Letters from the beyond

In memoriam

It is never easy to accept and move on after the demise of a close family member or friend. Attempting to help people overcome the loss of a loved one, Vedika Goel started With You, an online afterlife service that “lets you remain with your loved ones forever” by letting people save their last messages.

“While in college, I came across this line in a book, ‘To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die’. Since then, I have felt that planning how your loved ones will get over your death is not a negative thing. It is all about protecting their emotions... People tend to attach a negative connotation to death. But death, being a part of nature, is faced by everyone at some point and with my service, I want make the process of losing a loved one a little less painful,” she says.

Adding that most people suffer from ‘complicated grief’ (the inability to come to terms with the loss of a loved one and function normally even after a long time has elapsed), Goel says, “We prepare ourselves for all forms of crises through health and medical insurances, life insurances, vehicle insurances and even insuring our body parts, so we should also think about the ‘emotions’ of those we would leave behind.”

All that users need to do is select a package from Writer’s Choice (letters), The Expressionist (pictures, videos and letters ) or Couples Only (a premium package), after which they can start uploading their messages and videos.

“A subscriber can choose as many recipients as they like, and upload contents for each one individually. We thereafter make sure that their data is secure, and also periodically check on our subscribers to see if they are doing well. Our mechanism is divided into a few progressive steps which ultimately confirm if the subscriber is alright. On completion of all steps and confirmation from their nominees that the subscriber is no more, we initiate the process of delivering their content to the recipients, in the same order our subscriber had left behind,” she tells Metrolife.

She further says that the service lets people plan for any untimely incident in advance. “Anything you would want to say to your loved ones on your deathbed can be planned beforehand to accommodate any unforeseen casualty. It provides closure to your loved ones, and comfort to yourself knowing that you won’t leave anything unsaid,” she says.
While the Writer’s Choice package is free of cost, The Expressionist gives access to 1GB storage space annually at Rs 700, and Couples Only comes at an annual cost of
Rs 900 with the same storage capacity.

The service, which went live on July 27, follows a strict security and privacy protocols. “We don’t know what messages people upload because we cannot take a look at them unless there is a legally demanding situation. We have not given ourselves that privilege. Our customers need to know that their uploads will only be visible to them and their recipients once they pass away. Acting as messengers, we make sure the delivery is on time,” she says.