Sir,
” Lessons from obituaries ” , a write-up by Mr Ashok Sharma, in the Sunday Issue, is an eye-opener to all mortals, who have to depart one day or the other. Common experience tells us that those among us who’ve rendered selfless service to humankind in word, deed and philanthropy, die unsung without any obituary or eulogy.
My experience after living in the West, is that the obituaries published in their print media are more or less honestly depicted with un-anointed truthfulness. Here, we’ve instances when some of the parents are pushed into old-age homes or marginalized into the attics of their own houses as untouchables, by their own children whom they raised from toddlers to adults. Yet a day or two after the demise of the parent, the over-enthusiastic children promptly rush to the newspaper and get an obituary published for public consumption, oblivious of their past acts of sheer neglect of the helpless, famished parent. Is it mere pretension, hypocricy or dusting the eyes of the neighbors, kith and kin, that eulogies / obituaries are published ?
Let us digress a little more. Most of us do witness mammoth attendance by ‘mourners’ at crematoriums to condole the death of a near or dear one. Common experience tells us that soon after the 10th / 12th day of the deceased is over, none pays a visit to the grieved to render any monetary help or other sympathies of consolation to uplift his spirits or morale. Needless to come across such obituaries which state : ” O Dad not a day passes when we don’t remember your smiling face; you’ve left a void in our lives none can fill.” Most of us know how much indignity and indifference this Dad faced at the hands of his ungrateful offspring ! God bless all the departed souls !
Yours etc….
Dr. T.K.Munshi
Jammu
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