Announcements of Obituary

Announcements of Obituary

Recently a friend of mine commented: Why do we have obituary announcements in meetings at the beginning? Why not towards the end of meeting? That set me thinking - let me share my thoughts here.

When a member of a group / association passes away, his death is announced at the next available opportunity, say a meeting or via newsletter. In meetings it is almost always done as the first item, taking precedence over agenda. In a large group many participants don’t have any idea as to who is dead, unless reference is made with some re-callable details.  All members stand in silence in honour of the departed soul for thirty seconds to three minutes. Many do not have any clue as to who is dead. This activity is performed in a most perfunctory careless manner. If this activity is a part of annual even then it is a shear formality. If the diseased person is an important or a well known person then he gains entry into agenda proper.

                               

Sometimes, the nearest opportunity may come when the association’s periodical newsletter is released. Here, the news of departed members is given at the end of the publication or used as a filler at the bottom of some unimportant page. Usually jokes are given similar weight. Many times a photo is included so that infrequent participants may guess [which photo resembles the original?] who is dead. Many times, very scanty info is shared, as if to complete some formality.  If the association really cares about the loss of a dear member than brief details such as who, when, where and how are supplied. And explain why or how people remember him. This calls for some work, exertion and exploration.

I have seen photo of some neighborhood slum dweller printed on a piece of A4 size paper pasted to some card board and placed as a placard in street corners to announce the demise of some popular figure. DOB, DOD and Name are minimum info shared. Such placards stay for day and get washed off in rain or otherwise torn in traffic chaos.

Newspaper advertisements on obituary are paid for.  Mostly the purpose is to inform the public who cannot otherwise be reached about last rites or about tenth day events. Almost all of them give enough info to contact the bereaving family members so that we may convey our condolences in time. Sometimes Advertisements of anniversaries of dead persons get mixed up causing confusion. Again seeing some (unknown) person’s photo some half a dozen times on the same page is irksome. Can some publisher volunteer to bundle obituary notices of same person into one large advert and make more money for value addition?

Newspaper obituary advertisements or obituary notes printed by the paper as a news item are permanent and are searchable online. One lady rang up from Mumbai and said: “ I am so & so. I have lost contact with a childhood friend name so and so for several decades. All that I know is she lives in Chennai, married to one Ki Va Jaganathan’s  son.  I am going to Chennai shortly and would like to meet her. Can you help locate her?” Thanks to an obituary advertisement of Ki Va Ja I could help them meet and renew their friendship.

In Senior Citizens Forum, Secunderabad where I am a member we have a song for the forum which runs thus:

The time to be happy is now

The place to be happy is here

And the way to be happy is to make someone happy

And have a little heaven right here!

The current practice is to sing the song in unison by all members present towards the end of the meeting. Keeping the content and import of the song I suggested: “Why not we sing the Forum song in the beginning of our meetings instead of at the end”. That way we will remind ourselves to value NOW – the present moment – and as well try to make someone happy during the course of the meeting.  Well, SCF didn’t accept the suggestion. This brings us back to suggestion given in the start of this article. People are reluctant and afraid of change and are happy to stick to status quo. Mental security at stake!