People die, but memories linger. Sometimes you just need a QR code to unlock them.
Customised QR codes engraved on metal plates and fitted on tombstones at a cemetery in Kochi open up a portal of digital tributes that allows visitors to learn about the life and legacy of the deceased through photos, videos and snippets from their lives.
By turning the thoughtful idea into a business model, 25-year-old Stebin Chackalackal Xavier has realised his boyhood dream of becoming an entrepreneur.
His start-up, The Last Gift, did brisk business in the run-up to All Souls Day on November 2, when Christians offered prayers and held a memorial service for their loved ones at the cemetery. Many of them scanned the QR codes through the Last Gift app and browsed through fond memories and important events from the lives of the deceased.
People wanting to memorialise events from their lives or the lives of their loved ones approach Stebin to create an online repository on the Last Gift app against a fee. These stories, complete with pictures, are then immortalised online for posterity.
Stebin had studied computer science engineering from the College of Engineering in Alappuzha. However, he dropped out in the final year, which came as a huge shock for his parents Xavier Chackalackal and Molly Xavier. Stebin said he found it tough to convince them of his dream of becoming a self-starter.
The resident of Thoppumpady said the idea for the start-up came to him during the Covid-19 pandemic when he lost one of his childhood friends. Rummaging through multiple photo albums, Stebin realised that the pictures only captured slices of his friend’s life — either at family events or at a picnic with friends. Stebin felt these isolated memories should be strung together to weave a cohesive account of his friend’s life. That’s how The Last Gift took shape.
“I realised that the memories of my friend were scattered all over and decided to organise them on a single platform. I feel that every soul has a story that deserves to be told and remembered. Let memories live beyond the grave. I’ve realised that it’s the elderly who are more excited about scanning the QR code and reliving the memories,” Stebin told The Telegraph.
He denied borrowing the name of his ₹14-lakh venture from the novel written by Nobel laureate and Tanzanian author Abdulrazak Gurnah. “I haven’t heard of him,” he said.
Stebin received 43 orders in a single week for All Souls Day, the first since the launch of the start-up earlier this year. Besides him, The Last Gift has one employee, accounts manager K.R. Sreerag.
Apart from tombstones, QR codes can be affixed to photo frames or personal keepsakes. Each code costs ₹3,000.
The person who buys a QR code will receive simple guidelines to upload and customise their web page. There is also an option to edit or upload more pictures and stories later.