Last week, one of my friends died. He was probably less
than 25. It was very sad and frightening.
Since then, I have been thinking if I were to attend my
own funeral, what would I like people to say about me?
I dreamt yesterday that there are two people Amit and
Monika attending funeral of 2 people.
One was "He" and the other was "She".
Amit happened to be a close friend of "He" and
Monika happened to be a close friend of "She".
I tried to listen to what they had to say
about their dead friends.
Amit - You know he was a great guy. I am
really going to miss him.
Monika - She was good but I think I am not going to miss
her. I will probably miss her only when I need
something where she could have helped me. We never had fun
together. She didn't even have time to say
Hello to me. She never did anything great for me but she
helped me whenever I needed it but that was it.
Amit - He was very intelligent. He used to top
all the exams.
Monika - Oh.. She was just
average. Actually, she used to spend most of the times teaching
others. She never flunked an exam though. Not sure how she managed that.
Amit - Every weekend, he used to go for a long
drive or hiking with his wife. They would have lots of fun
at the beach and would enjoy the sun.
Monika - Oh.. That's so good. I
love beaches. U know.. she
was different. She used to work for some
orphanage and would sometimes spend the whole weekend in that. Her
husband had to go to those lovely
beaches all alone.
Amit - He believed in this Baba Manohar jee. He would go and
spend 2 hours every week with his Babaji
or do meditation there. He also donated a lot of
money to him.
Monika - Oh.. That's so nice of
him. What use was that money put to?
Amit - I am not sure. Babaji
used to have a big Bungalow and a car though. He told me that he used to get
mental peace whenever he visited Babaji.
Monika - Oh.. She told me once
that she gets mental peace whenever she helps an orphan child or an old person.
Amit - U know.. He
had a class of his own. He had the best kind of furniture, a Mercedes and a big
Bungalow.
He was so proud of it.
Monika - I wish he could take those things along with
himself if he loved those things so much. Where is it going now?
Amit - I think his son will inherit it. What
about her? What does she have?
Monika - Oh.. She doesn't have
much. She had donated her small house to some charity long back. It was so
ordinary.
Amit - I am sure that she wouldn't have wanted
to take that house with her.
Monika – No one other than a charity would want it.
Amit - U know.. He
had expensive goggles. Someone told me that it costs almost $2000.
Monika - Oh.. That's so cool. I
am not sure if she had something like that but someone told me that she had
donated her eyes.
Amit - He loved his parents and family very
much. He gave a car to his brother as his wedding gift.
Also, he brought an expensive diamond ring for
his mother.
Monika - His mother is so old. Will she wear a diamond
ring?
Amit - I am not sure. I think he wanted to
show love for his mother.
Monika - And his brother? Did he need a car?
Amit - Don't think so. He already had 2 cars.
Monika - But it is always good to give expensive gifts to
your family members. You know she could never buy
expensive gifts for her family. She never had so much money.
Whenever she had, she would donate it to
some charity.
Amit - He had 2 kids. He loved them so much.
He sent them to the best schools in
And gave them the best things in
life. I hope
they are able to maintain all those luxuries.
Monika - Oh.. And she was so
silly. She had one child and adopted another one. They are studying in some
local
School. Her kids actually helped her in the orphanage she used
to run. I am not sure what they will eventually end
up doing. I don’t see a bright future for them.
Amit - He never went out of
Monika - That's so good. But what did he do for his
country?
Amit - Not sure. I think he always paid all
his taxes.
Monika - Oh.. She didn't love
she was there, she joined an Indian charity organisation
which raised funds for several charity projects
which were executed in
Amit - I think it was not really love for the
country but love for the parents that he never went abroad.
Monika - And he showed that love by giving them expensive
gifts??
Amit - I think so. He provided the best of
luxuries to his family members.
Monika - She actually used to care for her parents but
she never ignored anyone around her. She was always
looking for chances to help needy people.
Amit - I am sure that his parents and kids
will miss him.
Monika - Yah.. After all, he did
so much for that. I am not sure about her parents/children. Probably, they
would. Because parents/kids/spouse miss you even if you are
good or bad.
But I am sure that all the children in the orphanage and
her friends/colleagues whom she
always helped, would miss her.
Amit - He loved dogs. He would take care of
his dog more than himself.
Monika - But didn't he eat beef/chicken? I am surprised
that he loved animals.
Amit - He actually loved "only"
dogs.
Monika - Oh.. She didn't love
animals at all. But she was a vegetarian and in a way, made sure that no animal
is slaughtered to feed her.
Amit - He knew 4 languages - English, Hindi,
French and German.
Monika - She knew only 2 - her mother tongue and the
language of love.
Amit - He was a great guy. He became a CEO in
10 years though some people said that he was shrewd.
Monika - Wow.. She could manage
to become only a Senior Manager in 10 years but she always helped her
colleagues and everyone around. And her manager knew that he could count on her
for anything.
Amit - His marriage party was great. He spent
almost $10,000 in that.
Monika - Oh.. I love Big parties.. U know.. she
gave a simple marriage party. It wasn't so eventful but
I heard somewhere that she donated $4000 to some charity
on her wedding day.
Amit - He founded a company which had the best
IPO in the history.
Monika - This is so cool. I also invest in stocks. U know.. She founded an organisation
where she used to pick
children from the street and she used to teach them and made sure
that they didn't become beggars.
Amit – He had a style. He would eat at the
best restaurants. He would always wear branded clothes. Travelled
throughout
the world. In all, he enjoyed throughout his
life.
Monika - I don’t think she enjoyed her life but I think
she did add happiness to the lives of at least 1000 other people.
Amit - U know.. He also
had a big heart. He always wanted to contribute towards society welfare but he
died so young
that he couldn't.
Monika - I understand.. It is so
tough to take out time for such things. One never gets time for others.
After all, he had to take care of his family and he had
to achieve his professional goals as well.
Not everyone is silly that they will leave long
drives/beaches/movies for orphan children/voluntary
organisations.
Amit - Do you think that living for others is
more worthful than living for ourselves?
After all, it doesn't make any difference if
you help 1000 out of one billion sufferers?
Monika - That's right. I fully agree. Wait a minute. Read
her epitaph.
The epitaph read - Whatever I did may seem to be
insignificant but it is important that I did it.
I am still not sure if I were to attend my own funeral, I
would like to be Amit's friend or Monika's friend.
But now I know the things that I could potentially hear
at my funeral?
I also realise that all my
actions in life would contribute to whatever I want to hear on that day.