By Mayabhushan Nagvenkar
Panaji, Aug 25 (IANS): Does the phrase 'last nail in the coffin' give you the shivers? Then you should meet the folks who solemnly kneel over the wooden casket with a raised hammer. The undertakers or 'caxiæpoundokar' as they are called in Goa have moved up in social order over the years.
They now step in as 'funeral managers', who enter the picture only a few steps behind death, whenever it comes knocking. With around 25 percent of the state's 1.5 million population being Roman Catholic, the business of undertaking has never really slackened over the years.
"We provide A to Z solutions right up to the funeral," says Gladys Sequeira of Goan Rites, a popular funeral management firm in Goa, which has been around for several decades.
"We take charge of the body right after the time a person dies. If we are told to, we even take the body to the morgue if the death has occurred at home or coordinate with the morgue authorities," she said, banishing the concept of an undertaker, as a solemn looking carpenter sawing wood planks, tailored to the cadaver's measurements.
"On the day of the funeral, we even dress the body and make it look presentable using make up and other techniques. If the family so desires we provide the choir and the band for the ceremony," Gladys said.
For the unfamiliar, a typical Goan Catholic funeral is an elaborate affair, which begins with the announcement of the death and funeral itinerary through advertisements in local dailies and announcements in the local church.
A wake follows, which includes offering of snacks to the assembled condolers, who are generally dressed in black. This is followed by carrying of the body to the church in a procession accompanied by melancholic tunes of trumpets and other brass instruments.
The procession is led by the 'pedo' or grave digger tolling the death knell. Burial of the dead is however not the end of the story, with a dinner on the same day for close kin and friends marking the end of the funeral.
But before all this, quick choices need to be made. Do you bury the one you loved in a plain, unadorned wooden casket or perhaps a respectable teak wood coffin with basic embellishments or in an exotic dark, sweet smelling rosewood case with all the other adornments money can buy?
"We begin with crate-wood coffins, to which we give a respectable finish. For those with higher incomes we offer a teak wood coffin. This is the most preferred one. And we offer more expensive coffins carved out of rosewood for those who can afford it," Gladys says.
Antonio D'Souza, whose ancestors have been undertakers for nearly 400 years, says his father used to craft coffins made of bamboo for Rs.35 several decades ago.
"Times have changed now. My father used to make coffins of bamboo. At that time it was for Rs.35. We still offer cloth coffins for Rs.1,500 for those who cannot afford wood," says Antonio, who runs the popular JJ Undertakers located at Calangute.
"Some people die of accidents, their bodies have to be stitched together. I dress the body myself because it has been a tradition in our family and I have been doing it for so many years," he says, adding that they even dispatch to any part of the world bodies or ashes as desired by the family of the deceased.
The cost of a basic coffin begins at Rs.3,000, while an elaborate funeral service could set you back by a couple of lakhs.
"Almost 95 percent of our customers have expressed satisfaction with our services. Although there always are five percent who remain dissatisfied, but that is in every business," says Gladys.
The five percent dissatisfaction ratio really should not bother Gladys much. It is really not likely that someone would wake up from the dead to complain about a coffin lid that's been shut too tight.