DIED cir 1971

George Saldana died cir 1971

GEORGE SALDANA
DIED  CIR 1971
Brother of Charlie Saldana

Burial space a worldwide problem

June 18, 2016 it was very hot and the big gap in the clouds flitting across the sky
didn't help. The sun being overhead and bright made it difficuilt taking pics.
The man in the pic, covered with 'plastic' gunny bag material was spraying
a herbicide to prevent shrubs and grass sprouting after the first heavy shower
of rain that is overdue! Some people are hardworking, this guy was just that.
A phone call from a feeling-hearted boss may have saved this guy's life so
he can work another day!

I was in Varanasi for more than a year in the mid 1980s when I visited the three
or four cemeteries there, one being in the cantonment. This one was clearly
visible from the train as it crawled the last few hundred metres to the station.
The cemetery was not in use anymore and now looking back, considering the 
decay all around, I feel the graves were in fairly good condition. What I was
pleased with were the stone slabs of graves that had disintegrated cemented
into the boundary wall. That was a good idea! 
Cremation has caught on in western countries, including Australia, but it is 
still slow in India where the wood pyre for the disposal of human remains is 
an ancient tradition. Electric crematoriums while in use, even in Lucknow,
 are usually used by non-Hindus. 
Today my thinking has altered but 25 years ago while on a trip to Bombay I 
was shocked to know that a Bandra church with a burial ground, rented space 
only for two years, after which the remains were interred in a wall!
Switzerland has its own rules for the dead, according to a blog post  
 Grave Art, by Eva Schawohl.
I checked the internet for the first time today and came across a report
 from Cape Town, South Africa in the Sunday Times: 'No room for burial rituals...
where some 1000 burials and 600 cremations are recorded on a monthly
basis. 





Lilla Marion Larkins 1893-1972

In Memory of
OUR DARLING
LILLA MARION LARKINS
BORN 15TH JULY 1893
LEFT US ON  15TH JANUARY 1972
*
"You have been our inspiration
And a gentle guiding hand
Both as a mother and a friend
To care and understand
No wonder that we loved you
And will miss you till the end."
*
(Relict of Hubert Dalton Larkins
who died in 1965

Cecelia D'Souza and Mrs T Labanti died cir 1970

MRS CECELIA D'SOUZA

MRS T. LABANTI

Miss Florence Roberts died cir 1967

MISS FLORENCE ROBERTS
DIED cir 1967
Sister of Mrs Mavis Savaille