The 56th death.

[Text by Veena Venugopal; photo by Vishal Koul]

Veena Venugopal, 70, died in Gurgaon yesterday after a bookshelf collapsed on her while she was moving to her 104th home. Doctors said the unopened box of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare knocked her out in a moment and it is unlikely that she suffered. Ms Venugopal was always promising to get to the classics, so it is as fitting as it is ironic that eventually, the classics got her.

In life, Ms Venugopal juggled many roles – as a mother, journalist, editor and writer, but it was in reading other people’s WhatsApp exchanges in the Metro train that she derived her greatest joy. Despite the fact that her mother consistently told her it was un-ladylike, Ms Venugopal laughed too loudly, drank too much and overshared on Facebook.

She is survived by her daughter, her two dogs – Proust and Faust, and her long-term partner, Raghuram Rajan. Both the CRR and repo rate have been cut by 50 basis points in her honour. The memorial is on Friday night, Ms Venugopal’s favourite part of the week, and beer and beef will be served.

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.