In the olden days, when a person died, people from the neighbourhood used to come to console the relatives of the deceased.
As they consoled the deceased’s relatives, some people could be digging the grave. Culturally, it is a relative who commences digging the grave, then those from afar dig it to the end.
In the end, one side of the grave is dug deeper. This is called “Awër-lääd in Dinka language. This is where the deceased is laid in. After the deceased is laid to rest, women from the village could start arriving with food for the mourners. In the past, not very many people could eat at the funeral. No alcohol was brought for mourners even if the deceased was a nonagenarian. It was considered an abomination to be high while at the funeral.
The deceased’s relatives could slaughter a cow or goat as a farewell ritual for the deceased. For a number of days, the deceased’s relatives were accompanied so as not to think too much about the lost one. Depending on the importance of the deceased, there was always a period given to mourn for the deceased. During such a period, activities which could generate euphoria were put on hold.
If the deceased was a warrior, spearman, youth, rich man or chief, practices such a dancing, festival, wrestling and waging of a battle against other communities could be halted for a number of months. You could only hear the sounds of children in the village. Adults’ sounds were nowhere to be heard as they mourned for the deceased. If the deceased died during the cultivation season, people could collect the produce during the harvest festival and give them to the deceased’s family because the tragedy did not allow them to cultivate. So, you could find that there was love among the people.
But today, when someone dies, it is an opportunity for starving people to break their starvation and people who have swallowed multivitamins to quench their urge for food. People assemble in the deceased’s house as if mourning for the dead, but they are not. Some mourners come with spoons in their pockets. As people are crying here and there, music is playing in the neighbouring houses.
If the deceased’s relatives delay preparing tea and escorts for mourners, some people would be heard gossiping to such a level they can brand the deceased’s family as poor. Mourners arrive from hither and thither, with some of them refusing to sit on plastic chairs, wanting the deceased’s family to abandon weeping and look for executive chairs. Some mourners could argue over the bodybuild of a cow being slaughtered by the deceased’s relatives. They need the fat one so that they can bite the meat with ease.
Some mourners could gossip too much when the grave is not built with bricks and tiles. Some would jeer and spit saliva anyhow if the coffin is not that type with golden handles. If the deceased’s body is to be transported, some mourners would develop stomachaches if they don’t see three planes chartered by the deceased’s family. After the deceased is laid to rest, people begin counting the days for the funeral rite. When it has remained two weeks, it is they who inform the deceased’s family, imagine.
They do not pay anything, but they want the funeral rite to be so colourful. During the funeral, they eat food, drink alcohol and speak as if they are speaking in a Thanksgiving ceremony. Some even sing their own songs. Then people could clap their hands and laugh to such an extent their molars are seen. How would people laugh when a photo labelled “RIP…………” is hung on them? This is beyond wickedness.
As some mourners come to shed crocodile tears, others come to collect information about the death of the deceased. A lot of rubbish is done right before the deceased is laid to rest, which I think is against the traditions. In a few years to come, mourners would be hired to cry while the deceased’s relatives get busy attending to mourners who come to shed crocodile tears.
Thanks for reading “Sowing The Seed Of Truth”.