Gadchiroli April 23 (District Correspondent) The Nimborkar family here has set an ideal before the society by giving away routine practices during the cremation of Ms. Shantabai Nanaji Nimborkar, mother of Mr. Vilas Nimborkar State General Secretary of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti, who passed away following the prolonged illness recently.
The women members in the family including the daughters and daughter in laws extended their shoulders to the bier that surprised one and all. It was also declared not to organize 13 th day ceremony and instead donate the amount to the social organizations. Most importantly, the eyes of the deceased were also donated to the hospital before the cremation process started.
The eldest son, while she was still alive, explained the importance of organ donation to his mother and secured her consent to donate her eyes after her passing. Consequently, with the assistance of Dr. Sachin Kamdi, the eye-retrieval team was contacted, and the eye donation was successfully carried out.
Mr. Nimborkar, the eldest son, had already made a firm decision beforehand that no traditional rituals or rites would be performed during the funeral proceedings. Society is often replete with eloquent social reformers who preach progressive ideas; however, when faced with a personal tragedy, many such individuals run away. Mr. Vilas Nimborkar, however, proved to be a notable exception to this trend and followed the proverb ‘one must practice what one preaches.
Breaking away from the tradition wherein only men shoulder the bier, the daughters and daughters-in-law—alongside the sons—shared the responsibility of carrying the body. Rather than conducting the funeral by burning wood that causes pollution—the decision was made to bury the body instead, as an eco-friendly measure aimed at environmental conservation.
While this unique approach was warmly welcomed with a progressive mindset. In carrying out this task, I received the cooperation of my wife, daughters, son-in-law, and all my siblings. It was solely due to the cooperation and moral support provided by the ANIS activists that it became possible to complete all these rites and formalities, told Mr. Vilas Nimborkar.
