What happens after death....

........does it really matter ?

With all due respect to the departed soul, Mr. U R Ananthamurthy, may I ask this question lingering in my mind ? Should a democratically elected government in power decide how and when to mourn the death of a notable personality ? Do we have a set of criteria to be meet so that the government can declare a state wide closure of banks, educational institutes and offices to mourn someone’s death ? How does the democratically elected government decide this and yet be impartial ? Clearly we don’t have any rules as such. So again, ‘Should the democratically elected government in power, decide when and how to mourn?’

Shouldn't this power reside with the people of the state or country ? How about declaring the day as a flexible day to mourn ? Meaning, anyone who choose to mourn should be allowed to be on leave this day and then be able to work overtime or on holidays to compensate. Now, that gives the power back to the people instead of forcing this holiday to mourn someone on people and also adding to millions of loss.

As far as the departed soul is concerned, does it really matter to that soul if the state declared a holiday to mourn  ? In his own words from the book Samskara , "Only the form we forge for ourselves in our inmost will is ours without question." If someone mourns the death or  doesn't mourn , shouldn't matter.

What  happens after death doesn't matter. You get buried or burnt, ultimately YOU just dissolve in top soil or thin air and become NOTHING. So if the dead soul doesn’t speak or care, then this move by government in power to declare a forced holiday is just another move to appease a section of society or minds and nothing more. Mourning should be voluntary and should not in any form affect others. Why would you force closure of banks, educational institute and offices, and allow people to be disrespectful of someone’s death because it causes great inconvenience to them ? Since no dead soul can ask this question, I beg all the great souls respected in society and by large section of masses, to include this in their will. “On my death, all business and activities should be as usual. There shouldn't be any state declared holiday, closures or processions. I have received all the love and respect from the people whose life I have touched while I am alive. Therefore, what happens after my death doesn’t really matter to me.”

2014 Indian General Election + Social media + Human nature

The run to 2014 Indian general election with all its arguments and counter arguments over social media, reveals an interesting human nature. The tendency to reject or embrace an idea or a political party based on the negative analysis(drawbacks) is stronger than the positive analysis(strengths). 

Meaning, the argument over negative points of a party/idea is substantial over the positive points, leading to the formation of the decision.

Do we observe or practice similar behavior while making critical decisions in our day to day life ? Rejecting based on what’s bad for you instead of embracing what’s good for you? If you look closely, they don’t mean the same because negative and positive points don’t really have a 1:1 proportionality most of the times.