To all my lone wolf friends

I often write to my lone wolf friends to share more than a birthday wish. Here is a recent email that I shared with them. Though you (my married friends) have coaxed me many times to get hitched by selling stability and companionship that marriage brings along, I was convinced to teach them how to simply their lives. Interestingly what is true about life is the end, the days in between are scripted and enacted. Read on....

Guys, 

Unlike in Korea where funerals are a three day affair and friends and family donate money to help (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/02/world/asia/a-lonely-end-for-south-koreans-who-cannot-afford-to-live-or-die.html), the farewell is an elaborate affair in India and is also getting to be expensive. Increasingly are people choosing to stay single and with families moving apart and away there is a need for a well-managed funeral service that gives people a respectful farewell rather than being found by neighbors after a few days and disposed off like smelly garbage.

 

Looking at the demographics of India's population (data from July 2014),

0-14 years: 28.5% (male 187,016,401/female 165,048,695)  

15-24 years: 18.1% (male 118,696,540/female 105,342,764)  

25-54 years: 40.6% (male 258,202,535/female 243,293,143) 

 

Today, India's population is young, but one day we will be a aging nation with need for such services. Further, increased migration and lifestyle choices will only increase degrees of separation and need for funeral agencies. It is not a bad idea to start an outfit that services people who are single and/or have no family left or who don't want to burden their families. 

An EMI model used to buy cars, homes, jewels and even vacations may be introduced with several packages so that people pay for their last rights when they are young, healthy and alive. By drawing up the list of friends and family who must be informed and invited gives an opportunity for everyone we love and those who love us to grieve and seek closure. For those who kept pestering us on when we plan to invite them to our wedding meal, here is a definitive opportunity. What is real about life is the end and not the days we live. 

A non-profit arm can be started in parallel to help those who cannot afford to pay for this service. Some day we all have to say goodbye to this world, let's plan it today and also help those who have no means to do it.

My grandparents have always inspired me by how they lived, loved, and their meticulous planning for their farewell. One of my relatives even changed cash in various denominations to be used during his funeral rights. During a conversation with my maternal grandmother a month ago, she said she was preparing to leave behind a cupboard with things that needed to be given away as a apart of her and my grandpa's funeral rituals. They have already given away most of their possessions to their family and friends and today their house has less material than the 206 bones in each of their bodies.

Always inspired by her practical thinking, I have put fixed deposits to take care of my funeral expenses and also for some of my dear ones (they don't know about it). As a principle, I have also stopped spending on material things.

Let our end be as planned as our single hood. Maturity and clarity to simplify ones life is a service that we must do for your loves ones who are often left to deal with the remaining, not to forget the legal rigmarole.