Comedian Vir Das posted a touching note on Instagram after the passing of his father-in-law. In his heartfelt message, he shared what grief looks like in Indian families.
He wrote about everything they went through from hospitals and ambulances to cremation and prayer meetings “We lost my father-in-law this week. So we did all the things. The ICU, hospital, ambulance, cremation, Haridwar, wake, prayer meet and more. We gather, an Indian gathering is a beautiful and chaotic thing,” he said.
“We gather around a body, we gather around an ambulance everyone screaming instructions, we gather around a fire in silence, then we gather in some sort of line like whispering air hostesses doing namaste as people gather around us,” the comedian added.
Das wrote about how Indian families come together during times of loss the chaos, the gatherings, the conversations, and even the unexpected moments of laughter amid grief. He noted how people eat and drink more than usual during these gatherings, joking that everyone goes home “three kilos heavier.”
Das captured how Indian funerals bring out complex human behavior “Hellos are quick, conversations are long, goodbyes take forever. Everyone is simultaneously late and early. There are reunions, fights settled, new fights started. everyone is dramatic, everyone is starving, everyone is getting up to give a seat to someone. More laughter than tears.”
He concluded the note with, “Maybe that’s where the people who pass go. That’s what the afterlife is. Them living on in multiple people bodies, three kilos a piece.”
Fans were deeply moved by the poetic literature and left comments like “So beautifully said” and “Raw truth in poetic words.”
