00:05In the narrow lanes of Diyulsahi in Katak lives a man people call Baudi Bhai,
00:13a silent guardian of the city's cremation grounds.
00:17For over a decade, 58-year-old Balakrushna Sethi has been performing last rites free of cost,
00:24ensuring dignity in death when grieving families are too shattered to cope.
00:31It all began 12 years ago when he saw a beer collapse during a funeral procession.
00:37The body fell to the ground. The moment changed him forever.
00:44Death is the time of grief. Families are disturbed.
00:48Rituals become overwhelming and people don't know whom to contact.
00:53If someone helps them, then they don't have to worry about these things.
00:57Armed with just a cutting tool, bamboo poles and ropes, he rushes on his bicycle day or night,
01:05rain or heat, tying the kokai, guiding rituals and even accompanying the body to the cremation ground.
01:13During COVID-19, when many relatives stayed away, he stood beside burning pyres,
01:18performing last rites for strangers.
01:23At such times, families are already broken. Not everyone knows the rituals.
01:30Why should they suffer more? That is why I do this work.
01:34He irons clothes for a living, but this service, he says, is for his soul.
01:41In a world driven by self-interest, Kattak's Baudi Bhai continues to stand quietly beside the grieving until the very
01:49end.
01:49lockdown
01:51live the weekdayカット
01:53running
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