National

College Dropout Turned Undertaker Has Cremated Over 1700 Bodies In 2 Years

Sachin Sharma was a student of pharmacy. When the pandemic struck, he dropped out and took charge of running a crematorium. He is 22.

Illustration of Hindu funeral pyres
info_icon

It is not everyday that you hear of a 20-something who has dropped out of college바카라 웹사이트to become an undertaker. Meet바카라 웹사이트Sachin Sharma -- not only has he made the바카라 웹사이트move,바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트he also has no regrets about his truncated higher education.

When he joined his course in pharmacy, Sachin Sharma라이브 바카라 career goal바카라 웹사이트was primarily about dealing in medicine. Life had different plans. When the pandemic hit, Sharma dropped out of his Bachelor of Pharmacy바카라 웹사이트course and decided to run a funeral service. This was 2020.

Cremation was the pressing need during the peak pandemic period and a newly operational crematorium in Greater Noida had a 'vacancy' -- the owner of a바카라 웹사이트charity needed바카라 웹사이트someone to take charge.바카라 웹사이트

Today, Sharma does not want to do anything else.바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트

“The death toll was rising at that time when I took over this crematorium. The person who owns this land runs바카라 웹사이트the바카라 웹사이트service as a charity, and he has trusted me with the operations. There is no remuneration, we just get a place to stay,” he said.바카라 웹사이트

info_icon
Sachin Sharma, a 22-year-old college dropout who has been running a crematorium

“I have helped cremate some 60-70 bodies each day during the pandemic. Over the last two years, I have burnt바카라 웹사이트1,780 pyres,” he told 바카라. He moved into a room on the funeral ground along with his father and grandfather.바카라 웹사이트The cremation ground is now his address.바카라 웹사이트
Sharma said he has aged beyond his years over the last 24 months: “I have seen more of life in the last two years than I ever did before,” Sharma라이브 바카라 day starts at 6 am. He has four people to help him in his ‘business’. Death does not shock him.바카라 웹사이트

On an average day now, he cremates four or five bodies. He runs a store of supplies that caters to the requirements of Hindu funerals - wood, ghee (clarified butter), sandalwood, an assortment of ingredients. He also operates an ambulance service to ferry corpses. He has no salary but he makes enough from his store.바카라 웹사이트

“It takes around Rs 10,000 to cremate a body. The fees and the ambulance require around Rs 5,000 and the ingredients come at around Rs 5,000," he바카라 웹사이트said. Despite a clear-cut business plan, Sharma does not charge any money when a poor family comes to cremate a body.바카라 웹사이트

“When someone comes and says he has no money for a cremation, I do it for free. I helped cremate many without any charge during the peak pandemic time and even now I get quite a few such cases,” he said.

It takes around three to four hours to complete a cremation — but Sharma also has a personal theory about the amount of바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트time various bodies take to burn.바카라 웹사이트

“Old people who have been on medication take a long time to burn. Also, people who have generally been cruel and of bad karma take hours to burn. But good pious people burn easily. I remember the body of an old lady was brought here and it took only about an hour to complete the funeral — it is very easy to understand what sort of a life some one has led from the quality of his funeral,” Sharma said with an air of reflection.바카라 웹사이트

Given a chance would he go back to formal education and complete his course in pharmacy? “No way. This is my life now. This is all I want to do. Even if I completed by Bachelors in Pharmacy, I would have bagged a job with a salary worth Rs 20,000 perhaps. I am doing much better here,” he said.바카라 웹사이트

Has dealing with death at바카라 웹사이트close quarters helped him shape his views about life? What notes does he have to share from being an undertaker. “Don’t be proud. Whether you are a rich man or a poor man - you will end up the same way. Pride is pointless. Try to do good and serve the poor.”바카라 웹사이트

And a parting anecdote: “There was an old man in our village. I once asked him to give me some water to drink and he turned me away. What a pathetic person. When he died, they brought his body for cremation here. It took us some six or seven hours to cremate his body, as if even in death he had no respite”.

CLOSE