Mystified Malaysian Funeral?
Man... U guys should give Idora an award for getting her way. She knows the best times to get me to agree with things (like when I'm about to sleep ). Anyways since her argument was that there's no Indian perspective to the whole ideas spewing thing, I figured I'd give it a shot.
I got to thinking; I'm not your conventional Indian (not necessarily proud of that) so how about something like this:
A very 'modern', n I use that term loosely, person (only child) who's from a very, VERY traditional family trying to grapple with all the intricacies of Indian culture n tradition when said person has to arrange for a traditional funeral for said persons dead parents?
Doesn't matter how they die o why. The point is, that said person has to perform the rights n things, deal with the extended family n that sort. To throw a spanner in the works, lets just say that all the ppl from said persons generation (ie. cousins n such) are all married to non Indians (ie. Chinese, Malay, Dutch... etc.). So said person ends up having no choice but to consult the elders (ie. aunts, uncles, great aunts... etc.) who all have differing opinions about what should be done, how, when n where, n are at 'war' with each other about it.
What would make this a total drama would be if said person's father was Indian n said person's mother was Ceylonese... ah - hah! That way not only will there be a inter clash of what rights to follow but also a bigger problem of should both parents get Indian rights o does the father get Indian rights n the mother Ceylonese rights?
Sums
I got to thinking; I'm not your conventional Indian (not necessarily proud of that) so how about something like this:
A very 'modern', n I use that term loosely, person (only child) who's from a very, VERY traditional family trying to grapple with all the intricacies of Indian culture n tradition when said person has to arrange for a traditional funeral for said persons dead parents?
Doesn't matter how they die o why. The point is, that said person has to perform the rights n things, deal with the extended family n that sort. To throw a spanner in the works, lets just say that all the ppl from said persons generation (ie. cousins n such) are all married to non Indians (ie. Chinese, Malay, Dutch... etc.). So said person ends up having no choice but to consult the elders (ie. aunts, uncles, great aunts... etc.) who all have differing opinions about what should be done, how, when n where, n are at 'war' with each other about it.
What would make this a total drama would be if said person's father was Indian n said person's mother was Ceylonese... ah - hah! That way not only will there be a inter clash of what rights to follow but also a bigger problem of should both parents get Indian rights o does the father get Indian rights n the mother Ceylonese rights?
Sums
9 Comments:
Funerals? I like. Morbidity is my obsession.
Good stuff: Issues of generation gap, the evolution of culture, return to traditions, identity, the apparent lack of cultural records, etc. Funerals, deaths and endings are great aspects to explore.
Bad stuff: The lack of intimate and technical details in customs, rites and rituals AND Indian culture. From no Indians to mostly Indians?
Suggestions: Widen the cultural perspective. Death and death rites are universals that we can explore in a local perspective.
Once again. I don't get Indian people, in the kind that I don't get my parents. You think you know them but you don't.
I like to point towards the direction of Indian Malaysian as Narrator. Because we rarely hear Indian's talking about their problems. Except maybe Samy Vellu perhaps. Poor guy, not only has he got no career advancements, he has to put up with insensitive Malaysian motorists (You know there are many) complaining about the toll. Sigh!
Havent seen Sepet but let us keep away from love stories or conflict (which apparently Sepet does not have). I think it is overdone.
Sums, I like this VERY much. I think you're right on the money here. The theme is real, potentially emotive, cultural (or rather, critiquing a lack of it), etc. Agree with David, but I don't think that the cultural perspective should deviate much from the Indian focal point. Sure, widen it by exploring maybe the Western and the other relative's rites, but that may prove to be deviating from what is the crux of the play:
Indian girl, culturally ignorant, trying to sort out parent's funeral rites. Imagine the issues that could arise along the way - dressing improperly on a day to day basis (read: not wearing saris, kurtahs etc) to not marrying a man at a young age (read: hate arranged marriages) etc.
Not to mention that she has to actually at some point deal with the parent's demise.
Here's a tit bit for you. When Karan passed away, Munna and her mother had to actually sit ASIDE from the funeral rites and had the right to only WATCH as women traditionally are barred from the Hindu rites.
With good research and a well drawn story and script, I see great, great potential for this, not only as a short play, but perhaps as a full length.
The death and funeral rite seems to me to be a mere device. The related (and maybe even some unrelated) themes are virtually boundless, and thus the play could well have great potential.
Not only should they be Ceylonese, but also of different religions.
Hindu vs Catholic.
Yet another dillemma for the child (who could be Muslim! Having married a Malay Muslim - see the connection with Malaysia? Huh? Huh?! Oooooh! This is going to cause riots at DBKL... Haha!). Whose religion does she perform the rites in and can she actually perform those rites, being a Muslim?
Which comes first? Religion? Or Family?
The plot thickens...
ahhh good square. you brought out the masyarakat majmuk idea. another good idea talked between david and me was the idea of inter-racial marriages. does this result into malaysia becoming a melting pot or simple a mosaic of races and sub-races? how does this affect our social 'labels' are we pure anymore? does this makes us malaysian or 'contaminatedly un original?' what abt those who isnt apart of the main 3 races or even suku kaums? like me for instance
arab but 'considered' melayu coz us 3 generations were born and bred here. is it to enjoy the perks of being bumiputra or just to fit in?
Hmm... then got real life example. My eldest male cousin married a Muslim (really sweet person, well I like her a lot). Anyway, the point is, he converted even though he didn’t have too (lives in UK n his wife n her family didn't press the issue though his mom-in-law glad in the end) so he can't perform the rights on his parents death. So major drama in my house la over this. I could try chronicling some of the stuff I suppose. The current update is that whatever happens, he will do the right... though i know he has pretty much no idea what they are.
man, sums idea have ignitted comments like fireworks! this is what we want ppl...
sila contohi cumi cumi dodo kami...
hehehehe
ok ok. dont kill me.
oh yea i forgot why i was here in the first place, to comment! (sums just called...hahaha how ironic!)
anyway,
a friend of mine mentioned once that if a chinese married a melayu and converted, they are considered like traitors (hmm...thus sepet?) i dont remember but i thin he also added this: it's not coz the religion, it's coz of the race and the stereotype attached.
hmmm...
Thought about it some more. The thing is, we're pretty liberal in this country. Take the Indian funeral rites for instance. Traditionally, like Sq said, women aren't allowed to perform the final rites or attend the cremation. After the body is taken away, they cleanse the house and wash down the whole place. Traditionally, the idea was to keep the wailing women away since they make parting such an ordeal… you've seen the Tamil movies.
When my grandma passed away, my mom performed the rites (usually the eldest son o oldest male blood relation) (also, my grandparents had 7 daughters) and even went to the crematorium. One explanation I got was that it's acceptable for the youngest daughter to do the mother's rites according to Ceylonese custom but for my grandfather, my eldest cousin will have to do it. God knows how's he’s gonna pull that one off but that remains to be seen.
But thinking more on it, it's easier to bend the rules and make accommodations to suit the situations here as apposed to India in a way. While we're staunch in a sense, since nothing is actually written down in Hinduism, it's easier to justify and un-justify things.
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