Delhi city cremation ground

Shannon wrote it really well, so I'm just gonna quote her, rather than make the same points twice:

Next came the highlight of all India so far for me - we visited the Delhi city cremation ground. Anyone can bring a body for burning free of charge and without an appointment (cremation is done within a few hours of death). Groups of 15 to 20 men accompanied each corpse (wrapped tightly in a sheet - like you see in historical movies sometimes) and brought their own firewood. (Nigel says that in the whole of India, only in the Punjab do women attend cremations - I was the only alive woman in the place, but at least one woman was being cremated - they are wrapped in red sheets while men are wrapped in white.) When ready, each group chooses one of the numbered beds of sand - about 15 of them built into each of several stone platforms with a high metal roof to keep off the rain - and set to work. In the short time we were there we saw one group go through almost the entire process - they had already laid out the body and were starting to stack wood over it in a shape like a pup tent. A priest chanted a hymn while one of the men (presumably the oldest son of the deceased) lit the pyre in several places. Once the fire catches, the group leaves and someone comes back later to collect the ashes for scattering or dumping in the river. We watched from a raised platform next to the river which has a built-in pool holding water from the Ganges (not our river), which circulates through a fountain of painted plaster deities (looking not unlike a mini golf course). Before starting to build the pyre, the mourners carry their body up to the pool and place it on a glass plate suspended over the pool. The attendant pushes a button and holy water sprinkles the body from about eight jets on either side of the plate while a very high pitched recorded hymn plays through a very tinny loudspeaker. To us, this entire setup seemed, uh, not in keeping with the solemnity and simplicity of the rest of the cremation grounds, but none of the mourners appeared in any way uncomfortable with it. Holy water and tinny hymns aside, I have to say this looks like a great way to go. Clean and gone, helped along by your dearest family and friends. I just might request an illegal bonfire in my will - unless the US institutes public bring-your-own cremation grounds by that time. Which brings me to my final point - this is the best run government provided service I have seen in India. The place was well kept up, it functions perfectly (possibly because there is little maintenance required), and it provides an absolutely essential service to a huge population with apparently no stain of bribery or corruption. There was no smell besides wood smoke (admittedly, I have a head cold), and while that does pollute to some extent, it's nothing compared to all the other sources of pollution in this city.