Providing Relief and Help in the Pandemic Crisis – Anthyesti Funeral Services

The corona crisis has badly struck India, especially in the second wave that broke out in mid-April. With India’s burgeoning population and inadequate health care system reeling under the devastating attack of the pandemic, many people suffered great personal tragedies. Families lost their near and dear ones to the havoc caused by the corona virus.

Things in India got so bad that the bereaving families could not even extend a proper funeral to their loved ones who had departed the world. Many people tried to profiteer from this sad state of affairs and offered help with cremation services at exorbitant prices.

Relatives of the deceased had to wait in long queues to get space in the morgues, wood for burning, and a spot in the cremation ground to bid a final adieu to their loved ones. At this point, Anthyesti Funeral Services, a start-up launched in 2016 by former software engineer Shruthi Reddy Sethi, sprang into action and came to the help of the grief-stricken families.

Anthyesti Funeral Services was launched with the vision to bring reforms in the Indian funeral services sector, which was plagued by poor service quality and many malpractices. But it was only when the worst phase of the pandemic struck India that Shruthi and her team realized how grave the situation was.

The team at Anthyesti provides end-to-end funeral services right from picking up Anthyesti the bodies from the hospital to arranging a spot at the crematory grounds till the time the final funeral pyre is lit. They provide all these services at a very affordable price of around INR 30,000. The people trying to make an easy buck in the pandemic were charging an amount almost 5 times. Apart from the cost savings, the real value that Anthyesti provides is in relieving the grieving families of a lot of administrative work. In times of personal tragedy, family members do not want to be pestered with issues of arrangements and organization.

Anthyesti is equally proactive at ensuring the safety of its brave workers who are putting themselves in grave danger by offering the services in the middle of the worst pandemic wave. Anthyesti provides adequate medical insurance to all its staff members to deal with any exigencies that may arise in the course of their duties.

For founder Shruthi Reddy Sethi, the greatest satisfaction is in relieving these families from painful waiting times during their hour of crisis. In terms of business economics, Anthyesti has registered an almost 20% increase in its revenues in the current year. Financials apart, the young venture is motivated to go out there every single day driven by the plight of Indian people. The team is motivated and determined to keep working hard and providing any comfort they can to the people who have lost someone close to the pandemic.

Anthyesti is a word from the ancient Indian language, Sanskrit, and it means the “last rites”. As per Indian tradition, offering a proper funeral to the departed is an important duty of the other family members. Anthyesti Funeral Services is doing a commendable job of not only carrying forward this old Indian tradition dutifully but also providing much-needed support for the families who have witnessed some tragedy in the ongoing pandemic.