It`s been exactly two years since this columnist had the pleasure of conducting a walk for a bunch of enthusiastic mid-day readers inside the Sewri Christian Cemetery. During the early stages of planning that walk, some asked — Why a burial ground? And, on a lighter note, friends chuckled that my moonlighting stint as a grave fact-checker would finally come out in the open! Far from such dark pursuits, the many recces — all in broad daylight — for my research, made it increasingly clear that apart from the unbelievable volumes of history buried [pun intended] in one space, the cemetery was also an open-air exhibition of finely carved tombstones, memorials and epitaphs.

Some of the city’s famous visionaries, brilliant minds and creative geniuses, both Indian and foreign, as well as countless unknown folk have their lives beautifully encapsulated thanks to the art and detailing on their graves. It was a fine example of the term ‘history being etched in stone.’