स्तम्भ Stambh · Svanīti
A Star for My Grandfather
My grandfather now has a star in the Eternal Sky and the first diya beside it paid for a day of school for a girl. Introducing Eternal Repos, its founder Dr Shaily Sharma, and why Eternal chose Heartswill to carry every diya to the last mile.
Nikhil Sharma · स्वनीति Svanīti · 10 November 2026 · 5 min read
Fabulous Media, my agency, handles creative, marketing and technology for Eternal Repos. I founded Heartswill and the AnandBodh Foundation, which receive the diya pledges. Every figure here comes from the pages listed at the end.
My grandfather got a star this week. The first diya beside it sent a girl to school for a day.
दादाजी · His star
Shri Roop Chand Sharma was born on 12 May 1927 and passed away on 6 January 2009. He began his career at the Imperial Bank of India and retired from the State Bank of India. People who knew him remember the weight his word carried and the kindness behind it.
He helped underprivileged families arrange their daughters’ marriages. He backed aspiring entrepreneurs with his own money so they could build their dreams.
On 10 November 2026 his star was lit in the Eternal Sky. His page carries his photograph, his dates and the tribute I wrote for him. A code at the foot of the page can be printed for a prayer meeting or framed at home. Anyone who scans it can visit and light a diya (his star).
The first diya beside his star is mine. It cost ₹50 and all of it went to one school day for a girl. A man who spent his life helping families secure their daughters’ futures now has a diya that sends a daughter to school. It felt exactly right.
विदाई · The hour nobody designs
Eternal Repos exists for the hours that follow a death. A grieving family is suddenly asked to arrange transport and papers and rites and a hall and flowers and food. Often alone. Often by phone. Often with whoever happens to answer.
Before Eternal built anything its founder sat with ten operators across Delhi NCR and priced eleven of their service options. She found people who work hard for modest money and many who are kind. She also found no standard at all. Nobody had considered the tone in which a family is spoken to on the worst day of its life (The Argument for a Dignified Farewell).
The need is large. India’s crude death rate was 7.5 per thousand in 2021 by the Sample Registration System. On more than 1.4 billion people that is about ten million farewells a year (Eternal Repos, Vision).
Eternal stands beside a family from the first call to the days after. One coordinator handles the vehicle, the documents, the prayer hall, the flowers, catering, Asthi Visarjan and grief counselling. The family shares its details once. A person answers the phone 24 hours a day (Eternal Repos services).
In August 2026 ET NOW recognised Eternal Repos for Excellence in Creating Dignified Farewell Journeys at its Business Conclave and Awards, West Edition (ET NOW, A Word of Trust).
परिचय · Introducing Dr Shaily Sharma
Dr Shaily Sharma is the founder of Eternal Repos. She is also my co-author on a book that grows out of the Mahaprayaan community, where people speak openly about mortality, grief and remembrance. Shaily ji brings one conviction to both. Dignity is a right in life and also when life ends (A Word of Trust).
She is precise about where technology belongs. In her words it is “a tool — an aid to functioning and managing better — never a replacement for empathy or care.” The system brings speed and structure. People bring patience and warmth (A Word of Trust).
That is how Fabulous Media works with her. Our teams build Eternal’s website, its booking flow and the Eternal Sky, and run its marketing. Her team carries the families.
Eternal Repos (eternalrepos.com) and Heartswill (heartswill.com).
आकाश · The Eternal Sky
The Eternal Sky is a place of remembrance on Eternal’s website. A family books a star for someone it loves. The star carries a name, a photograph and a few words, with a page of its own to share with family near and far. It is kept permanently. The family can change the story and photograph at any time from a private sign-in. A star costs ₹4,999, paid once (Book a star).
It is not the naming of a real star in the night sky. Eternal says so plainly and I am glad it does. Remembrance needs no gimmick.
Stars gather into constellations by the month they were lit. Each month carries its Hindu months beside it, so November 2026 reads Kartika and Margashirsha. Visitors can search for a name, travel to a month and wander across the sky (the Eternal Sky).
हार्ट्सविल · Why Eternal chose Heartswill
A diya is the oldest way we know to say that someone is still with us. Eternal decided that every diya in its sky should also do good that anyone can check.
Anyone visiting a star can light a diya for ₹50 by UPI, card or net banking. The diya stays beside the star for a year with the giver’s name. The full ₹50 goes to one school day for a girl. ₹6,600 pays for 220 school days, a full year of school for one girl (his star, Book a star).
One diya costs ₹50 and funds one school day for a girl. ₹6,600 funds 220 school days, a full year of school. Light a diya for Shri Roop Chand Sharma.
Eternal routes every diya through Heartswill. Each one receives a tracking code. Mine shows the pledge recorded through Eternal Repos on 10 November 2026 and the funds on their way to the AnandBodh Foundation. Next the school day is delivered with two witnesses. Then a sealed story returns to the person who lit the diya (my diya on Heartswill).
Heartswill opens to the public on 1 January 2027. Pledges are recorded now. The photographs and full proof appear on each tracking page when the platform opens. Other NGOs can apply to receive pledges through Heartswill as well (Heartswill for NGOs). The thinking behind it is in [Every Rupee of Good, Accounted For](/soch/vimarsh/every-rupee-of-good-accounted-for).
For a family the meaning is simple. Remembering someone can now help someone else begin.
What I am not saying
I am not saying grief can be solved. It cannot and it should not be. Grief is the proof that someone mattered. Eternal carries what stands around grief and leaves the grief to the family.
I am not saying a star replaces a ritual. The rites remain. The star is a place to return to after them.
I am not saying the proof is complete. The first deliveries close when Heartswill opens on 1 January 2027. Every diya will show its line then, mine included.
10 November 2026.
Sources, checked 10 November 2026. His star, the diya price and what it funds: Eternal Sky star page. Star price, permanence and the questions families ask: Book a star. Constellations by month: the Eternal Sky. Services: Eternal Repos, services. The ten operators, the death rate and the scale: Dr Shaily Sharma, The Argument for a Dignified Farewell, August 2026, citing the Sample Registration System. The award and the quote on technology: A Word of Trust, ET NOW Business Conclave and Awards 2026, West Edition. Diya tracking: Heartswill. NGO applications: Heartswill for NGOs.