The idea of 'Dignity in Death' is deeply personal to me. Many years back, a relative of mine fell into a ditch in the dark and was left there to die. After nearly 24 hours of searching, we found him in the ditch in a busy main road, barely alive. People around him walked past him without helping, a local street vendor just assumed he was drunk and left him in suffering. He left us a few days later, battling multiple internal injuries. He didn't deserve to go in such an undignified manner. Since then, whenever I see someone lying on the road, I make it a point to stop and check-in if they need help. We were fortunate that we found my uncle. Many are not and don't get a chance to say their goodbyes and find their closure with the person they lost. This memory came flooding back to me today as I read this article of this beautiful human being who 'provides dignity in death' to unclaimed bodies - https://lnkd.in/gerAGSA.
Last year during the 1st lockdown, I lost an aunt whom I was close to as a kid. Over the years, I had stopped meeting her claiming to be busy and always hoping that there will be a time when I will catch-up and we can relive memories from my childhood. As I heard the news of her passing, I could not step out to pay my last respects due to the lockdown; I could not say 'I am sorry' for I thought, there was time still. Some of her children could not pay their last respects, say their goodbyes and grieve as a family because of the lockdown protocols. Ironic, that the last moments of this special person were lonely - for this person was always the first to show up for the family, for the community and for God!
A young graduate from Dream a Dream who is currently in the US completing his education and attempting to build a career lost his father to COVID a few weeks back. As much as he would have liked to be here in India to support his father and family during this difficult time, he could not.
There are thousands who have not been able to say their goodbyes to their loved ones due to the current pandemic and restrictions with lockdowns.
As I continue to see the toll that the COVI19 pandemic is taking on thousands of Indians and watched with helplessness as people have died, many of them without dignity; as families have grieved for their loss without having an opportunity to say their goodbyes and find their closures; as families have not been able to reach their loved ones and are deeply traumatized by the losses around them - a bunch us felt that we need the nation to commit to a COVID Memorial to accord dignity and justice to the ones we have lost in the 16 months by recording their names and identities and not leaving them as invisible statistics.
As a way for families to grieve, reconcile, heal and find closure, we have started this petition urging the Indian Government to commit to a COVID Memorial. The Daily Mail and St. Paul's Cathedral in the UK (https://amp.theguardian.com/.../fund-for-covid-victims...) are committing to an online book of remembrance with photographs and tributes of all the people lost to the pandemic. Such a powerful and beautiful gesture to accord dignity to the departed and create a space for remembrance, grieving and closure for the bereaved families.
We are inviting the Government of India to commit to a COVID Memorial that will record the names of ALL the people we have lost in India since January 2020 so that they are identified, accorded dignity in their death and a space where families can grieve, heal and seek closure for the goodbyes they couldn't say. It will also be a reminder to all of us for generations to come for the lives lost and what we need to change in our healthcare systems so that we don't repeat mistakes made at this time ever. We are not asking for a mammoth structure as symbolism of power and status but are requesting a gesture of honesty, authenticity and transparency coming from a space of love, humility and acceptance of loss.
There have already been multiple ideas brewing - A COVID memorial book similar to the one planned in UK; a symbolic structure, maybe a wall with names, in every village and town where people have lost lives; an online memorial; every Primary Health Centre (PHC) having a wall or a book with the names of people who lost their lives during this time in that village and town; a community quilt woven by family members; inviting artists from across the country to design art celebrating and acknowledging the ones we lost. There might be other ideas too to truly make this a community memorial.
This petition is important for me because I don't want my aunt, my uncle, this young man's dad to become an invisible statistic. I want to grieve for the people I have lost and I want the family to have the space for healing and closure and I believe a COVID memorial will be just what all of us who have been through collective trauma as a nation need. A space for acceptance, acknowledgement, remembrance, healing and closure. A space that reminds us that we as a society failed and will hold us to account so that we never fail again. We make a commitment to do better, to be better as individuals, families, communities and as a nation.
We invite you sign this petition - http://chng.it/jKfzxqpc6z and spread this so we don't ever forget the ones we lost and this time in history.
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