A rare tribute to friendship

In Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh, a man danced during his close friend’s funeral procession to honour a heartfelt last wish. The emotional gesture by Ambalal Prajapati has gone viral, reflecting a touching story of friendship and final promises

Mandsaur (MP): To honour his close friend’s last wish, a Mandsaur resident danced, albeit with moist eyes, in his funeral procession. A video of the unique gesture of Ambalal Prajapati, resident of Jawasia village in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh, went viral on social media on Thursday along with a letter written by Sohanlal Jain (71), the deceased.

The video showed Prajapati (51) dancing, accompanied by music, as the bier carrying his friend’s mortal remains was taken out for the last rites on Wednesday. Jain was diagnosed with cancer two years ago, and lost the battle with the disease despite undergoing treatment at Ratlam, Mandsaur and even Ahmedabad, Prajapati told PTI over phone.

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Their friendship had grown thicker after both of them joined a `prabhat feri’ (morning walk) group in the village. “Sohanlal would often tell me, `if I die, do not cry, dance during my last journey’. I danced during his last journey as per his wishes. I had to honour our friendship,” Prajapati said.

An X user who shared the video on the social media platform wrote, “An example of friendship. Friend danced during the last journey, fulfilled Sohanlal’s last promise!”