Ashok Sharma
Everyday we see pages of newspapers full of obituaries /funeral notices/ remembrances etc. about the deceased who leave this mortal world for their heavenly abode. The names and photographs of the deceased and the names of grief stricken relatives are also mentioned in the obituary. Sometimes, their vital dates are also mentioned to show how long they lived their life in this mortal world.In some cases, the brave officers and soldiers of our Armed Forces, who made the supreme sacrifice of their life while performing their duty are also remembered by their relatives, friends or their respective organisations on the anniversary of their martyrdom. Among the deceased, are people from all walks of life and social background -political leaders, bureaucrats, businessmen, educationists ,commoners etc. but in all the obituaries, there are some common themes and lessons which can serve as inspiration to rest of us alive and tell us what really matters in life and how we can make the best use of time we are left with. Obituaries provide us a glimpse into the life and achievements of the deceased though most of them are unknown to us. These obituraies teach us a valuable lesson that whosoever is born must die sooner or later. Time at our disposal is very short and we cannot afford to waste it on futile activities. So we have to make the best use of every opportunity that God has gifted us. Death is the ultimate reality and death rate is 100% and everybody – rich or poor, young and old, wise and foolish have to face it sooner or later.
These obituaries tell us that Death is a great equalizer and the great kings, the great warriors, inventors, rulers, writers, farmers,most beautiful and influential ladies-all end up in the same place after ‘playing their different roles on the stage of this world’as Shakespeare says.Thus, We will all have our obituary-printed or not, short or long, sooner or later. In fact, we write our obituaries much before we die; we just leave the pen to someone else to do the actual writing.It is our noble deeds which form a part of our obituary and which will be recalled after we depart and not the money which we have earned by fair or foul means. In illusion, none of us believes that ultimately our grand destination will be the obituary page but it is a fact that everyone of us will go there sooner or later.
Among the deceased,only those are remembered for a long time, who worked for the betterment of mankind. Nowhere is their financial worth mentioned in the obituary. I have never seen any obituary mentioning how much money the deceased earned or how glamarous life he/she led. Obituaries also teach us that true happiness lies in serving others.So we should jettison off such negative emotions as jealousy, hatred, anger, etc and instead practise and promote compassion, selfless service, universal brotherhood etc to make this world a better place to live in. At the same time,we should be thankful to God that we are much better than many others who are alive. Obituaries also tell us that those who left this mortal world for their heavenly abode, left us for ever and we will never meet them again.
So we ought to believe in strenghthening the relations with our friends, relatives and wellwishers as none knows when the cruel hands of Death will snatch anyone among them.In this respect,I feel so blessed to still have my parents and siblings living when so many people of my age lost them early in their life.Last but not least,these obituaries teach us the life lesson that now is the time to serve and love our parents,near and dear ones and humanity at large because tomorrow it may be too late.
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