'Dying' to Experience Them

NT Network
Posted on 2008-11-20
Death brings with it a pain that rips through one's heart with a magnitude that no amount of words can describe. And to exacerbate that further, Death is not the end; there are funeral arrangements to be made – death certificate, coffin, burial plot and flowers, and relatives and friends to be notified. Yet, this is a period when you want to curl into a ball and be left alone or want the earth to open up and swallow you in.
During a period as this, you desperately need to have someone who can take care of every detail of the funeral. With a slogan screaming, "Remember we are the last to let you down," 1Goan Rites' have been doing just that over the years.
Administrated by an enterprising Miramar based couple, Ms Gladys and the late Mr Edwin Sequeira, this comprehensive funeral undertaker just completed 20 fruitful years.
Ms Sequeira enlightens, "My husband passed away last November and I really miss him so much as he was the face and the backbone of our company."
Yet, there is no denying that the hardworking lady might have been in her husband’s shadow, but she was very much the other important person to help people at their darkest hour of grief.
Reticently, she concurs, "Yes, I remember a gentleman once told me that I do so much of the hard work and he said, 'People out there are dying to meet you', I mean these were his exact words that really struck me."
So, how did this unconventional business venture ensue? Ms Sequeira elucidates, “We came down to Goa from Mumbai in 1987 and wanted to start something of our own. We always wanted to do something that would help people and yet be an income for us."
Expounding further, the lady continues, "My husband did a lot of hard work in researching every detail regarding how Goans wanted to conduct their funerals. Here, even the shape of the coffins are rectangular and different from other states. In fact, the first six months, we just had nothing."
With a proud smile, she continues, "Today, even at nights we keep getting calls. In Goa, the best promotion is word of mouth, it really works."
And, why not? Considering, the company offers services like clearance of corpses from hospitals and morgues, obituary ads, transport for mourners, wreathes, choir, band, sculpting of tombstones etc and has different packages, right from Rs 2,500 to Rs 11,000, to fit into how much people want to spend on the dead. They even operate at the International level.
Though dealing with a dreary business, the couple managed to propel their hard work into a flourishing venture as they believed in themselves and wanted to help people.
Today, Ms Sequeira proudly explains how, over the years, they have managed to help people in laying the mortal remains of their loved ones in a befitting manner. She concludes, "To pacify the worried living souls and ensure that the dead ones rest in eternal peace with due reverence, has been our focus." - CV