No to cremation. Yes to donation

In the space of the last two months, two elderly Jain women, who passed away, insisted that their bodies be donated for research and organ transplantation

Photos: Bharti Maisheri and Jaswanti Ramesh  

By Shevlin Sebastian 

Homemaker Anju Bakul Shah looked through the window of her house in Mattancherry. On the opposite side live the Maisheris. But Bharti Maisheri did something unusual. She lay down on the sofa. It was the time of the evening prayers: 6.30 p.m. on June 6. Anju wondered, ‘Why is Bharti lying down now? She has never done this before.’ 

Since the mesh door was open, she quickly went across. Bharti was lying with her eyes closed. She tried to awaken the 71-year-old but there was no response. There was nobody in the house. Bharti’s husband Raichand was outside. Quickly, she called  Bharti’s daughter, Sheetal Khona who lives less than a kilometre away. She came rushing. 

Anju immediately began to say the powerful Jain prayer ‘Uvasaggaharam Stotra’: ‘I bow to Lord Parshwanath, who is affected by the distress of removing the Parshwa deity, who is free from all types of karma, who is the destroyer of the poisonous defilements and who is the abode of bliss and well being.’

Sheetal arrived. An ambulance was called. As they waited, the prayers continued. There was a tiny movement. Bharti, whose arms were lying at the side, suddenly clasped her hands together in prayer. “That was when I realised that her subconscious was alert,” she says. “I felt so happy that she was responding to our prayers.” 

But Sheetal’s joy soon turned to sorrow when at the hospital her mother passed away quickly because of heart failure. And that was when Sheetal told community members that Bharti had specific plans. “She wanted her eyes to be donated,” she says. In a little over an hour, a team of doctors arrived from the Little Flower Hospital at Angamaly and took it away. 

Bharti also wanted to donate her body to the Amrita Institute. Some conservative members tried to change Sheetal’s mind by saying that the community has specific rituals following a death. But Sheetal, as well as Raichand, remained firm. 

“Today, at least seven people should have gained,” says Sheetal. “Two people will receive the eyes. Two the kidneys. One each will get the liver, heart and gall-bladder. The skin can also be used. The students will be able to study the anatomy. This will enable them to become better doctors.”

After 48 hours, the body would be cremated. “I feel a lot of peace and contentment that I was able to fulfill my mother’s wish,” says Sheetal. “Why destroy such vital body parts when it can make such a big difference in people’s lives. I think body donation should become widespread.”  

In fact, Raichand, Sheetal and her husband Kamlesh will be donating their bodies when the time comes. Asked how they got the idea, Sheetal says, “My grandfather had only one eye but he asked that it be donated following his death. I had an uncle who donated his body 15 years ago.” 

And what stiffened Bharti’s desire was when community member Jaswanti Ramesh, 74 died on May 1, and her body was donated to the Amrita Institute. “Sheetal called me and asked me all the details of how it was done,” says Jaswanti’s businessman-son Dharmesh Nagda. “I gave her the information and passed the mobile number of doctors at the Amrita Institute.” 

Asked how his mother got the idea, Dharmesh says, “Two years ago, there was an awareness programme of body donation. My father Ramesh Bhai was much influenced and decided that when he died he would donate his body. My mother also agreed and they both registered their names at the Amrita Institute. That was how it happened.”

And Dharmesh, who is in the prime of life, says that he might also donate his body when he passes away. “I have not made a final decision as yet,” he says. “But I think it is a noble thing to do. Many community members asked me for more details about how it is done. I think this is an idea whose time has come.” 

(The New Indian Express, Kochi)