Graves keep them alive
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A resident of the cemetery does her daily chores by the graves. |
By Sagarika Ranjan
BANGALORE (Nov. 30)—The right side of Simon’s body was paralyzed six months ago when the his shovel hit a power cable as he dug a grave, but he continues to work at the cemetery where he lives with his family.
“Faith keeps me alive,” says Simon, who lives among the dead. But the 35-year-old with soiled legs, a sweat-slicked brow and tired frame is seldom noticed by visitors to the 200-year-old Christian cemetery, who are left in awe at how well kept it is.
The cemetery is located just opposite Total Mall on Mysore Road. Day and night the mall across the road mints money while right in front it Simon’s family struggles for every penny.
The young man who scored 85 percent in his school-leaving certificate can use his education to plan his budget in accordance with his meager income and to read the inscriptions on tombs.
K. Simon Alex Victor, who had hoped to apply his engineering skills to developing Bangalore, employs them in the upkeep of the graveyard. He grew up there and will be buried there, and his dreams were buried there long ago.
Simon’s father paid in sweat and blood to make his son eligible for higher education, but even an acceptance letter from R. V. College of Engineering was far from enough to save him from the vicious circle of poverty.
Simon’s father passed away when he was 20, and he was left to shoulder the burden of a starving family and the job of caretaker of the burial ground.
He had to choose between supporting his family and studying for a prestigious engineering degree that could have changed his life.
Beggars can’t be choosers, the saying has it; a degree couldn’t have fed hungry stomachs. Today, a dirty piece of cloth tied around his head is the engineer’s hardhat Simon always aspired to wear.
Simon, his assistant Anand and hired laborers were struggling to dislodge boulders and other obstacles that were preventing a grave from being dug when The SoftCopy visited.
Through the broken boundaries, he could be seen digging holes in the earth, making and maintaining homes for the dead. Daylong toil fetches him a monthly wage of just Rs. 3,000 to support his family of 10.
He toils on an empty stomach to make room for those who no longer have an appetite, and lives under a dripping ceiling while guarding the homes of the dead, covering their graves with granite while he covers himself with rags.
Accepting his lot, he has his own interpretation of the world around him: “Be they rich, be they poor, all have to come here in the end.”
Each day is a new battle for him—he has to beg for Rs. 400 for digging a grave. Sometimes he succeeds and other times he does not. He said he struggles to feed his family thrice a day and points out that there is no security social or financial for my family if anything happens to him.
“My children will never do this work. I did it, but they will not,” Simon says. “I just pray to God that my kids complete their studies and achieve all they want before I die.”
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