Most of us take life for granted due to which we land up procrastinating the real & important aspects of life. In my opinion, dying guilt, regrets and unfinished wishes are aspects which needs to be addressed for a peaceful death.

When we say “May his / her Soul rest in peace” it actually may not be some Mambo Jambo, there could be a deeper meaning to it.

Suppose one fine Saturday morning the doctor gives me only 24 hours to live, what should be my reaction. 

Do I rush to the lawyer to get a “Will” drafted, go to another doctor for a second opinion, call up friends and family to close pending matters or simply spend time with immediate family members?

A new virtual reality experience simulates what it looks and feels like to die. The simulation also features an out-of-body portion, allowing users to look down on their dead bodies as they float above.

Near death experiences are many and in most cases people have found themselves with a renewed sense of purpose in life. Though on the other hand, one can also suffer from Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but then this is still a grey area which needs more research.

The larger point of debate being, is there anything called as “Rest in Peace”? How can one ensure that our dying process is peaceful without any pending matters to be closed before dying.

I feel that quality of death is equally important as the quality of life. On one hand we spend our entire lifetime in ensuring a safe, healthy & happy life then why should we not work towards a peaceful & happy death.

India clocks 97,78,073 deaths per year, 26,789 deaths per day, 1,116 deaths each hour and 19 deaths each minute. Are these just numbers or do policy makers actually see them as human lives? The moment we convert these numbers into emotions, feelings, relationships and friendships the social systems and world order will have a new meaning.

As they say death does not come with an appointment yet we overlook one important fact i.e. The Mortal Being, which means when we are born the print on the package mentions the date of manufacture and best used before date.

Death is a touchy topic in many cultures and even after knowing that there is an expiry date, unfortunately humans tend to be blindfolded with the obsession of becoming immortal.

History has documented proof on the guilt, regrets, last wishes of people but then we tend to not learn from the inevitable truth.

On one hand we give convicts the capital punishment and ask them for their last wish, but if a person is suffering from a non-reversible killer disease we do not promote assisted dying. Even though “Living Will” has been introduced however I am not sure how many people have actually benefited from it.

Dignity in dying is a human right and as a developed country we should work towards promoting a safe and peaceful journey for everyone.

Pankaj Mehrotra