Observing Proustian ‘After Death Sympathy'
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
12 December
2023
'Death
often brings us together. Why can't life?'
By
Ghulam Mohiyuddin
Hats off to
Mr Ghulam Mohiyuddin for his brilliant question. Exactly the same question was
put before Jiddu Krishnamurthy during his Madras Lectures in 1960. An erudite
professor from the Madras IIT asked Jiddu, "Death and Destruction often
bring us together. Why can't life? " The question stumped Jiddu and he
tried to give an answer in his usual circumlocution manner which often proved
to be unintelligible to most of the people! In short, the 'enlightened' Jiddu
had no explanation for it.
It's really
strange, nay ironic, that all our benevolence and so-called magnanimity become
obvious only after death which should have been there when life existed. Jean
Paul Sartre called it, 'a gesture of tokenism.'
Humans are
cunning and opportunistic creatures. We want to eat the cake and have it too.
We all suffer from Proustian 'After Death Sympathy'. Psychologists have also
found that humans love to indulge in post-death eulogy. You all have seen and
experienced that while living, a person, is reviled by all but the moment he
dies, he becomes a hero or an icon. Paeans and plaudits are paid to him. You've
the example of just departed Junior Mahmood. No one from Bollywood and media
ever cared to know how he lived all these years. But all gathered to bid him a
'tearful' farewell. If only, they could show their 'fellow-feeling' when he was
alive and lived in abject penury. This 'change of heart' is not because the
departed person becomes a saint all of a sudden. It's society's attempt to
exonerate itself of all the ill-treatment meted out to the ill-fated man.
After death
sympathy or post-death eulogy is a clever attempt to remove all traces of
indifference and ill-treatment towards those who're no more. Humans are
calculated animals. We're seldom altruistic. All our actions have hidden
motives. Most of us will scream and shed tears over the drowning man but will
not save him from drowning. "Saahil Ke Tamashai Har Doobne Wale Par/ Afsos
Toh Karte Hain, Imdaad Nahin Karte" (All the bystanders on the shore
feel sorry for the drowning person/ But don't come forward to help him).
Albert
Camus said, 'Death doesn't melt our hearts. It actually lends a ghastly
romanticism. This 'romanticism' results in post-death eulogy and crocodile
tears.' Though trenchant, you cannot disagree with the Frenchman's insightful
observation. Can you?
-----
A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in
comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed
articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including
Persian.
URl: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/proustian-death-sympathy/d/131294
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