REMEMBERING THE DEAR DEPARTED

Memories express themselves in tears, sadness and depression and at times denial. Which should be the best way to deal with the memories of the departed ones yet alive in our hearts? There is a designated Day by the United Nations that answers this question - The UN World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims which falls on every third Sunday of November. It is a day to acknowledge the pain of those families who have lost their dear ones in road accidents. It is a Day to pay homage to their memory. The United Nations endorses it as a global day, making it a major advocacy for road traffic injury prevention. The day is observed by civil societies and social groups all over the world in more than 58 countries. We have 13.50 lakhs in the world and over 1.50 lakhs in India dying on the roads every year. The poignant poser is what do we do with the fact that roads take away people we love and leave the families totally resourceless to deal with the sudden demise?

One most effective and positive steps are to turn the pain into a campaign, a mission to prevent such a loss. Yes, it is not easy, yet it is possible. Well then, there are those who somehow go beyond their personal sorrow and include others by forming civil societies. Such individual efforts take a huge step forward to mitigate accidents and pain. Empathy has a sense of brotherhood. The UN World Day of Remembrance does that. Muskaan foundation for Road Safety which had resolved to move from personal to universal has been observing the Day for the sixth year now. These days the Muskaan office is a hub of activities as the team members work from nine to nine putting together the Memory Out Reach program details in place. Old volunteers drop by and contribute, food orders give a happy hour break on the terrace of the Muskaan office. The event is victims-centric. The inspiration emanates from the overpowering interface with some villager who has donated his daughter or son’s organs in a bid to save somebody’s life. There have been moments in the past when on stage the young organ donor’s mother could not answer the soft question posed to her and simply broke down- no words could replace the loud resonance of her tears! In another such case, the broken but proud sisters of the family stand mute over the fact that four people got life from their brother whose organs were carried and transplanted in Jaipur, Delhi and even further through a green corridor. Here Mohan Foundation is doing exemplary work in organ donation and counselling after the brain death of any dear one.

Then there are people like Dilip Petro in Hyderabad who was on his way to the international airport to travel on a scholarship to study further when he was hit by a vehicle. This left him a paraplegic. The never say die spirit of this young man not only healed him, he put together ‘The Ability People,’ an organization that helps people like him in rehabilitation. He fights for the rights of survivors of life-limiting injuries in traffic crashes. Dilip though lives in severe pain, he is tireless in spirit! Close to home, the Day of Remembrance is being commemorated by Muskaan NGO at Ravindra Manch on November 20, 2022, at 6 pm. The day will have 350 voices of school children from thirty-five plus schools of Jaipur city singing ‘Shradhanjali song’, and other songs with messages of happy and safe behaviour on the roads. The Host for the Music workshop, preparatory rehearsals and the finale is The Palace School for three months now. The Palace School Principal, Urvashi Varman said, ‘We are happy to be an associate for the Remembrance Day as this massive event is not only an expression of collaborative social empathy for the victims, it is also a powerful medium to spread awareness about road safety. Besides the 35- odd schools of Jaipur, still another school collaborating is the Tagore Public School with its Mime Theatre that will relay the message of road safety loudly through its forty-member group of students. The most innocent junior children of Canvas International Pre School, a regular associate, contribute through a display of placards - walk on stage. There is a lot of music, and flowers but no speeches! Here the silence is eloquence!