The 175th death.

[Text and photos sent by Aparna Sinha]

On a crisp Sunday afternoon of October, Aparna Sinha was found dead lying on a rocking chair in the balcony of her home in Gurugram. She had a peaceful zen-like expression on her face and autumn leaves laced her lifeless body, as if by strewn by thoughtful design.

Ms Sinha’s life was lived in bursts, a series of peaks and troughs punctuated her years – sometimes full of life and hope, energy fueling her ideas and actions, friends filling her home and thoughts, and sometimes dark periods of disconnected numbness and struggle, pulling away from everything that was alive.

While the exact cause of death still remains to be determined, a journal on the table next to her read, ‘Being alive doesn’t guarantee being free, but being free does guarantee being alive’. Ironic then, that even in death, she is alive.

Our Self-Written Obituaries invites people to write their obituary in 200 words. The idea is to share with the world how you will like to be remembered after you are gone. (May you live a long life, of course!) Please mail me your self-obit at mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com.

1.