Amid Covid-19 pandemic, drive-through condolence meet held in Ahmedabad

When 49-year-old Panna Thakkar died battling cancer last week, the devastated family knew that it was not just the funeral that had to be cut short but also the condolence meet. The lurking danger of coronavirus infection pushed the family to think of an idea that would be safer and allow people to come to pay their respect.

While the global pandemic has reduced rituals of death and condolences to grieving family affairs, the Thakkar family in Ahmedabad meticulously organised a "drive-through besna (condolence)" where over 200 people came in cars and paid their respect while remaining seated.

With restrictions on gathering and social distancing norms, the Thakkar family's effort has become the talk of the town on social media where images and video clips of the condolence meeting are shared widely.

"We had arranged everything as per the guidelines prescribed by the government because of coronavirus. We had made kept hand sanitizers, masks, and other such arrangements to check the virus spread. At the entrance, we had a person who would distribute the flowers to visitors, who in turn, hand them over to another person standing near the picture of my mother where they would pay the respect while being seated inside the car," said Prem Thakkar, son of Panna, who along with his wife Sherin came up with the idea. He added that more than 200 people attended the meet who came in cars and left immediately after paying their respect. The family organised the meeting at Shivalik Bungalows in Satellite area on Sunday.

Panna Thakkar passed away on August 9 from lung cancer. Prem said that his mother struggled with the disease for nearly a year. Earlier, she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was cured.

"My mother was vocal about cancer and worked to encourage others not to take it negatively. She inspired others to fight chemotherapy and other taboos attached to it. She was an NRI wedding planner and enjoyed lots of popularity among her groups," Prem said.

With reports of over ,1000 people getting detected with coronavirus every day, Gujarat continues to be one of the worst-hit states in the country. Till Sunday evening, the number of infected persons stood at 78,783, death toll 3,787, and 61,496 people recovered.