Why do we treat ‘dying’ like it’s a bad word? Instead of saying someone has died, we resort to all sorts of verbal acrobatics. Inane expressions like ‘passed away’ or ‘passed on’ or just ‘passed’ are in common usage. ‘Expired’ is a favourite in India. Life is not a driving test for someone to pass and neither is it a carton of milk to expire. Another word one hears occasionally is departed. As if it’s not a human being but a train!
Officialese is no better. Look at accident investigation reports published by governments. Although the ambulance crew tried their utmost to resuscitate the casualty, he was declared life extinct on arrival at the hospital. And this while concise language is considered de rigueur. Why not just say he was dead on arrival?
When there is a good, clean word for the process, why hide behind euphemisms? When A dies, why not just say A has died. What’s so difficult about that?
WhatsApp takes it to another level of absurdity. On a death being announced there is a flurry of outpouring. Om Shanthi, says one. He then embellishes it with a few namastes and an assortment of horrible white or yellow flowers. May his soul rest in peace or simply RIP follows right behind. Does the soul, assuming there is such a thing, need our permission to rest? And who said it needs to rest? What if it wants to run? All its life within the living body it has been resting on its backside. Now that it is homeless, perhaps it wants to enjoy the newfound freedom and stretch its legs. And you’re forcing it to rest! How can it escape the bardo if it stays still?
I am devastated by your loss, says another. He didn’t even know the deceased, but that’s not relevant. Within 10 minutes of posting this message, he forwards a silly joke! So much for the devastation.
He is playing at the lotus feet of God – was the contribution of a grief stricken WhatsApp group poet. Does the person who comes up with such comments even realise what he/she is writing? Should we not think a bit before we speak? If God has lotus feet, how is s/he going to walk? What use is a God who cannot walk?
She is dancing in the lap of God, says yet another. My dear friend, she was a 97 year old great grandmother – not a lap dancer!
When I die, I don’t want anyone to say that I’ve passed or expired or departed. Just say G has died. If you find it difficult to say that, then maybe say G will not be boring us on Facebook anymore, ever – which is the same thing.
gopistory.com 