Memorial occasions
Seven days India sets aside to remember the dead, from Martyrs' Day to Kargil Vijay Diwas, with dates and guidance on what to write when "happy" is the wrong word.
These are the days that most often get the wrong message. A cheerful graphic on Martyrs' Day or Kargil Vijay Diwas reads badly to anyone who lost someone, and every year plenty are sent by people who meant well.
The rule is simple: these days are commemorated, not celebrated. Drop "Happy", drop the exclamation marks, and say what is being remembered.
What each one marks
Martyrs' Day on 30 January is the anniversary of Gandhi's assassination, observed with two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. Shaheed Diwas on 23 March remembers the execution of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru.
Kargil Vijay Diwas on 26 July marks the end of the 1999 conflict, and Vijay Diwas on 16 December the 1971 surrender. Anti-Terrorism Day on 21 May involves a pledge read aloud in government offices. Parakram Diwas marks Subhas Chandra Bose's birth anniversary, and the International Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January is observed worldwide.
What to write
Name the people, not the abstraction. "Remembering the soldiers of Kargil, and the families who are still living with it" says more than "saluting our brave heroes".
Do
- Use "remembering", "honouring" or "thinking of" rather than "celebrating".
- Say something specific: the year, the place, the number, the name.
- If you are writing to a bereaved family, write to them personally and separately.
Avoid
- Don't use these days for marketing, discounts or brand posts.
- Don't attach a victory tone to a day that commemorates loss of life on both sides.
- Don't send a two-minute silence reminder and then post a festival greeting an hour later.