A sea of tears bid farewell to India’s king

The heavy monsoon sky hung low, painting the horizon in shades of dark charcoal grey. It was July 2012, and an eerie, unnatural silence gripped the usually chaotic public shoreline. Then came the sound of thousands of bare feet tramping through the wet, heavy mud. The legendary superstar Rajesh Khanna had passed away, and his final funeral procession was moving slowly toward the Pawan Hans crematorium right next to the coast. People climbed up slippery coconut trees, squeezed onto old stone walls, and waded deep into the cold surf just to catch a fleeting glimpse of the flower-decked vehicle. The sharp, sweet smell of burning sandalwood and fresh marigolds cut through the heavy, fishy ocean breeze. Old women wept openly, holding worn black-and-white photographs of the actor against their chests. The entire film industry stood shoulder-to-shoulder with ordinary street vendors, completely unified by a shared sense of loss. As the orange flames finally rose against the dark evening sky, the tide surged forward to wash away the footprints on the shore. A glorious era had officially ended, leaving its ashes to mingle forever with the timeless tides.