Obituaries for the living!

There is not in the press any reading so improving as the “obits”... I doubt very much indeed whether anyone could read obituaries every day for a year and remain a bad man or woman.

- Robert Cortes Holliday

How would you feel if you happened to read your own obituary in a newspaper? Sad, angry or surprised? You might think such an eventuality is a writer’s wishful thinking. Certainly not. On a few occasions, some living people have read their own obituaries in the press.

A few weeks ago, a 35-year-old Swedish woman was shocked to find her obituary in a local newspaper. “Our dear daughter, sister and friend has left us today in sorrow,” the obituary in the Goteborgs - Posten newspaper in Gothenburg said. Startled by the unexpected turn of events, the woman wanted to call her mother, but refrained from doing so, fearing that she would break down.

The newspaper, as usual, defended itself by saying that somebody claiming to be the woman’s father called in the obituary and another woman who claimed to be the victim’s sister confirmed the death over the phone. Although it was not clear why the woman was targeted, the newspaper editor said that in the future, no obituaries would be accepted without a death certificate.

Victim

Rudyard Kipling read his own obituary

The Swedish woman was not the first victim of such a hoax. Once Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936) read his own obituary in a local newspaper. Without losing his cool, Kipling wrote a letter to the editor. “As you are supposed to check the veracity of every happening, I feel the news of my death should also be correct. Hence, I have to request you to strike off my name from the subscribers’ list of your esteemed paper.”

An obituary, also known as an “obit” informally, is a report, especially in a newspaper, giving the news of someone’s death and details about their life. Modern newspapers take the precaution of keeping potential hoaxers at bay by demanding a copy of the death certificate. To some extent, it is a safety measure on the part of newspapers to publish only genuine obituaries.

Human ingenuity, however, knows no bounds. Some people have the knack of doing things in a way nobody would have imagined. A clear example is the following obituary published in the Daily News during Sirimavo Bandaranaike’ regime: “The death occurred under tragic circumstances of D.E.M. O’Cracy, beloved husband of T. Ruth, loving father of L.I. Berty, brother of Faith, Hope and Justitia. Interred on Saturday, 20th instant at Araliya Medura, Panagiyawatte, Anduruwella.”

Creative writing

The obituary was received with a burst of admiration by readers who had not read such a brilliant piece of creative writing for a long time. However, the authorities took the matter seriously and decided to sack two Lake House employees. When Dr Riley Fernando, a private practitioner, who wrote the obituary came to know about the new development, he promptly wrote to his friend Justice Minister Felix Dias Bandaranaike to intervene. As Dr Fernando admitted that he was responsible for writing the obituary, the matter ended there.

Young people hardly read obituaries. However, when they become mature adults, they begin to read obituaries just to know whether any of their peers have passed away. Some adults never read obituaries for fear of death. However, when somebody dies, most people want to insert an obituary in newspapers.

An the obituary is closely connected with someone’s death. As fear of death is common to most of us, we hardly discuss it. Death has become a taboo topic in most civilised societies. People often use euphemisms such as “passed away” to avoid even the word itself. However, in Mexican culture, death is discussed frequently and is even celebrated on a national feast day, the Day of the Dead. The Amish too view death as a natural transition rather than a dreaded adversary.