This Hindu Man Manages 14,500 Christian Graves In The Heart Of Kolkata

One man, 100 bighas of land and 14,500 graves. It's been his job to take care of them for 22 long years. Christmas is the busiest day for him what with relatives and tourists queueing up in larger numbers. Yet, nobody back home in his village in Midnapore knows what Bimal Kumar Maity does.

His staunch Hindu family members believe that their Bimal had got a job in Kolkata. What he does or where he goes is none of their concern. When Bimal returns home to meet his family, he doesn't tell them that he is the caretaker of a Christian cemetery in the heart of Kolkata.

TOI

Bimal's eyes wander far off as he talks about his tryst with the Lower Circular Road Cemetery. Established in 1840, this is one of the most visited cemeteries in Kolkata, situated at the Park Street and Mullick Bazar crossing. On Christmas, this cemetery gets a substantial number of visitors at the grave of John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Leslie Claudius, William Casement, Henry Whitelock Torrens, Haren Mookerjee and CF Andrewsetc, among others.

There are graves of not-so-famous people whose descendants too aren't around anymore. Small tombstones of infants buried two centuries back tug at the heart when visitors take a stroll down the pathways on Christmas. Some even have photos of little ones engraved with epitaphs reading "safe in Jesus' care". Others have messages from grieving mothers, who too perhaps now lie buried in the same cemetery. Bimal is protective about all of them.

Yet, his family doesn't have a clue about the world Bimal inhabits. "I come from a staunch Hindu family based in rural Bengal. I don't expect them to understand my job. If I tell my family members that I am working in a cemetery, they will be shocked. Who knows, they might immediately ask me to take a shower, clean myself before entering home! Unless they are seeing how things function here, it is difficult to understand my life," he said starring at the graves in front.

Twenty two years back, when Bimal had first landed in Kolkata, it was quite a lonely life after work. Back then, there was no mobile phone. Once the cemetery shut its doors in the evening, it was just Bimal, the two guards and the 14,500 graves on 100 bighas of land. Some claim that a British soldier named Sir William Hay MacNaghten had died in the first Anglo-Afghan War. His wife assembled his sliced body, returned Kolkata and buried it here. Many who are superstitious insist that whenever anyone who tells his story, the big tree above his grave starts shivering!

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Doesn't he feel scared of thieves or, perhaps even ghosts? Does he feel eerie on any windy day listening to the rustle of dry leaves blowing carelessly over the graves? Or a very rainy night when lightning strikes? "Initially, it was scary. I am sure there are ghosts here. But neither did I personally see any nor did I ever have nightmares. The guards, though, talk about seeing apparitions at night," he explained.

Bimal lives alone in his quarter on the same premises. There is still no television set at his place. A mobile phone is all that connects him with the world outside. And then, there is a wooden stick that he knocks on the pathway if he has to rush to ward off barking dogs in the dead of the night. Winter nights might be cold and too desolate for venturing out in the cemetery. Monsoons nights too can't be inviting enough. But does he ever dare to go out on a nocturnal stroll during summers when there is a nice cool breeze after a 'kaalboishakhi'? "I have been there till midnight. But never after that," he recounted.

Despite being a devout Hindu, the Christian rituals of burial fascinate him.

"I have realised that their expressions of grief is very different. When they come for burial, they are so neatly dressed. Their grief is so deeply personal. Long after the burial, they revisit the graves to pay respect to the departed. But our rituals, especially those in my village, are different. Too many staunch beliefs and customs have to be followed by the kin after a death in the family. Unshaven look, eating once a day... the list is exhaustive. But once a person is cremated, nobody really comes back to the crematorium," he mumbled, adding that he has never chosen to convert.

"The Trust could have opted for a Christian caretaker. But they didn't. I'd say it's their magnanimity to have continued with my service despite me practicing a different faith."

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Having seen so many burials, how does he look at death now? The power that governs the world also maintains an equilibrium in death, he philosophised. "Every day, at least one person is buried here. The maximum is three burials a day. Never have I seen the figure go up. Yet, seeing burials every day makes me feel detached.

Internally, the attachment to material things takes a dip," he said, insisting that birth and death are all pre-determined by the power above.

Recently, a small pre-Christmas celebration was organised. Streamers adorn the pathway that leads inside. "Since it is a place for mourning, we didn't do anything elaborate. But on Christmas, a lot of people come here to pay respect," he said.

Yellow chrysanthemums, red roses, pink gladioli and white wreaths are kept near the entrance. A black coffin enters even as Bimal speaks. That's the first one of the day. Grieving family members, with white wreaths in hand, tiptoe inside. On Sunday, Bimal said, many others too will come by.

Like all other years, they will head towards various graves of both known and unknown people. Some will be busy reading the longish epitaphs, others will try to decipher the words that have fallen prey to weather. Like Bimal, they will all usher in Christmas by offering prayers in the memory of the departed souls.