74-year-old IAF retiree stuns family by staging his own funeral in Gaya

Gaya: It was a usual sombre scene at Gaya’s Mukti dham crematorium on Monday.A funeral procession reached Mukti dham with a music band amid the chants of “Ram naam satya hai”. Relatives and friends of 74-year-old Mohan Lal, who had retired from Indian Air Force (IAF), reached Mukti dham carrying his bamboo ‘arthi’, decorated with flowers, on their shoulders.But the harsh reality turned surreal when, to the surprise of many, Mohan Lal removed his white shroud and stood up just before the funeral pyre was being lit.The elderly man said he wanted to know who really cared for him. “After retirement, I have been engaged in social work, and will be working for the welfare of people till my last breath,” he said.As it is the ancient holy city of Gaya, which has now been renamed Gaya Ji, is the only place, where a person can perform his/her ‘pinddaan’ even when alive.As per records, so far thousands of people have performed their own ‘pinddaan’ at the world famous Vishnupad temple, on the banks of holy river Falgu and Akshaywat. But it was the first instance, 74-year-old Lal of village Kochi in Guraru block of Gaya district organised his funeral procession on Monday.To complete the ritual, however, a puppet was burnt.