Ashes immersed in holy waters

FAR away from the uproar and protests over his murder in Mumbai, MiD DAY Editor, Investigations, J Dey found his final resting place near Pune

Ashes immersed in holy waters

FAR away from the uproar and protests over his murder in Mumbai, MiD DAY Editor, Investigations, J Dey found his final resting place near Pune. A shy and reserved person, this is maybe the sort of final goodbye that he would have liked to have.

J Dey's ashes being immersed in the Triveni Sangam Ghat in Sangameshwar near Pune yesterday. Dey's friends and relatives attended the ceremony. Pic/Jignesh Mistry

Yesterday, family members of Dey, including brother-in-law Sharan Sharma, father-in-law Narsinh Sharma and maternal uncle of Dey's wife H S Satyanarayan, and friends Nikhil Dixit and Poornima Swaminathan arrived with his ashes at Triveni Sangam Ghat in Sangameshwar at Tulapur, near Pune.
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The place, which is also the final resting place of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's son and Maratha warrior Sambhaji Maharaj, is at the confluence of three rivers - Bhama, Bhima and Indrayani.

Around 3.30 pm, the group and the Pune MiD DAY team arrived at the ghat and engaged a priest to perform the final puja. Dixit performed the puja while others waited in silence.

Later the group got into a small boat which took them to the middle of the river and Dixit immersed the ashes while others paid their final respects. Coinciding with the immersion, there was a drizzle and sunlight, considered to be a good sign.

"Usually the ashes are immersed near Alandi as it is also a holy place. But for a true warrior like Dey, the Sangmeshwar ghats would have been the right place, as it's the place where Sambhaji's, the man who fought against invaders to his last breath, samadhi is built," said Sharan Sharma.