The Grave-Yard!

Is it my advanced age that gives me worry or my inner-most social concern for a good number of residents of Addis Ababa that urges my pen to scribble a few lines of thought concerning the ultimate question of every one except a few: “Where does my body rest at the end of my life’s cycle?”
Caught between two things, traditional honour and economic difficulty, the individual poses to ponder at about the close of his active life or at a time of his disability as to where a member of his house-hold or himself rests at the dusk of life.
With the city growing fast by lips and bounds beyond one’s comprehension, and the traditional burial grounds being either full or pushed out to far flung locations, the aged person at the center struggles sleeplessly as to where his/her body or that of next of kin will rest at the time of death. He/she visualizes one’s diminished social status, helpless physical demeanor, and meager financial position, and says to oneself, “Oh God where have I lost the old world, the world of fame, status and money?” But, that world is irreversibly gone too deep into abyss. He or she says further, “The new world goes with those who rub their shoulders with the Johns, as it should, and the grave-yards open wide for those that march in affluence with the times.”
Yes, it is time for every one to think seriously over this issue before things become uncontrollable for many. At the forefront, the City-Administration should deliberate over this social problem with all those that have a stake in the matter, such as religious organizations, zonal administrations and Kebeles and Eders.
Quite recently, an interested member of an “eder,” who was really confused, or had been at sixth and seventh, as to where his body were to rest at the last hour, just started to raise the issue of grave-yard to the general assembly of an “eder” when, before he held his breathe, another member of the same “eder” asked the audience not to entertain his request for discussion on the ground that the membership of the “eder” was composed of different religious denominations.
The question that one should ask under such circumstance would be, “What is wrong if people of different religious beliefs discussed places of burial and their preparation and acquisition at close proximity of their residential areas, in a modern and inexpensive fashion?”
Today, “eders” are quite instrumental in, at least, helping people financially, materially and in honouring the bereaved family with the presence of their membership at the funeral and later on in the mourning ceremonies. Then, where is the wrong for such an “eder” to discuss over the more serious issues of locations and provision of the same?
Surely, the issue is important to ponder over in the light of the expanding and modernizing city structures of Addis Ababa. If the choice is to continue with the present traditional internment in church and mosque grounds, the deliberation should be how manageable will it be for everybody to find a place of burial and to facilitate the traditional procession to the spot in the light of the sophistication of the city? If the choice is to make it closer to the residential areas, how is it going to be arranged the modern way? Should it be in underground venue? Should the retention period of a grave or tomb be established for a body until it is transferred to another member of a family or to an outsider?
I think, it is a historical truth that old traditions cannot continue the same way they used to be. One vivid example in this direction, particularly, in easing the procession and presence at funerals, was a recent bold experience of an “eder” in Bole Sub-city that gradually, but, carefully broke away with the continuation of the old practice of expecting the whole membership at burial ceremonies. It rather adopted a modern approach where only those at the leadership of the “eder” were expected to be present with the rest of the membership to be only available at the individuals’ conveniences.
This decision was adopted at the general assembly of the membership in the light of many current and pertinent circumstances. The distance of the location where the burial ceremony would take place, the prevalent traffic jam to reach the destination in the stated time, office and social commitments for some and the unpredictability of the weather condition that makes life sometimes rather miserable.
Therefore, in the interest of a person’s right to a decent grave, at a reasonable distance from the residential location, and in consideration of the financial means of the diseased family, appropriate areas should be identified in time. Nonetheless, a bureaucratic attempt at determining location assignment, if any, on the basis of status should be avoided in the interest of good governance and the balanced democratic exercise of individuals’ right.