'Dead' man wakes up during funeral rites!

• The man had been pronounced dead by a doctor.

It was nothing short of a miracle when a 95-year-old man, who was presumed dead, woke up as preparations were being made for his funeral rites. The incident happened in Bhaktanwalan Ki Dhani in India's Rajasthan state, on November 3 - just days before Diwali.

As his family members poured water on Budh Ram Gujjar's chest during the pre-funeral ritual, he shivered and started breathing, to the dismay of onlookers, a Times of India report said.The man had been pronounced dead by a doctor, his family said. "The priest had started the rituals and a barber had shaved the heads of the men in the family. We were about to bathe the body as a customary practice before the funeral procession," his son, 65-year-old Balu Ram, was quoted as saying in the report. "He started breathing and [sat up] soon after." Gujjar said he had experienced chest pains and gone off to sleep.

The news of Budh Ram's 'revival' brought back cheer for the family and they celebrated Diwali with extra zing and zest.

"Had my father been dead, we wouldn't have celebrated the festival as is the norm in any house where a death has occurred," said younger son Ranjit, 55.

In March, an Indian man reportedly being kept in a morgue was found to be alive. A pathologist noticed a pulse just as he was about to cut into his body for a post-mortem examination, News18 had reported. The man was brain-dead and was sent to a hospital with better and appropriate facilities, the report added.